SALT LAKE CITY -

DrivingSales tapped a veteran executive who has been on its advisory board since 2009 to be its president and chief operating officer.

On Thursday, the company revealed that former Dealer.com executive Kevin Root will take on these roles for DrivingSales, a rapidly growing business intelligence and performance improvement company on a mission to deliver insights to help dealers increase their profitability.

Root has been charged with both operational and strategic responsibilities for DrivingSales. During his career, Root has launched more than a dozen successful first generation products and digital solutions and was recognized by J.D. Power and Associates as “one of the 10 original automotive eBusiness pioneers.”

“Kevin will be key to helping us move our vision forward. He brings one of the sharpest strategic minds in our industry, as well as critical expertise and hands-on experience turning strategies into business-building solutions,” said DrivingSales chief executive officer and founder Jared Hamilton.

“His background aligns perfectly with our insight- and information-driven mandate: His performance-improvement solutions for dealerships and OEMs have been foundational for our industry, and his industry research has broken new ground on everything from reputation management to the impact of social media on dealerships,” Hamilton continued.

“We are excited to have Kevin join our team as we focus on bringing the next chapter to our dealer community and clients,” Hamilton went on to say.

DrivingSales, which is on track for its third consecutive year of triple-digit revenue growth, has attracted users from one out of every three franchised dealerships in the United States. The company has won multiple awards, including a ‘Stevie’ Award in the American Business Awards for Innovative Company of the Year for 2012.

“I have watched DrivingSales grow to become a key industry influencer over the past four years, doing what no one else in the industry has done: create a new platform to ensure dealers get the unbiased, relevant and unfiltered intelligence and insight they need to build their businesses,” Root said.

“The passion and integrity its talented team brings to everything they do makes DrivingSales one of the best positioned companies in the industry,” he added.

Root possesses more than 25 years of automotive and technology experience. He joins DrivingSales from Dealer.com where he was chief strategy officer and chief product officer.

Prior to joining Dealer.com, Root served for 10 years in product strategy, retail performance improvement and marketing positions at Cobalt and DriverSide.

“Root is widely known for producing the ecommerce performance research that has become the auto industry benchmark, and has led large studies on the subjects of social media, reputation management and emerging consumer trends,” officials highlighted.

“Root’s extensive accomplishments include the creation of over a dozen technology products and services used by thousands of dealers and many of the leading manufacturers,” they continued. “Root has consulted with and developed digital marketing and retail performance improvement solutions for many automotive OEMs and enterprise dealer groups including Lexus, VW, Audi, DaimlerChrysler, Ford, Kia, Subaru and AutoNation.”