EBlock and EDealer said its chief executive officer and founder Ryan O’Connor will now serve in the role of chief innovation officer, and the companies have promoted their chief operating officer and president Jason McClenahan to chief executive officer.
The companies said they are making the moves “to expand the companies’ footprint while continuing to deliver the ultimate online auction and marketing experiences for clients.”
EBlock and EDealer said the changes come after a third consecutive year of triple-digit growth in the Canadian market.
EBlock says it provides sellers and buyers in the wholesale automotive market with a platform that combines “the energy and immediacy” of a physical auction with the “convenience and efficiency” of a digital one.
EDealer provides dealership marketing technology in Canada. It offers merchandising automation and vehicle optimization products that it says provides dealers with “consistent, accurate, merchandised inventory.”
Before coming to EBlock, McClenahan spent 16 years in the brick-and-mortar auction business. That, according to the companies, “shaped his understanding of how technology could complement a marketplace that was foundational to the industry’s success, yet ripe for innovation.”
The companies add that his work in the Canadian and U.S. markets, along with his experience at all levels of the brick-and-mortar and digital auction spaces, qualifies him to lead EBlock in its mission “to bring the auction industry into the future.”
During McClenahan’s time as president and chief operating officer of EBlock, the company and its sister brand, EDealer, have attained strong growth and success, according to the companies. Headcount has grown 65% in the past year, the company said.
Also, active clients on EDealer have hit an all-time high, the company said, with both brands transitioning to a shared technology platform.
O’Connor will also become a managing partner in addition to his role as chief innovation officer.
Also on the leadership team are chief technology officer Dmitry Vodiansky, whose team is responsible for EDealer’s and EBlock’s platform. Andy Bohlin is vice president of finance. The companies said they are working to continue the company’s “methodical approach to growth.”
“From the moment we joined forces over three years ago, I knew Jason had what it took to help us realize our full potential,” O’Connor said in a news release.
O’Connor added, “His influence on our business has been outsized; from refining our customer experience to steering us through our latest successful capital raise, together with his unmatched understanding of the auction business, has been critical to our success.”
He continued, “The timing is perfect for this. With Jason as CEO, I’ll be able to redouble my focus on delivering an amazing customer experience, which is where my passion’s been since starting EDealer back in 2004.”
“When Ryan and I first started working together, our visions could not have been more aligned,” McClenahan said.
He continued, “We come from a world centered around buying and selling cars. We both took a technology-first approach towards improving efficiencies that separate the EBlock experience from everyone else in the space.”
He added, “While others have been able to mask inefficiencies with cash, our focus has been on solving real problems with technology. Many people in this space now want to talk about trust and transparency. For me, those are just staples; they’ve always been part of my DNA. These are the main reasons why we’ve been able to succeed, and my vision for the future of the auction industry is crystal clear. I am thrilled to be a part of shaping the industry that I know and love.”
McClenahan also said, “Though so much has happened with automotive auctions, we’re still very early in the game. More change is on the horizon…change that will continue to improve the business—and the experience of doing business—for buyers and sellers alike. And we plan on staying at the forefront of that change.”
New Internet of Things (IOT) asset location platform developer TrueSpot has appointed former TradeRev territory sales executive and market sales coordinator Alicia Crosswhite as national sales director.
TrueSpot chief executive officer and founder Mike Hanna said the company believes Crosswhite’s “truly-unique ability” is essential in its growth plans.
“As an industry insider, she knows how to connect — how to establish robust, mutually benefitable relationships that, we hope, will last for decades,” Hanna said in a news release.
Hanna added, “We don’t want clients. We want business partners.”
For TrueSpot, Crosswhite will manage all sales activities.
Those activities include prioritization and implementation of new business development programs. They also include onboarding, implementation, ongoing support and overall relationship management with clients and partners.
As for TrueSpot, a group of IT and auto dealer insiders founded the company in 2017 to solve what it says is one of the biggest challenges for auto dealers: asset and operations management.
TrueSpot says U.S. retail auto dealers spend more than $325 million per year to replace lost keys. Dealers also lose another $3 billion a year in inefficiency and wasted time tracking down assets, according to TrueSpot.
