DealerTrack plans to add 200 jobs

One major Long Island company, at least, is looking at better business conditions and plans on hiring about 200 people this year and next.

DealerTrack Holdings Inc. of Lake Success, which provides about 17,000 auto dealerships across the country -- including 180 on Long Island -- with software services such as inventory management and online credit applications, is looking to hire for the technical side of its business, said Rich McLeer, the company's senior vice president and chief information officer.

About half the hires will be on Long Island and the remainder elsewhere in the country, said McLeer, who added the additions will be the largest spike in employment at the company since the recession began in the fall of 2008. The company has about 1,900 employees, including about 300 in Lake Success.

"The dealer market has had a couple of rough years," McLeer said. "But at this point it's on an upturn. The market is experiencing growth. That's good for DealerTrack." McLeer said it will be "virtually impossible" to fill the 200 positions this year, so hiring will go into next year as well. After that, he said, there will be additional openings in 2012.

The Greater New York Automobile Association said sales of vehicles in the metropolitan area this year should total 421,000, an increase of 9.2 percent over 2010. The association covers Long Island, New York City, and Westchester and Rockland counties. Auto industry experts say increased sales are the result of pent-up demand.

With sales rising, McLeer said dealers "are looking to leverage technology for more efficient growth."

A Siena College Research Institute poll earlier this week said consumer confidence in the metropolitan area edged up in September, but New Yorkers remain pessimistic about their financial well-being in the near and short term.