Motorlease Corp. announced that it has promoted Jeffrey Perkins to the position of vice president of operations.
Perkins advanced to leadership roles in the customer service department and dealer relationship management area after joining Motorlease to serve in an administrative capacity in 2002, the company said.
In 2005, he led Motorlease’s purchasing and remarketing efforts and was later promoted to the position of fleet operations general manager at the company in 2015. In that role, he oversaw the operations of Motorlease’s purchasing, remarketing, insurance, vehicle registration and maintenance departments.
“Jeffrey’s innovative thinking, leadership, and vision make him a natural fit for the position,” said Motorlease chief executive officer Beth Kandrysawtz said in a news release. “We’re extremely proud of what he has accomplished during his tenure thus far, and as we look into the future, there’s no doubt that Jeffrey will be instrumental in enhancing the strategic direction and growth of the company moving forward.”
Along with his current responsibilities, Perkins will be tasked in his new role with helping to develop tools for future growth as well as focusing on strategic planning, relationship management, and process development and implementation, according to Motorlease.
“Over the past 16 years, I have had the privilege of learning from some of the brightest minds in the fleet management industry,” said Perkins. “As I transition into this new role, those lessons learned will be invaluable as we prepare to take on the challenges of an evolving industry. I look forward to meeting those challenges and helping Motorlease continue to reach new heights in the years to come.”
Cox Automotive announced Tuesday that it has appointed John Griffin to serve as its Retail Solutions Group senior vice president of performance management.
Most recently, Griffin was the vice president of performance management at Cox Automotive. The company said he led vAuto in setting the gold standard for performance management in automotive retail.
In his new role, the company said Griffin will continue to oversee 322 performance managers and work with dealers throughout the country to examine best practices, used-car strategy and process engineering.
His appointment advances Cox Automotive’s proactive approach to performance management across its retail solutions brands: Dealertrack, HomeNet, vAuto, VinSolutions and Xtime.
“Our mission is to be true partners to our clients and invest in their success. John will now be in an ideal position to impart his proactive approach to performance management across our multiple retail brands to help transform the way cars are bought and sold,” said Keith Jezek, president of Cox Automotive’s Retail Solutions Group, in a news release.
Griffin’s experience includes executive management and performance management positions at dealer groups across the country.
“It’s an exciting time to be in the automotive industry; it’s never been more critical to find the real truth in the reams of numbers, metrics and reports dealers receive,” said Griffin. “My vision is that our work in the performance management space makes all our brands better partners to dealerships and in turn, helps dealers better satisfy their customers and grow their businesses.”
AutoAlert announced Thursday that long-time Ford Motor Co. executive Jim Benintende has joined the company to serve as its chief operating officer.
At Ford, Benintende oversaw a business unit made up of 67 countries and 3,800 employees as the first president of its Middle East and Africa (MEA) business unit, which he led from 2013 until August of 2016. During that time, Ford's Ranger truck production increased by 46 percent, and exports of the vehicle expanded to 150 countries, according to AutoAlert.
"AutoAlert is fortunate that Jim has joined the team," AutoAlert chief executive officer Mike Dullea said in a news release. "His strategic experience will help guide us as we continue to grow relationships with our current customers, and his experience overseas will help propel our rapid growth in international markets."
Benintende most recently returned to the United States as Ford's Director of Sales Support before retiring from Ford in December of 2016.
He began at Ford as an assembly line worker at the age of 20. And later transitioned into a variety of marketing and sales positions before being promoted to sales manager of export operations of Saudi Arabia and Egypt in 1993. Additionally, he became managing director of Ford Middle East and North Africa in 2002.
"I'm excited to join the AutoAlert team. Its track record of finding a better way to do business, for both dealerships and OEMs, is proven," said Benintende. "My background will hopefully expand the reach of its already successful suite of products and services and continue to bolster its loyal customer base."
LotLinx announced Wednesday that Gee Leung has joined the company as chief operating officer.
Within a career spanning two decades, Leung has been a trusted advisor to several digital media and technology companies, according to LotLinx.
The company said Leung’s experience includes working with some of the largest global technology leaders and he brings a view of best practices from across a wide range of companies.
“We are extremely pleased to add Gee’s caliber of experience to the team,” LotLinx founder Len Short said in a news release announcing Leung’s hire. “I’ve known Gee a long time and he has an unparalleled insight into what drives success for technology companies. I am confident his energy and dynamic background will resonate with our customers, and our team will greatly benefit from his skillset and unique perspective.”
Leung most recently served as partner at AGC Partners before taking on his new role.
Prior to AGC, Leung held senior banking positions at both MESA Global and Montgomery & Co., according to LotLinx.