“This can translate into tens of thousands of dollars of losses for single dealership owners, not to mention fueling an environment and reputation of frustrated, waiting customers, walkaways and lost revenue,” the company stated.
TrueSpot says its new platform reduces those costs dramatically, or eliminates them, while adding new capabilities that it says improve productivity and sales performance.
As for Crosswhite, she served as a territory sales executive and as market sales coordinator at TradeRev. In those roles, she was responsible for signing new franchise auto dealers to upgrade to TradeRev’s digital management platform. She also oversaw training and maintaining relationships with franchise dealers and after-auction business negotiations and post-sale services.
Crosswhite said auto sales competition is “exceptionally fierce.”
“Strong relationships, real-world knowledge across the industry, modern sales practices — especially digital — are all critical for success,” she said.
She added, “My role with TrueSpot is all about leveraging my expertise in these areas to open doors and make connections. From there, I frankly think our products sell themselves.”
Crosswhite will be based at TrueSpot’s Plano, Texas headquarters.
DealerBuilt ventured into the commercial real estate investment world to find its new chief financial officer.
On Tuesday, the dealer management system (DMS) provider announced the appointment of Brian Marshall as CFO. DealerBuilt said Marshall brings more than a decade of experience as a strategic finance leader with a proven track record of successfully leading corporate strategy and development for high-growth companies.
“I saw the response from current DealerBuilt customers and how they view DealerBuilt as part of their family, fully integrated into their dealership,” Marshall said in a news release about why he joined the DealerBuilt team. “From my market research, I also saw a growing need and thirst from dealers for something new, better and more innovative.
“In this advanced digital age, DMS technology for auto dealers should mirror the advancement of technology that is happening in all other aspects of their lives,” he continued. “DealerBuilt constantly invests in its product, R&D, and support. We are building something to last, not just get by. I am excited to be a part of that.”
Over the past decade, DealerBuilt highlighted Marshall has excelled at helping companies grow by focusing on accounting and finance, corporate development and financial planning and analysis. Before joining DealerBuilt, he worked as vice president of finance at NewQuest Crosswell, a commercial real estate investment company, where he led debt and equity raises for multiple financings.
Earlier in his career, Marshall founded Rising Covey Ventures, where he led the financial strategy and M&A activity for numerous organizations.
“Brian is an excellent addition to our DealerBuilt team as he has a strong track record of financial and strategic leadership with private equity-backed businesses, said Mike Trasatti, chief executive officer of DealerBuilt and LightYear Dealer Technologies.
“His background in bridging the gap between finance and operations to encourage efficient growth will be instrumental in helping DealerBuilt continue to drive sustainable long-term growth,” Trasatti went on to say.
DealerBuilt was formed in 2008 in an effort to bring to market an enterprise DMS providing automobile dealer and dealer groups a viable alternative to the traditional market offerings. Over the years, it has seen increased demand for its more modern, scalable platform with an emphasis on being customer-centric and a dealer advocate for new and innovative services in the DMS space.
DealerBuilt now provides hundreds of dealers with a consumer experience DMS (known as ceDMS) that can empower their staff to build processes best for them, encompassing a system centered around their customers.
For more information about DealerBuilt, call (888) 808-0733 or visit dealerbuilt.com.
Skip Dowd, who led the launch of AutoMart.com in 2004 before it was acquired and integrated into AutoTrader.com in 2009, has joined Xcite Automotive as chief sales officer.
Dowd, whose 28 years of automotive industry experience includes roles involved with driving revenue, profitability, and performance, also previously served for eight years as executive vice president of sales and business development for the Contact At Once Liveperson Automotive team.
At Xcite Automotive, an automotive vehicle merchandising, lot services, and logistics company, Dowd will provide leadership, direction, and an executive vision for the sales organization. The company said that will ensure alignment with the company’s financial and strategic goals.
He will serve on the senior executive team, helping set the company’s future strategy.
During Dowd’s eight-year tenure at Contact At Once, his team experienced strong growth at the dealer and OEM levels in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Canada, according to Xcite.
