Marketing executive Melanie Borden, one of Auto Remarketing's 2020 Women in Retail honorees, has joined LotLinx as vice president of marketing.
Borden has worked in the automotive industry with public tech companies and private startups, and she was most recently with a New York dealer group.
LotLinx said Borden joins the company at an important time in its development. The company said it is expanding its mission to solve what it describes as dealership pain points. It is also working to eliminate waste in marketing strategies nationwide.
The company said Borden offers a strong understanding of the industry and a track record of increasing profitability and exceeding business goals.
She brings more than 15 years of marketing experience and has found her true passion in storytelling after building her personal brand, LotLinx said. She uses marketing to create positive associations between brands and their consumers, and she recently wrote a children’s book called “Our Mommy Works with Cars” about women’s roles in a retail dealership.
“Melanie’s experience and skill set around non-traditional marketing methods will allow us to capitalize on the strength of the LotLinx brand,” LotLinx president Neal Gann said in a news release. “As we continue to innovate and grow as a tech company within the automotive space, Melanie will be a valuable addition to the team.”
To strengthen the company’s position in the industry while growing and expanding the brand, Borden will oversee marketing strategies, brand awareness, tactics, and efforts at LotLinx.
For LotLinx, the announcement marks another milestone following the release of TURNx, a browser extension that brings real-time pricing, demand, and competitor data to a dealer's desktop.
“I am beyond excited that my journey with LotLinx is beginning,” said Borden, who was a recipient last year of Auto Remarketing’s Women in Retail awards.
Borden also said, “Harnessing my automotive retail experience, I plan to use every opportunity to grow the LotLinx brand to help dealerships close the gaps in going to market with their inventory — successfully and profitably."
Saying that its diverse board of directors is a competitive advantage, General Motors named technology leader Meg Whitman and National Basketball Association executive Mark Tatum to its board.
The board appointment of Whitman, who is former head of Hewlett Packard Enterprise; and Tatum, who is deputy commissioner and chief operating officer of the NBA; are effective Friday.
Seven GM directors are women. Areas of senior leadership and board experience for the company’s 12 independent directors include information technology, digital commerce, retail, higher education, investment management, international affairs, defense, transportation, cybersecurity, and pharmaceuticals.
GM’s diverse board of directors is a competitive advantage as the company works to deliver a safer and more sustainable world, GM chairman and chief executive officer Mary Barra said.
Whitman was president of media startup, Quibi Holdings LLC, a media startup, from 2018 to this year. She was president and chief executive officer of computer hardware and services company Hewlett-Packard Co. from 2011-2015. She was CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, an edge-to-cloud platform-as-a-service company from 2015-2018 and was president and CEO of eBay from 1998-2008.
“I have tremendous respect for the commitments Mary and her team are making and the culture they have been building,” Whitman said. “GM’s growth strategy has all the elements of a startup but with far greater scale, millions of customers and a strong underlying business. This makes it a very exciting time to join the board.”
Tatum joined the NBA in 1999. Appointed NBA deputy commissioner and chief operating officer in early 2014, he is currently responsible for the NBA’s global business operations.
That includes leading the NBA's international efforts, and he also oversees the global partnerships, marketing, team marketing and business operations and communications departments. He also oversees the NBA G League and NBA 2K League.
“GM is changing a more than 100-year-old business model and marshalling thousands of people and billions of dollars to drive solutions that matter for the environment, communities, businesses and investors,” Tatum said. “Joining the board and helping accelerate that change is an honor, and I look forward to working with the GM team and my fellow directors to make it happen."
Barra said, “Mark and Meg will bring unique experiences to the board, especially in technology, brand building and customer experience that will help us drive value for shareholders and other GM stakeholders now and into the future.”
KAR Global will have a new chief executive officer on April 1.
The company announced Tuesday afternoon that KAR president Peter Kelly will succeed Jim Hallett as CEO.
Hallett, who has been CEO since 2009 and KAR’s chairman since 2014, will become the company’s executive chairman. He will continue in an advisory role with KAR.
Hallett will remain chairman of KAR’s board. Kelly will become a board director on April 1.
Hallett’s time with the company dates back to 1993, when he joined as ADESA Canada’s president. Three years later, he was named ADESA’s president.
He headed up the auction company’s initial public offering in 2004, before leading ADESA’s leveraged buyout and merger with Insurance Auto Auctions in 2007.
