Carsharing marketplace HyreCar says it has created a new experienced outside sales team and scalable customer service infrastructure to pursue OEM and dealer opportunities.
The company has hired two industry veterans with existing dealership and OEM relationships that they will use to fuel vehicle supply and “provide value for all HyreCar stakeholders,” according to the company. Those veterans are John Fitzgerald, who will lead Eastern regional operations; and Michael Grave, who will oversee Western regional operations.
The new members of the outside sales team previously held senior positions at companies including Kelley Blue Book, Edmunds, AutoNation, DealerTrack, CDK Global, LotLinx, AutoAlert and Cox Automotive.
HyreCar has also partnered with what it describes as a leading global customer services company that will work to boost dealer and OEM initiatives on the HyreCar platform. That partnership will give HyreCar what it says is “a highly scalable customer service team,” and it will also improve omni-channel customer communications. HyreCar said the improved communications will provide “white glove support” to its dealer and OEM partners.
“We are pleased to announce the addition of this sales and support team to drive the growth of our innovative platform,” HyreCar chief executive officer Joe Furnari said in a news release.
Former Galpin Motors executive and newly appointed senior vice president of strategic partnerships Brian Allan said that with HyreCar, dealers have a platform to produce new revenue streams and sales opportunities.
“Our veteran sales team will educate dealers on how to profit from HyreCar’s marketplace solution while leveraging the resources they’ve already invested in,” Allan said.
Adding resources and upgrading its account management team, enterprise dealer management system company DealerBuilt has promoted Kathy Henderson to national accounts director.
Henderson is responsible for client retention, and she manages account managers who help customers use DealerBuilt’s products and services.
DealerBuilt executive vice president Veronica Dunford described Henderson as “an ideal client advocate.”
“As an account manager, she demonstrated strong leadership and is known as a trusted partner to her clients,” Dunford said in a news release. “They often state that a big part of their success comes from knowing they have excellent representation with Kathy. At DealerBuilt, we preach that everyone in the company aids in the success of our clients.”
Dunford continued, “Customer satisfaction should be at the forefront of everyone's mind, regardless of their position. As our national accounts director, it will be incumbent upon Kathy to ensure thought leadership centers around our goal of 100% customer satisfaction and that our clients have the level of support, communication and commitment they expect from DealerBuilt.”
The company described Henderson’s team as consisting of highly trained account managers, and those managers have in-depth product knowledge. Through virtual and face-to-face client site visits, they create business relationships with dealer principals, general managers and all levels of dealership management.
DealerBuilt says it was formed in 2008 to bring an enterprise DMS to market that offers automobile dealers and dealer groups a strong alternative to traditional market offerings. Since then, the company says customers have expressed continued interest in what it describes as its more modern, scalable platform. That platform, according to DealerBuilt, emphasizes being a dealer advocate for new and innovative services in the area of DMS.
Now, DealerBuilt provides a DMS to hundreds of dealers, and the company says the product empowers their staff to build the processes that are most suitable for them, with a system it says is centered around their customers.
“During times of growth, client satisfaction can often take a back seat to new installations and the growing pains this sometimes brings,” Henderson said. “The national account manager position was created to ensure we always place the correct emphasis on direct client interaction. It is my passion to educate clients on DealerBuilt’s offerings and to boost their success by ensuring our internal processes exceed client expectations. I feel privileged to head up this team.”
Michael Van Orden’s more than 30 years in the IT industry includes his most recent position as chief technology officer for Sportsman’s Warehouse.
Now, Van Orden will lead the information technology and computer systems teams for Larry H. Miller Dealerships.
On Tuesday, the dealership group appointed Van Orden as chief information officer. His role will include strategic IT guidance and direction of the company. He will also be responsible for maintaining a stable and secure infrastructure.
During his 18 years with Sportsman’s Warehouse, Van Orden oversaw IT, and he managed budgeting, contract negotiations and strategic planning while managing and developing a team of IT employees.
His previous IT positions were with Wells Fargo and Litton Guidance & Control Systems.
Van Orden works with and speaks to university students on the topic of IT. RIS News in 2004 named him a “Top 15 Up and Coming IT Executive.”
Personal transportation company Lithia Motors named Shauna McIntyre to its board of directors. McIntyre is currently program lead for Google Automotive Services at Alphabet Inc.
McIntyre previously served in positions for Honeywell International, Achates Power, Ford Motor Co., and Egon Zehnder International.
Lithia Motors emphasized McIntyre’s knowledge of the future of automotive technology and personal transportation.
“We’re excited to have Shauna join our board,” Lithia president and chief executive officer Bryan DeBoer said in a news release.
“We welcome her strategic insights into how technology is and will change the way people interact with their cars. Our aspirational growth plans are focused on digital innovation that enhance the consumer experience and expand the reach of our network. Shauna’s leadership, engineering and technology background will be a refreshing addition to our team and strategic discussions.”
AutoNation’s stockholders on April 18 elected Thomas Baltimore Jr. and Steven Gerard to the auto retailer’s board of directors.
Since January 2017, Baltimore has been chairman, president and chief executive officer of Park Hotels & Resorts Inc., a lodging real estate investment trust. Gerard was chief executive officer of integrated business services and products provider CBIZ Inc. from October 2000 until his retirement in March 2016. Gerard continues to serve as CBIZ’s chairman of its board of directors, and he has been in that position since October 2002.
