Sam Vukas’ love for automotive began at a young age. He rebuilt wrecked vehicles with his father in their garage and aspired to be an automotive technician.
He went on to work in auto service and joined the Dealer eProcess team in 2015 overseeing business development and innovation. He identified new ideas and best practices for dealerships to accelerate their growth and overall value to shoppers.
On Friday, Vukas’ growth with Dealer eProcess continued, as the auto websites and digital marketing company appointed him chief operating officer.
Most recently, Vukas served as director of business development and innovation at Dealer eProcess. In that position, Vukas led development efforts for the digital retailing product, SARA, into Dealer eProcess’ lineup of a full digital ecosystem for automotive dealers.
Vukas succeeds David Page, who has recently separated from the company.
Dealer eProcess said Vukas brings a combination of extensive knowledge and technology, “driving operations improvement into the automotive space.” In his new role, he and chief sales officer, Gino Cipperoni will lead Dealer eProcess into the new decade in areas such as support and technology.
“Vukas takes the reins of Dealer eProcess during a time of growth for both our company and dealer partners,” Dealer eProcess chief executive officer Joe Gillespie said in a news release.
Gillespie continued, “Along with his passion and vision, he possesses the precise balance of skills and experience to incite operational results and development. Sam will be instrumental to the progression of Dealer eProcess’ new strategic plan to be the best in our company’s history.”
“I’m thrilled to be leading this incredible company,” Vukas said.
He added, “Working alongside our talented team and automotive vendor partners, I am committed to the growth and value of our company and products. As one of the top website and digital marketing companies in the automotive space, Dealer eProcess will continue to make a difference for the online experience. I am energized to help lead Dealer eProcess to the next phase of excellence and continued success.”
In his new position as senior vice president of sales and customer success for TapClassifieds, Mark Salcido will lead the company’s overall sales strategy and development, with a goal of boosting the company’s automotive digital marketing market presence.
TapClassifieds, which describes itself as a digital marketing platform that can help automotive dealers “reach and engage the modern car shopper,” said Salcido’s more than 20 years of experience within the digital space makes him “an accomplished business leader, visionary, and inspiration within his industry.”
Salcido was previously senior vice president of media solutions for Digital Air Strike, and he previously led sales organizations at Target Media Partners Interactive, CBS Local Media, and Ticketmaster-Citysearch.
Salcido said in a news release that TapClassifieds’ growth and services have impressed him.
“I am honored to be joining the team at this time,” Salcido said. “I look forward to driving new business, growing our existing channel partnerships, and delivering even more value to our customers.”
"We are excited to have Mark join the TapClassifieds team,” said TapClassifieds chief executive officer Jaideep Jain.
Jain continued, “He is a well-recognized domain expert in digital marketing, and his experience and insights will prove to be invaluable to TapClassifieds’ continued success.”
In hiring two automotive veterans to leadership posts, vehicle subscription provider Fair seeks to boost its industry relations presence and its vehicle acquisition and remarketing efforts.
Fair has hired former TrueCar and AutoNation executive Mike Timmons and former CDK Global head of OEM relations Syl Raymond, stating in a news release that the company “continues to rapidly scale its flexible model for accessing a car.”
Fair named Raymond senior vice president of dealer & industry relations, and Timmons will serve as senior vice president of sourcing, reconditioning and remarketing, overseeing vehicle acquisition and distribution across the business.
Raymond’s various auto retail executive roles include managing relationships with U.S. enterprise dealer groups and leading global OEM relationships for The Cobalt Group. That company started out in the 1990s to help boost auto dealers’ commerce-focused web presence. Earlier in his career, Raymond worked for Rover Cars of North America and Land Rover North America in the areas of product marketing and market research.
“Twenty years ago, I began my career convincing dealerships that the internet represented the future of the auto industry — a prediction that has clearly come to pass,” Raymond said. “I’m excited to now help Fair usher in what I consider to be the most important chapter for the car business yet in letting people get cars from top dealers the same way they access the other services in their lives — on their phones and on their terms.”
Timmons’ more than 25 years of used-vehicle acquisition and liquidation experience includes time as TrueCar executive vice president of dealer sales and service. At AutoNation, he was vice president of operations. More recently, he was co-founder of Rollick Outdoor Inc., managing its dealer network and driving retail operations.
“Creating a digital platform as seamless as Fair actually relies on very involved inventory processes, and I’ve spent my whole career building them,” Timmons said. “Fair is a true career culmination for me, and I look forward to putting all of my varied experiences into helping scale a platform for how people can get and drive cars.”