Dowd said in a news release that Xcite Automotive “is poised for continued growth” as it helps dealers provide photos, videos, and user-controlled spins of what he described as a continually changing inventory to online shoppers.
“Dealers today are under tremendous pressure to provide a better user experience for online shoppers across the web and social sites, and they often need assistance at the lot level to keep up,” Dowd said.
He added that Xcite’s services extend to the showroom and the lot with window stickers, buyer’s guides, and pre-owned Inventory guides, which he said, “enhance the customers’ experience upon arrival.”
“We're excited to have Skip join our senior team,” Xcite Automotive chief executive officer Phil Penton said.
He continued, “We are investing in new technologies, services, and teams during a period of expansion across the U.S. and overseas. Skip’s expertise in sales execution and vast knowledge across the automotive industry will be a benefit to the Xcite Automotive team and our dealer customers.”
Cars.com has named former Hyundai Motor America and Subaru of America chief marketing officer Dean Evans as executive vice president.
The company describes Evans as a “renowned automotive industry leader.”
In addition to his roles with Hyundai and Subaru, Evans also held executive positions at Dealer.com, Dealix and LotLinx.
Cars.com describes Evans as having “more than 20 years of experience driving success at major automotive brands with a focus on sales through next-generation marketing and technology solutions.”
In his new role, Evans will help develop and bring marketing services to dealers and automakers to increase sales. Evans joined CARS in late October and reports to president and chief executive officer Alex Vetter.
“Dean is an important addition to the CARS leadership team, as he sees the bigger solutions strategy that we’re driving to help sellers be more effective with technology,” Vetter said in a news release.
Vetter continued, “CARS has substantial automotive industry know-how and digital technology that can be further leveraged for growth. Dean’s expertise, leadership and impressive track record for ramping auto sales is unprecedented. Our vision is to create a competitive advantage for our customers and further evolve the business to a marketplace and a full-service solutions provider.”
“CARS is a transformational player in our industry that will absolutely be No. 1, with a track record of innovation that delivers results for dealers and OEMs alike,” Evans said.
He also said, “The company is sitting on an amazing foundation of first-party data and technology solutions, which combined with the media platform of Cars.com will enable powerful growth and profitability for the industry. I’m excited to bring my passion, experience and ideas to the company and the leadership team. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”
Late on Thursday, CarMax announced the next segment of its long-term planning process; this time involving its chief financial officer transition.
The company said in a news release that Enrique Mayor-Mora, who has served as CarMax’s treasurer since 2016, will be promoted to senior vice president and CFO. Meanwhile, Tom Reedy, who has served as CFO since 2010 and as executive vice president since 2012, will become executive vice president of finance.
CarMax said Mayor-Mora will continue to report to Reedy.
“We are excited to announce the promotion of Enrique Mayor-Mora to senior vice president and CFO,” CarMax president and chief executive officer Bill Nash said in the news release. “Enrique is a talented leader who has demonstrated a strong ability to build and lead teams while collaborating and communicating effectively with all stakeholders.
“We look forward to Enrique’s leadership as our new CFO as we continue to grow our business,” Nash continued.
CarMax highlighted that Mayor-Mora has extensive experience in strategic and financial planning, treasury, expansion planning and analysis, risk management and investor relations. He joined CarMax in 2011 as vice president of finance and in 2016 moved into the treasurer role.
Prior to joining CarMax, Mayor-Mora served as vice president of financial planning and analysis and investor relations at Denny’s Corp. from 2005 to 2011. He also served in financial positions of increasing responsibility at Gap, Inc. from 2001 to 2005.
The company also noted that Mayor-Mora will assume responsibilities for accounting, tax, treasury, expansion planning and analysis, financial planning and internal audit functions. The company added Reedy will continue to oversee the CarMax Auto Finance, financial services and products, investor relations, store delivery and support systems, and real estate teams.
Nash elaborated about why CarMax made this executive move.
“Succession planning and talent development for all positions play a key role in our long-term success,” Nash said.
“Tom has developed a strong core finance team and a deep bench of talent since becoming CFO almost 10 years ago, which has allowed him to take on responsibilities beyond finance,” Nash continued. “This transition enables Tom to focus on our highest priority strategic initiatives and explore new growth opportunities, while at the same time maximizing the talents of our other financial leaders.”
