News has been flowing out of Dealertrack Technologies this week, as the company announced it has hit a milestone for its Credit Application Network on top of also securing a new partnership with Kia Motors America to use its Intelligent Payment Calculator for Kia.com.

The company also announced it has promoted two of its top executives.

Dealertrack Technologies announced that company execs Rick Gibbs and Raj Sundaram have been named co-presidents, effective immediately.

Chief executive officer Mark O’Neil will continue to lead the company, and Gibbs and Sundaram will now work to provide increased focus on building and delivering dealer-driven technology solutions across the online to in-store platform, the company said.

In his new role, Sundaram will oversee Dealertrack’s sales, marketing and brand initiatives. The DMS, Inventory, CRM and F&I product teams will continue to report to him, as well.

And Gibbs will now lead Dealertrack’s product development initiatives including engineering, product strategy and management. He will also oversee the new product and platform solutions teams focused on integrating Dealertrack solutions. Dealertrack’s digital marketing product family, Dealer.com, will continue to report to Gibbs, as well.

“As we have evolved our platform to provide dealers with all of the technologies and services they need to manage their operation from online to in-store, we also have had to evolve our organization to maintain optimal performance,” said O’Neil. “The appointment of Raj and Rick as co-presidents is a key part of our strategy to centralize all product development into one team, as well as unify our go-to-market execution teams. Their proven leadership, vision, and expertise will help strengthen our competitiveness as we continue to provide our clients with the capabilities to transform automotive retailing.”

Dealertrack Reaches Credit Application Network Milestone

Dealertrack announced this week the number of active lenders connected to its Credit Application Network has grown past 1,500.

The network, part of Dealertrack’s Dealflow Advantage, has grown from five lenders back in 2001 and allows dealers to electronically submit application data to a network of captives, banks, credit unions and independent finance companies.

“Today’s credit markets continue to be vibrant, and dealers are maintaining a healthy mix of prime, subprime and full spectrum lending options to help customers get financed with ease, while creating operational efficiencies through electronically processing automotive loan applications,” said Michael Collins, senior vice president, F&I solutions, Dealertrack.

American Finance Co. is just one of the lenders that utilizes the company’s network.

The lender launched in 2012 to serve subprime customers in its market. To date, they have booked $7 million in loans, all generated through Dealertrack.

“With this milestone of 1,500 lenders comes thousands of stories, like American Finance Company’s, of how automated automotive loan processing has changed and improved business lending organizations over the years,” Collins added. “We’d like to acknowledge the achievement of this milestone by celebrating the lenders that helped make the largest credit application network possible. The Dealertrack network has given dealers a powerful and effective tool for processing loans easily and efficiently.”

In honor of its recent milestone, Dealertrack is sharing both dealer and lender success stories with the Dealertrack Credit Application Network.

Visit www.dealertrack.com to read stories, submit your own or recommend a lender who goes above and beyond to serve their dealer clients and consumers.

Kia.com To Feature Dealertrack’s PaymentDriver

In an effort to help optimize the online to in-store shopping experience for Kia.com website shoppers, Kia Motors America will now feature the DealerTrack PaymentDriver solution on the website.

PaymentDriver is a monthly payment calculator that provides payment options for online shoppers.

“Today, consumers are seeking out better information throughout the vehicle purchase process and are using digital resources first to find that information,” said Raj Sundaram, co-president at Dealertrack. “The use of PaymentDriver will help Kia dealers better capture opportunities, drive deeper digital engagement, and increase lead conversion, while presenting a better overall shopping experience.”

Now, Kia.com shoppers can use the tool to look for lease and finance options by shopper ZIP code, and the PaymentDriver tool will deliver options using current Kia incentives and interest rates. The tool will also determine fair trade-in value for the shopper’s current vehicle.

In addition, PaymentDriver allows online shoppers to send their selected vehicle and financing options directly to a local Kia dealer and request a follow-up from that dealer, the Dealertrack reported.

“Kia is moving to make the car-buying process a more convenient one using PaymentDriver, which will provide real-time results to each and every customer,” said Tim Chaney, vice president of marketing communications, KMA.