That combined company went public in 2009 as KAR Auction Services, Inc., eventually becoming KAR Global several years later.
“Peter Kelly is a pioneer who helped ignite KAR’s digital transformation almost a decade ago when he brought OPENLANE into our company,” Hallett said in a news release. “Over the past several years, we’ve partnered closely to sharpen our strategy, evolve KAR’s operating model and extend the company’s leadership position in digital used vehicle marketplaces.
“Peter is a bold, decisive leader with a track record of building high-performing teams, and his entrepreneurial mindset makes him the perfect choice for our people and for KAR’s future,” he added. “I’m confident his leadership of our company and industry will continue to deliver meaningful value to our customers and our stockholders.”
Kelly has been with the company since its 2011 purchase of OPENLANE, where he was co-founder, president and CEO.
He was named KAR’s chief technology officer in 2013, before taking on the role of president of its digital services group the next year. Kelly became president in 2019.
“The prospect of leading KAR further into our digital future is humbling and exciting,” Kelly said in a news release.
“The used-vehicle industry is continuously evolving, creating new opportunities for growth and expansion in North America and internationally,” Kelly said. “Our combination of digital capabilities and physical infrastructure is unmatched in the industry and positions us well to capture these opportunities. I remain committed to investing in people, data and technology to deliver great outcomes for our customers and achieve our business goals.”
Kelly later added: “It has been an honor and a privilege to work with, collaborate with and learn from Jim. And I am very fortunate to begin my tenure as CEO from a position of strength reinforced by Jim’s love for this industry and company, as well as his commitment to safety and innovation.”
Saying that the newly created position is in response to its growing key business, Dent Wizard International will promote Cory Lyda to vice president of key operations.
The company said its key business has seen strong growth in recent years since it began as a service for major North American auction businesses. Since then, the company’s key business has grown to include dealerships and other companies.
Lyda in his new position will lead and manage Dent Wizard’s national key ops team and work with field leaders and key technicians to expand and improve key operations.
Based in the company’s St. Louis corporate offices, he will report to Dent Wizard chief operating officer Addison Thomas.
Expanding on its key business, the company said key protection is a popular feature in vehicle protection plans that Sonsio Vehicle Protection offers. Sonsio is a Dent Wizard affiliate.
“Not only has our volume grown, but so has our customer base,” Thomas said in a news release.
Thomas also said, “Given its strategic importance to us and value to customers, we decided to add firepower and further structure to the team. Cory brings a terrific skill set to the position, coupled with a broad and deep set of experiences.”
DealerPolicy announced a $30 million round of Series B funding on Tuesday, which the company plans to use for developing its insurance marketplace serving the auto retail business as well as expanding its team.
The latter includes the addition of a president and chief operating as well as a senior vice president of sales.
Named president and COO is former Dealer.com vice president and general manager Wayne Pastore, while the new senior VP of sales is Tara Kasica, who was most recently with Allstate.
The funding was led by 3L Capital and Hudson Structured Capital Management Ltd.
“As car buying continues to evolve with the world around us, dealers are prioritizing fully digital, streamlined and connected experiences. Modern insurance solutions such as DealerPolicy’s FastPass dovetail nicely into the process and give car-buyers the value and convenience they’ve come to expect,” DealerPolicy chief executive officer Travis Fitzgerald said in a news release. “DealerPolicy has conducted extensive research into car-buyer sentiments, including access to insurance as part of the process.
“The results are undeniable — nearly eight out of 10 shoppers believe that comparing insurance at the point of sale during the car-buying process substantially improves the experience,” he said. “With an ever-expanding value proposition to dealers, insurance carriers and customers, we are prepared to continue investing in growth.”
As far as the new executives, both have already joined the company. In addition to his leadership at Dealer.com before joining DealerPolicy, Pastore held additional leadership posts at Cox Automotive and Dealertrack.
“I admire the early success the DealerPolicy team has had and the meaningful value its platform provides for both shoppers and dealers,” Pastore said. “With shoppers’ continued desire to complete more of the purchasing experience digitally, I look forward to leveraging my experience to help accelerate the company’s growth as dealers continue to demand fully integrated and digital retailing services.”
At Allstate, Kasica oversaw activities around dealership-owned insurance agencies.