As the new chief financial officer for digital transformation and customer experience management company Dealer-FX, George Kypreos joins other recently appointed leadership team members at the company.
The company said those moves will strengthen the organization, bring product innovation and scale business operations for growth.
Kypreos brings more than 30 years of senior business and financial experience to his new position. That experience has been with high-growth organizations, according to Dealer-FX.
In his previous post as chief financial officer at Fleet Complete, Kypreos helped grow annual revenues from $30 million to $100 million, according to Dealer-FX, which added that Kypreos was part of the executive team involved in the company’s global expansion.
“The Dealer-FX Team is excited to bring George on board as he brings a wealth of experience to the organization,” Dealer-FX president and chief executive officer Gary Kalk said in a news release.
Kalk continued, “I look forward to him adding tremendous value to many aspects of our business as we accelerate our growth.”
Dealer-FX said the hiring of Kypreos and other recent leadership team members is proof that it “continues to invest and innovate in the future of automotive customer experience technology.”
"Since its inception in 2007, Dealer-FX has grown to become the market leader, providing the most advanced and comprehensive solution available to automotive dealers and OEMs,” Kypreos said.
He continued, “They are truly leading the digital transformation of automotive service departments. I am honored and excited to become a part of it.”
As one of its divisions celebrates its 20th anniversary of operations, KAR Global welcomed three additions to its board of directors in an effort to expand diversity and cross-industry expertise.
The newest board members include Stefan Jacoby, David DiDomenico and Mary Ellen Smith.
KAR Global highlighted Jacoby has more than 30 years of automotive industry experience, most recently in mobility ventures. Over his 20-year career, DiDomenico has managed investment portfolios at various financial firms. Smith brings extensive knowledge of global operations and digital transformation from her 20 years at Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard.
“At KAR, we continue to lead the transformation of the remarketing industry by making strategic investments and accelerating our digital innovation and global expansion,” KAR Global chairman and chief executive officer Jim Hallett said in a news release.
“It only makes sense that we tap board talent with decades of experience in financial investments like David, with the automotive industry success that Stefan has achieved and with the deep global operations and technology expertise that Mary Ellen brings to the table,” Hallett continued.
“Our board of directors with diverse backgrounds and deep knowledge will help lead the KAR Global evolution into an even more data-driven, technology-enabled company,” Hallett went on to say.
Jacoby has served in international executive leadership and C-suite roles at Volkswagen, Mitsubishi, Volvo and General Motors during his 30-year automotive industry career. Before transitioning into his current advisory and mentorship roles focused on mobility and autonomous and electric vehicles, Jacoby was a member of the General Motors global leadership team as executive vice president at GM International operations in Singapore. He has served on the boards of GM Korea and Volvo and as the chairman of the Auto Alliance in Washington, D.C.
For the past nine years, DiDomenico has been a partner at JANA Partners, where he previously served as a portfolio manager for funds focused on event-driven strategy. DiDomenico has more than 20 years of investment management and acquisition experience, serving in leadership positions at several financial firms.
Smith has spent the past 13 years advancing her career through multiple leadership roles at Microsoft, where she is currently corporate vice president of worldwide business operations. During her time at Microsoft, she has helped lead global strategy for digital business operations transformation. Before joining Microsoft, she served in operations leadership positions at Hewlett-Packard. Smith has been honored by the state of Nevada with the Governor’s Distinguished Business Award, was presented the Chairman’s Award for leadership at Microsoft and was named one of the Top Women in Tech and a Woman of Influence.
“At KAR Global, our employees and our board of directors are laser-focused on becoming the leading end-to-end global remarketing solution for our customers,” Hallett said.
“Through our acquisitions, integrations and innovations, we have taken many steps toward powering automotive marketplaces across the world. Our new board leaders can help us continue the journey,” he went on to say.
AutoVIN celebrates two decades
In other company news, KAR Global also announced the 20-year anniversary of its business unit AutoVIN, one of the largest providers of off-lease, field-based vehicle inspection services.