The election of Baltimore and Gerard took place at AutoNation’s 2019 annual meeting of stockholders.
Baltimore was president and chief executive officer of the planned Hilton Real Estate Investment Trust between May 2016 and January 2017. From May 2011 to May 2016, he was president and chief executive officer of RLJ Lodging Trust, a real estate investment company, and he was co-founder and president of RLJ Lodging’s predecessor company, RLJ Development LLC, from 2000 to May 2011.
Between 1994 and 2000, Baltimore served in various management positions with Hilton Hotels Corp. and Host Marriott Services. He also serves as lead independent director of Prudential Financial Inc.
From 1997 to October 2000, Gerard served as chairman and chief executive officer of Great Point Capital Inc., which provides operational and advisory services. He was chairman and chief executive officer of Triangle Wire & Cable Inc. and its successor Ocean View Capital Inc. from 1991 to 1997.
Gerard worked for 16 years with Citibank N.A. in senior corporate finance and banking positions, and he also served seven years with the American Stock Exchange, where his last position was vice president of the securities division. He also serves on the board of directors for Lennar Corp. and Las Vegas Sands Corp. Gerard has been recognized as an NACD Board Leadership Fellow.
“With their extensive corporate executive and board experience, we welcome the valuable experience and insight Tom and Steve will bring to the AutoNation Board,” AutoNation’s executive chairman Mike Jackson said in a news release.
Sean McCarthy has worked as a CPA for 30 years. He spent his first decade with a local firm before serving as chief financial officer of two of Columbus’ largest automotive groups.
Now, McCarthy is joining Brady Ware Dealership Advisors — an accounting and financial services company for auto dealers in the Midwest — as a director. He has also merged his practice into the firm.
“Sean is more than a CPA,” Brady Ware director Sam Agresti said in a news release. “He’s truly a financial architect with decades of experience working with dealerships. He is an industry expert in buy/sell transactions and will provide true CFO-level services to our clients.”
Brady Ware Dealership Advisors recently launched a new business model, offering consulting services and expanding its team of CPAs and consultants who serve more than 90 auto dealerships in the Midwest and the Southeast. Brady Ware offers 20 different services to help improve processes and procedures in different departments. The company helps dealerships improve profits in areas such as fixed operations, fraud investigation, employee recruitment and retention, warrantee reimbursements, digital marketing and online advertising.
“The model that Brady Ware has created to evolve the services CPAs can offer to their clients is a game changer for financial consultants,” McCarthy said. “I now have a toolkit of solutions for dealerships that strategically address inefficiencies impacting their bottom line, and the resources to fix them.”
McCarthy said he began working in the auto industry since 1989, guiding his clients through a recession, changes in buying trends and “the evolution of car buying in a digital world,” he said. “I’m excited to be a part of the evolution and looking forward to the future as part of Brady Ware Dealership Advisors.”
“Sean is a tremendous asset to the team and his leadership will be instrumental in the future growth of our automotive group,” Agresti said.
For nearly 20 years, James Gibson led data distribution growth and expansion efforts at NADA Used Car Guide, which is now known as J.D. Power Valuation Services.
Now Gibson is taking on a new role as director of business development for the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association. In his new role, Gibson will work with NIADA senior vice president of member services Scott Lilja in developing and implementing the association’s business partnerships. Those partnerships include the National Corporate Partnership, National Affinity Partnership and National Member Benefit partnership programs.
For the Used Car Guide, Gibson led the Value Added Reseller segment, and NIADA said in a news release that Gibson pioneered the VAR distribution channel and played a strong role in transforming a “print-centric enterprise” into a business-to-business e-commerce provider of vehicle valuation services. NIADA said Gibson helped the segment secure more than 500 partner agreements during his tenure.
In 2015, when J.D. Power acquired NADA Used Car Guide, Gibson was named director of business development for the data and analytics division of the company, which went on to record double-digit year-over-year growth.
Gibson is an Ashburn, Va. resident who will be based in NIADA's Washington D.C.-area office.
“Jim will be a huge asset to our organization, from new partnership development to enhancing our existing partnership endeavors, as well as researching new business and market opportunities," Lilja said in a news release.
Gibson discussed what he said was NIADA’s “longstanding tradition of strengthening the financial position of its independent automobile dealership members.”
“I am honored and grateful for the opportunity to be part of such a highly respected organization and to build on its continued success.,” Gibson said.
Spencer Scott has joined automotive marketplace CarGurus as senior vice president of advertising and digital marketing solutions. Scott will oversee the company’s global advertising business and will also lead global strategy efforts for the company’s digital marketing products for dealerships.
Scott previously led Publisher’s Clearing House’s revenue and media business, and before that he was chief revenue officer at Fiksu, a mobile-focused marketing technology company. Prior to Fiksu, Spencer held leadership positions at One Screen and Adverplex (now Cogo Labs).
“Spencer not only brings deep media and advertising technology experience, but also has a proven track record of leading revenue expansion at high-growth digital marketing companies,” CarGurus president and chief operating officer Sam Zales said in a news release. “He will be a tremendous addition to our company as we continue to build our advertising and digital solutions business globally."
Scott said in a news release that CarGurus’ rapid international growth creates new opportunity “to deliver even more value to our dealers, OEMs and industry partners.”
“I am excited to join this talented team as we continue to innovate and grow our advertising business,” Scott said.