“Spending much of my career in various insurance and automotive leadership roles, I immediately recognized the value of DealerPolicy’s offering to the market, and dealerships in particular,” Kasica said. “I am thrilled to be joining this incredible team and to use my experience at the intersection of P&C insurance and automotive retail to further support the company’s expansion plans.”
Stellantis appointed its top executive team, in addition to nine dedicated committees covering companywide performance and strategy.
Stellantis chief executive officer Carlos Tavares said the team was highly competitive, committed and well balanced and will use its combined skills and diverse backgrounds to guide Stellantis.
The committees are strategy council, business review, global program committee, industrial committee, allocations committee, region committee, brand committee, styling review, and brand review.
Chief executive officer: Carlos Tavares
Strategic and performance:
– Head of Americas: Mike Manley
– Global corporate office: Silvia Vernetti
– Chief performance officer: Emmanuel Delay
– Chief software officer: Yves Bonnefront
– Chief affiliates officer, sales, finance, used cars, parts and service, retail network: Philippe de Rovira
Region chief operating officers:
-Enlarged Europe: Maxime Picat
Deputy:Davide Mele
Eurasia: Xavier Duchemin
-North America: Mark Stewart
– South America: Antonio Filosa
– Middle East & Africa: Samir Cherfan
– China: Grégoire Olivier, (interim, in charge of DPCA)
– India and Asia Pacific: Carl Smiley
Asean: Christophe Musy
Brand chief executive officers:
-Global SUV
Jeep: Christian Meunier, synergies referent
-American Brands
Chrysler: Timothy Kuniskis, Interim
Dodge: Timothy Kuniskis, synergies referent
RAM: Mike Koval
– Core
Citroën: Vincent Cobee
Fiat & Abarth: Olivier Francois,
Synergies referent and global chief marketing officer
-Upper mainstream
-Opel & Vauxhall: Michael Lohscheller
-Peugeot: Linda Jackson, synergies referent
-Premium
– Alfa Romeo: Jean-Philippe Imparato Synergies Referent
-DS: Béatrice Foucher
-Lancia: Luca Napolitano
– Luxury
-Maserati: Davide Grasso
– Mobility
Free2Move: Brigitte Courtehoux
Leasys: Giacomo Carelli
Global function chief officers:
– Finance: Richard Palmer
– Human Resources & Transformation Xavier Chereau
– General Counsel: Giorgio Fossati
– Planning: Olivier Bourges
– Purchasing & Supply Chain: Michelle Wen
– Manufacturing: Arnaud Deboeuf
– Design: Ralph Gilles (Chrysler / Dodge / Jeep / Ram / Maserati / FIAT Latin
America)
Jean-Pierre Ploue (Abarth / Alfa Romeo / Citroen / DS / FIAT
Europe / Lancia/ Opel /Peugeot / Vauxhall)
Engineering: Harald Wester
Deputy Patrice Lucas Cross car line and project engineering
Deputy Nicolas Morel
CTO: To be defined
– Sales & marketing : Thierry Koskas
– Customer Experience : Richard Schwarzwald
– Deputy Jean-Christophe Quemard
– Communication & CSR : Bertrand Blaise
Jantoon Reigersman has been appointed chief financial officer for TrueCar, with the company’s president and chief executive officer Mike Darrow saying Reigersman will help align the company’s business and financial strategies toward TrueCar's next chapter of growth and profitability.
Reigersman said he looked forward to joining TrueCar during what he described as a pivotal time in company history, adding that online retailing is revolutionizing the traditional car-buying process.
He will report directly to Darrow. Previously, Reigersman was chief financial officer with NYSE-listed diversified internet, media and eCommerce company, the Leaf Group, for the past three years. In that role, he led the company's accounting operations, corporate financial planning and analysis function and business development activities.
Before working for the Leaf Group, Reigersman was chief financial officer for clean technology company, Ogin Inc. Vestas Wind Systems acquired that private-equity-backed company in 2017.
Reigersman also previously worked in the investment banking group at Morgan Stanley and in the special situations group at Goldman Sachs.
“I could not be more thrilled to welcome Jantoon to the TrueCar executive team,” Darrow said in a news release.
Darrow also said, “As a proven financial leader within technology-driven organizations and public companies, Jantoon will play a key role in aligning our business and financial strategies to unlock TrueCar's next chapter of growth and profitability.”
