Hartwell Selects Tekion’s AI-Powered Automotive Retail Cloud to Transform Its UK Dealerships

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 16, 2025--

Tekion, the innovator of the first cloud-native platform serving the entire automotive retail ecosystem, today announced its first UK partnership with Hartwell Automotive Group, a leading privately-owned automotive dealer group with 11 locations across the country representing top brands including Ford, BYD, Omoda, Jaecoo, and GWM.

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This partnership marks a major milestone in Hartwell's digital transformation—powered by one unified platform: Tekion's Automotive Retail Cloud (ARC). ARC is the first and fastest cloud-native platform, including all functionalities of a DMS (dealer management system) and accompanying tech stack to run a seamless retail business. Powered by advanced AI and automation, ARC modernizes the end-to-end automotive retail journey, improves consumer experiences, and delivers the highest efficiencies to retailers through its cutting-edge platform. With ARC, Hartwell will streamline operations across retail, service, parts, accounting, customer management, and analytics — enabling faster workflows, improved data visibility, and a more modern experience for both employees and customers.

"Partnering with Tekion is a key step forward in our digital strategy," said Mark Knapton, Managing Director of Hartwell. "We’re focused on building a future-ready business that delivers consistency, transparency, and ease for our customers. Tekion’s platform allows us to do that with modern tools that support our teams and elevate the entire retail experience."

“Hartwell is an important and exciting partner as we expand and invest in the UK," said Rob Glenn, Chief Revenue Officer of Tekion. “They’re embracing the future of automotive retail by adopting a truly unified platform that enhances both operational efficiency and the overall customer journey.We’re proud to help power that transformation and support their vision for better customer and employee experiences.”

Hartwell will begin deploying Tekion’s ARC platform later this year, with the first store going live as part of a phased rollout.

About Hartwell Automotive Group

Established in 1919 in Oxfordshire, the Hartwell Automotive Group is a leading automotive group in the county, representing Ford, BYD, Omoda, Jaecoo, and GWM cars, as well as Ford commercial vehicles.

With 11 dealer locations across the UK, Hartwell is delighted to assist customers with their motoring needs. Hartwell has built a great reputation for providing customers with exceptional customer service and the highest-quality vehicles.

About Tekion

Tekion is the first and fastest cloud-native platform for automotive retail. Powered by Tekion AI, its platform leverages intelligent automation, real-time insights, and advanced decision support to enhance employee and customer experiences across the dealership ecosystem.

Positively disrupting auto retail for the first time in over 50 years, Tekion has challenged the paradigm with its revolutionary platform: Automotive Retail Cloud (ARC) for retailers, Automotive Enterprise Cloud (AEC) for manufacturers and large automotive enterprises, and Automotive Partner Cloud (APC) for technology and industry partners. Leveraging cutting-edge technology, big data and AI, Tekion unifies OEMs, dealers, and consumers—streamlining operations and enabling the most modern and efficient automotive retail experiences ever.

For more information, visit www.tekion.com.

Hartwell, a leading UK automotive dealer group, partners with Tekion, an AI-native platform company that serves the automotive retail industry.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — An ailing astronaut returned to Earth with three others on Thursday, ending their space station mission more than a month early in NASA’s first medical evacuation.

SpaceX guided the capsule to a middle-of-the-night splashdown in the Pacific near San Diego, less than 11 hours after the astronauts exited the International Space Station.

“It’s so good to be home,” said NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, the capsule commander.

It was an unexpected finish to a mission that began in August and left the orbiting lab with only one American and two Russians on board. NASA and SpaceX said they would try to move up the launch of a fresh crew of four; liftoff is currently targeted for mid-February.

Cardman and NASA’s Mike Fincke were joined on the return by Japan’s Kimiya Yui and Russia’s Oleg Platonov. Officials have refused to identify the astronaut who had the health problem or explain what happened, citing medical privacy.

While the astronaut was stable in orbit, NASA wanted them back on Earth as soon as possible to receive proper care and diagnostic testing. The entry and splashdown required no special changes or accommodations, officials said, and the recovery ship had its usual allotment of medical experts on board. It was not immediately known when the astronauts would fly from California to their home base in Houston. Platonov’s return to Moscow was also unclear.

NASA stressed repeatedly over the past week that this was not an emergency. The astronaut fell sick or was injured on Jan. 7, prompting NASA to call off the next day’s spacewalk by Cardman and Fincke, and ultimately resulting in the early return. It was the first time NASA cut short a spaceflight for medical reasons. The Russians had done so decades ago.

The space station has gotten by with three astronauts before, sometimes even with just two. NASA said it will be unable to perform a spacewalk, even for an emergency, until the arrival of the next crew, which has two Americans, one French and one Russian astronaut.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

This screengrab from video provided by NASA TV shows the SpaceX Dragon departing from the International Space Station shortly after undocking with four NASA Crew-11 members inside on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This photo provided by NASA shows clockwise from bottom left are, NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui gathering for a crew portrait wearing their Dragon pressure suits during a suit verification check inside the International Space Station’s Kibo laboratory module, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows recovery vessels approaching the NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 capsule to evacuate one of the crew members after they re-entered the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows the NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 members re entering the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows the NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 members re entering the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)