“I have been covering the automotive digital marketing sector for years and have always admired LotLinx for its innovation and dedication to the dealer,” added Leung.
“Len and the team have built something special, creating a platform that’s truly revolutionizing the way dealers and OEMs conduct digital marketing. I’m excited to bring my expertise and background to LotLinx, and look forward to helping our customers and partners succeed.”
Additionally, early in his career, Leung was a technology M&A banker at Friedman Billings as well as part of the technology investment banking team at Citigroup.
Morgan Auto Group announced Monday that it has named Dan Like the regional director of its north Florida operations in Jacksonville and Gainesville.
Like most recently served as general manager for six years at Morgan Auto Group’s Honda of Gainesville store.
“I am so pleased that Dan Like will have this opportunity to grow his influence within our group. Dan is a fantastic business person but also an ethical leader who never forgets about the human element of our business,” Morgan Auto Group chief executive officer Brett Morgan said in a news release. “He is disciplined and detail oriented and will be a tremendous asset to our entire leadership team.”
During his tenure at the Honda of Gainesville store, in addition to reaching Honda sales goals, the capacity of the store’s service and repair business grew significantly, according to Morgan Auto Group.
The store received the American Honda President’s Award in 2016.
“I am looking forward to working with the rest of our team to make a greater impact in the Gainesville market where I currently live and in my hometown of Jacksonville as well,” added Like.
Morgan Auto Group’s portfolio includes 29 dealerships representing 15 brands. In the two regions Like is leading, there are seven dealerships representing the Kia, Buick, GMC, Mitsubishi, Honda, Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz brands.
Correction: Edited to include correct dealer count number for Morgan Auto Group.
Cox Automotive announced Tuesday that it has promoted Zach Hallowell to vice president of Manheim Digital Marketplace and RMS Automotive, and expanded the role of Derek Hansen as vice president of offsite solutions.
Hallowell has extensive experience in the global wholesale automotive industry, which includes over 15 years spent developing and evolving SaaS platforms to support wholesale automotive processes.
Prior to his new role, Hallowell was responsible for directing and coordinating the global activities of RMS as general manager. RMS celebrated a significant milestone last year when it reached the 400,000th vehicle being transacted on its platform, according to Cox Automotive.
Prior to joining RMS in 2015, Hallowell held several senior leadership roles at OPENLANE and also served as vice president of product management for ADESA.
“As we grow and scale our digital marketplaces, we continue to put the right people in the right roles to best serve our clients’ needs for omni-channel buying and selling,” Manheim Digital Marketplace and RMS Automotive president Nick Peluso said in a news release announcing Hallowell's promotion. “I am pleased to promote Zach to this leadership role. His vast remarketing experience and creativity is exactly what we need to drive the evolution of our technology platform and services.”
In addition to RMS Automotive and its global business, in his new role, Hallowell will direct the overall domestic and global operational activities for OVE, Manheim.com, Simulcast and OEM-specific marketplaces.
Hallowell will be responsible for ensuring efficiency and productivity while coordinating with Manheim’s physical and mobile auction leadership teams.
Additionally, Hallowell will also work closely with Hansen, whose responsibility now includes all digital and mobile offsite solutions.
Hansen has been responsible for Manheim’s digital operations as vice president of digital inventory solutions since taking on the role in 2016.
In his newly expanded role, all digital and mobile offsite solutions including OVE, Bid Lot and Mobile offerings are now organized under him.
The change provides consistency and further strengthens Manheim’s overall dealer offsite and omni-channel strategies, Cox Automotive said.
Hansen will work with Hallowell regarding all key decisions involving the OVE.com and Manhem.com marketplaces.
Hansen joined Cox Automotive in 2015 as senior director of strategic planning, and also previously served in roles with Bain & Company, Deloitte Consulting and Intel Corp.
Cars.com announced Monday that it has appointed Bala Subramanian to be a non-executive member of its board of directors.
Following a comprehensive search process, the board approved Subramanian’s candidacy on Dec. 15, according to the company.
Subramanian is the chief digital officer of Best Buy, where he also previously served as chief technology officer.
“Bala's experience in digital transformations and developing best-in-class consumer experiences will be invaluable to Cars.com as we advance our strategy, transform the car shopping experience and deliver digital solutions to our dealer customers,” Cars.com director, president and chief executive officer Alex Vetter said in a news release. “He joins the board at a time when we are focused on optimizing Cars.com's strong technology platform and innovating new products and solutions to create meaningful connections between buyers and sellers.”
Subramanian brings over fifteen years of leadership and management experience in the technology and digital retail fields.