The company highlighted AutoVIN employees across North America are celebrating two decades of data-driven advancements and technology solutions that are designed to streamline the vehicle inspection process. AutoVIN strives to give OEMs, financial institutions and fleet lease companies independent and reliable vehicle inspections.
“It’s hard to imagine now, considering its level of expertise in the inspection business, that AutoVIN started as a small team of inspectors with just one customer,” KAR president Peter Kelly said.
“From these humble beginnings, AutoVIN has grown to play a key role in the lease experience ecosystem, with hundreds of team members delivering superior service to our customers — leaders in the automotive industry,” Kelly continued.
Over the past five years, KAR Global pointed out that it has made meaningful investments in AutoVIN, including the 2015 acquisition of DataScan Field Services’ inspection business. The integration of proprietary technology into the AutoVIN platform was geared to offer speed and innovation coupled with security and reliability.
The company emphasized the platform’s self-inspection capabilities are benefitting customers beyond traditional remarketing by better connecting them with dealers and retail customers for end-of-lease inspections.
As part of the KAR Global family, AutoVIN plays an integral role in creating a seamless, end-to-end remarketing solution.
“AutoVIN has been smart and agile, anticipating and meeting the needs of our client base and beyond. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for our team,” Kelly said.
As the new vice president and general manager of national sales for auto industry digital marketplace Cars.com, Julie Scott seeks to bring growth to Cars.com’s national sales channel.
In doing that, Scott will focus on advertising that drives business for OEMs, regional dealership groups and brands looking to gain from Cars.com’s insights and its monthly audience of more than 22 million unique visitors.
Cars.com said Scott, who officially joined the company in September, brings more than 20 years of experience as a “creative revenue generator and agenda-setting strategic leader.”
Her experience is in the areas of integrated team leadership and business development. Most recently, she served as senior vice president and general manager for The Onion, leading its branded content division.
In that post, she built and managed Onion Labs, an in-house digital content agency. Cars.com said that agency has doubled revenue for branded content since its inception and is expected to hit a 20-percent year-over-year growth goal in 2019.
Earlier, she served in a senior role at global marketing and technology agency Digitas. She was also with global advertising agency network FCB (formerly DRAFTFCB).
"What attracted me to Cars.com is its ability to target in-market car shoppers more effectively than any competitor in the marketplace, and a leadership team that understands that relationships and ROI are paramount,” Scott said in a news release.
She added, “I'm inspired to be working hand-in-hand with OEMs and their agencies to understand their unique challenges and leverage our valuable data to deliver innovative digital advertising solutions that convert shoppers to buyers,” said Scott.
Cars.com chief revenue officer Doug Miller added, “We are excited to welcome Julie to the team just as the need for real in-market car shoppers who are ready to buy is sparking new marketing, insights and data solutions for our OEM partners. “Julie brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to Cars.com in digital advertising and strategic business development as we deliver new ways for automakers to find concentrations of real shoppers and grow their businesses.”
In his new role as senior vice president, business leader, CRM and layered applications for CDK Global, Scott Thompson will set the strategy for the CDK and DMS-agnostic layered applications such as CRM, service, desking, menu, F&I, inventory, credit services and other layered apps.
Thompson, who will be based in the company’s Austin, Texas office, was most recently with Austin-based Epicor Software Corp.
At that company, he was most recently head of automotive and business products. He was responsible for various hardware and software products that sell into and outside of the automotive industry.
In 2007, Scott became president and chief executive officer at Internet AutoParts Inc., which provided technology to auto parts distributors that supported their service-shop customers. Epicor purchased that company in 2012.
“As a market leader, and under the leadership of Brian Krzanich, CDK is poised for significant short- and long-term growth,” Thompson said in a news release. “I am excited by the many opportunities in front of this tremendous organization and the automotive industry at large, and am thrilled to be stepping into a brand new role leading a best-in-class portfolio of solutions.”
He continued, “Throughout my career, I have been driven by helping customers win, and I am looking forward to developing and cultivating long-standing relationships with CDK customers, built on trust, and reinforced by demonstrated, continuous success.”