Reigersman said TrueCar is well-positioned to help franchise and independent car dealers reach the growing majority of digital-first consumers.
He said, “The company is well-capitalized and built on a state-of-the-art technology stack that can support rapid innovation across the consumer and dealer experiences.”
The National Automobile Dealers Association has named a vice president of education and training. Filling the newly created role is Camron Wilson, who has been with NADA since 2014.
She will head up all education and training programs and will lead NADA/ATD Academy operations, the association said in a news release. NADA Academy chair Michael Hayes continues in that post and will work alongside Wilson.
“Camron brings a wealth of knowledge and proven track record to NADA’s dealer education offerings,” NADA president and chief executive officer Mike Stanton said in a news release. “She has been integral to the dealer operations department and to the highest levels of the organization. Her talent and dedication make her a natural addition to our leadership team.”
Wilson has been in the auto industry for nearly 20 years, including time with Dealer Product Services and Ford Motor Co.
Her first role at NADA was as director of training and business development. Wilson’s accomplishments so far include leading the launch and development of the NADA Professional Series.
That educational program focuses on new and promising managers in sales, office, parts and service.
“Dealers are the backbone of the auto industry,” said Wilson. “My goal is to educate and prepare the next generation of auto dealers and employees to run profitable dealerships, and to help dealers build employee career paths in order to entice newcomers into compelling dealership careers.”
Haig Partners said Tuesday it has hired former AutoNation executive Pete Thiel as managing director.
Thiel was most recently vice president of corporate development for the publicly traded retailer, where he headed up AutoNation’s acquisitions and divestitures.
He was with AutoNation for more than 20 years.
“As the leading buy-sell advisory firm to dealers, we pride ourselves on the integrity, confidentiality, and industry experience we bring to our clients,” Haig Partners president Alan Haig said in a news release.
“Pete embodies all of these traits. We know that his unmatched expertise in the buy-sell process will enhance our ability to provide exceptional service to our clients,” he said.
In the release, Thiel added: “I am thrilled to join the team at Haig Partners. I’ve seen from my former position as a buyer at AutoNation how Haig Partners runs a confidential and effective sales process.
“I am looking forward to helping dealers to maximize the value of their businesses as our industry continues to consolidate.”
Mike Rother is now managing partner of consulting services for AVStrategy, the consulting enterprise of Automotive Ventures. Rother is former senior vice president and general manager for Dealer.com.
Automotive Ventures, an automotive technology investment and consulting company, said AVStrategy provides advisory and networking services to automotive entrepreneurs and investors.
Rother served in various leadership roles for organizations such as Kelley Blue Book, HomeNet Automotive and NextGear Capital before his latest role with Dealer.com. Rother has worked in the automotive industry for 20 years.
"I’m thrilled to have a chance to work with Mike again," Automotive Ventures chief executive officer Steve Greenfield, who founded the company in 2014, said in a news release.
Greenfield also said of Rother, “His deep experience, knowledge of the space, and industry connections make him a perfect fit to lead AVStrategy. He has a comprehensive understanding of the entrepreneurial journey and the levers needed to energize growth, having developed and guided early-stage startups throughout his career. Mike has an extensive technology background and understands how to grow companies based on market dynamics and their particular stage of development. I couldn’t be happier that he’s joined our team, and I look forward to working closely together.”
Automotive Ventures works in the areas of technology investments, mergers and acquisitions, investment banking, and growth strategies for early-stage startups in the automotive industry.
In addition to his previous business leadership roles, Rother has established roots in technology. He is a software engineer and product development marketing strategist.
Rother said Automotive Ventures “puts integrity first.”
“The pace of change in automotive has accelerated and, more than ever, businesses need expert advice from people they trust who bring experience, strategic insight, and access to the right connections,” Rother said.
Rother went on to say, “We live in a very execution-oriented environment, and delivering on goals and targets is mission-critical. Our ultimate objective is to build true value and help businesses achieve more than they thought possible. I'm excited to lend my expertise as an integral part of this process."
Greenfield said that especially over the past six months, the company has seen growing demand for its services. He said it appears that the current year will be a busy one for companies looking to invest in the space.
"While the auto industry is quite large, I'm always amazed at just how small it is in terms of relationships,” Greenfield said. “Industry response to Automotive Ventures has been great due in large part to the fact that we strategically and purposefully partner with the right clients, provide the right advice, and make the right connections for them.”