His background includes building out consumer experiences in competitive environments and high-powered organizations that deliver reliable and highly-scalable solutions, Cars.com said.
“I am excited to join Cars.com as the company leverages its well-established digital platform to better connect consumers with local retailers across the country,” added Subramanian. “Cars.com has accumulated an unmatched amount of industry insight that is a key advantage for the company as it builds relevant, scalable solutions that meet the varying needs of car dealers and buyers alike. I look forward to working with the board and management team in the company's journey to evolve car shopping as we know it and grow the business.”
Prior to Best Buy, Subramanian held both leadership and technology strategist positions at T-Mobile.
AutoTec announced Monday that it has promoted John McElrath to president of Red Mountain Technologies (RMT), a subsidiary of the company that provides vehicle history data to auto auctions and insurance carriers.
McElrath most recently served as RMT vice president of sales and joined the company in 1998.
“John has been instrumental in Red Mountain Technologies’ success over the last 20 years. We would not be where we are today without John,” AutoTec president of Chuck Redden said in a news release announcing McElrath’s promotion.
McElrath replaces Steve DeMedicis, who will now serve as RMT chief strategy officer.
“John has earned this position delivering results and demonstrating he has the vision and business acumen to lead the company. John’s character, integrity, intelligence, sense of humor and empathy shine through,” said DeMedicis.
DeMedicis is now responsible for helping develop and drive RMT’s strategic initiatives in his new role, according to AutoTec.
“I’m excited about the opportunity to lead such a great company. I’ve seen what happens when you have a focused group of caring people all working for a common purpose,” said McElrath.
“Our Red Mountain team is second to none when it comes to delivering critically needed vehicle history data to customers all over the country. Our customers trust us to protect them from undisclosed problem vehicles. In 2018, we will continue to provide that same level of protection while working on new enhancements to our service. These will include improved delivery methods and additional proprietary data sources,” he continued.
After eight years at XLerate Group, Darris McClure has joined Catastrophe Solutions International (CSI) to head the North American operations.
McClure brings operational expertise from the technology-enabled automotive services industry to his new role.
“Recruiting Darris reflects our commitment to our customers to develop and deliver the best tech-enabled solutions for the challenges faced by our partner/customers. At the same time adding an executive of this caliber is a statement to our staff that we are committed to provide the most meaningful career opportunities through growth and servant leadership," CSI chief executive officer Michael Morrison said in a news release.
"His experience in the automotive industry in operating and innovating will be a tremendous asset to CSI in our current growth phase and I look forward to working with Darris as we continue to build a world-class organization," Morrison said.
Additionally, he spent his time at XLerate growing the company through acquisitions and organic growth initiatives.
AutoGravity welcomed a new chief technology officer who is bringing experience from global firms such as eBay, Microsoft and Walt Disney.
On Tuesday, the online vehicle sales and financing platform appointed Sheng Wang as CTO to drive the company’s global engineering efforts. Wang joins AutoGravity’s executive team with responsibility for leading product and engineering to deliver a trustworthy and innovative car buying experience that empowers the consumer.
“Sheng is a true master of her trade, a trusted leader with the utmost command of product and engineering, uniquely qualified to take AutoGravity technology to the next level,” said Andy Hinrichs, founder and chief executive officer of AutoGravity, in a news release.
“Sheng's authentic, hands-on leadership has been instrumental to our speed and success in setting the pace of digital retailing in the automotive industry. We are confident in her ability to rally our world-class engineering team to definitively own the digital car buying journey, beginning to end and beyond,” Hinrichs continued.
Prior to her appointment as CTO, Wang led AutoGravity product development as the company’s first director of product, building cross-functional teams to develop and launch the AutoGravity platform, as well as branded platforms for Volkswagen Credit and Kia Motors Finance.
Wang joined AutoGravity with more than 15 years of leadership experience in the technology industry and an uncompromising dedication to building dynamic teams and high-impact products that people love.
“As mobile technology matures and mobile usage continues to surge, more and more people are looking to shop and buy their cars online. Car shoppers want an easy way to find the right car, check affordability, secure their financing and get the car delivered to them in a few simple steps.” Wang said.
“It has been rewarding to see how AutoGravity has already changed the car financing process and I can’t wait to continue the journey to provide the best digital car buying experience to all consumers,” she continued.
As CTO at AutoGravity, the company said Wang will elevate the platform by applying her passion and expertise in user experience, customer relationship management, program management, project planning and workflow analysis to the forefront of the company's developmental efforts. Prior to AutoGravity, Wang led product development teams at eBay, Microsoft and Walt Disney.
