JMN Transportation recently announced that as a result of increased growth, the company created a transportation manager position that has been filled by Alex Vedder, who transitioned from his previous role as regional manager of JMN’s Georgia locations.
In his new role as transportation manager, Vedder will be tasked with overseeing the operational and financial elements of the JMN’s fleet division and directly connecting with the company’s customers to build and maintain positive working relations, according to JMN.
“Alex has demonstrated his ability to get the job done year in and year out,” JMN owner and chief executive officer Jon Nuckolls said. “His loyalty and dedication, coupled with his extensive knowledge should acclimate Alex into his new role quickly.”
Vedder has more than 25 years of experience within the transportation industry and has spent 9 with JMN. Throughout his career, he has held positions such as regional inventory manager and operations manager with various auto hauler companies.
Additionally, JMN has had a recent uptick in recruiting and adopted several other new positions. The company said the recent opening of multiple Drive Away locations has generated more than 150 new employees since this past August.
ServNet recently announced that Louisiana's 1st Choice Auto Auction (LFCAA) of Hammond, La., one of its auction members, has chosen to promote two of its employees.
Bridget Higginbotham, who has been with LFCAA for 14 years, has moved into the role of new business development director. Meanwhile, Katie Alombro, who has been with the auction for eight years, was promoted to office manager.
In her new role, Higginbotham will be tasked with developing new accounts, both institutional and dealer.
Additionally, Alombro, who most recently served as a title clerk, now is responsible for overseeing titles, payments, collections and the LFCAA office staff.
"Katie and Bridget show pride in their work, innovation and creativity in their jobs, and a willingness to do what it takes to make our customers happy," LAFCAA owner and managing partner John Poteet said. "In short, they are successful, loyal employees and are a representative of the type of people that work here. I am proud of them and their achievements."
Ally honors ServNet member for sales growth
Ally recently recognized Akron Auto Auction, another ServNet member, with its SmartAuction's Greatest Year-Over-Year Sales Growth Award for 2016.
"Our entire auction team is thrilled to receive this SmartAuction award," Chad Bailey, president of Akron Auto Auction said. "Since our first year with SmartAuction in 2010, the online platform has become an invaluable tool for us, allowing us to help customers expand the market for their vehicles and maximize resale values."
Bailey said the auction first posted 100 vehicles to SmartAuction in 2010 and volume has increased steadily since.
Akron Auto Auction strengthened its volume by 254 percent in 2016 over the prior year, according to Bailey.
Ally’s senior account manager of independent auctions Brent Ramels and its director of sales operations Kevin Valimont visited the auction to present the award.
ForeverCar.com announced on Monday that it has chosen an industry veteran to join its executive team as the company’s new chief operating officer.
Selected for the position is Ryan Kasprzak, who was most recently vice president of pricing and product portfolio strategy at Asurion, a mobile devices and other consumer electronics protection and support company.
"After proudly winning the 2016 Chicago Innovation Award, we could have been complacent," ForeverCar chief executive officer Mark Hodes said in a news release.
"But we decided to be even more aggressive and bold. We realized there was more to do in an industry that badly needs bold ideas. With Ryan's incredible background and experience, we now have all the leadership pieces in place to significantly expand the appeal and value of extended warranties."
Before Asurion, Kasprzak served as a manager at global strategy consulting firm Bain & Company.
“The expansion of ForeverCar.com's executive team with an industry veteran emphasizes the company's reputation as an innovator,” the car repair protection provider said. “[Kasprzak]'s background will be instrumental as the company continues to innovate and redefine how extended warranties are priced and distributed to consumers.”
Kasprzak holds degrees from Marquette University, Northwestern University and the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business.
The American International Automobile Dealers Association (AIADA), along with Cox Automotive, will host a free AutoTalk webinar on April 18 to discuss best practices for hiring and retaining dealership employees.
The upcoming talk will feature Nicole Ashe, Cox Automotive’s vice president of talent, diversity, and culture.
AIADA said Ashe would expound on the following list of topics.
- How to hire the best in class through recruitment and staffing
- How to employ a fast track to sales and service with an onboarding/new hire program
- Make it stick with dealership culture resulting in better retention and less turnover
- Grow from within through continuous development, cross-training, and leadership development
“Hiring is an elimination process, not an inclusion process,” AIADA said in a news release. “When dealers are disciplined about hiring it changes their dealership culture.”
A dealership with 55 employees, employee turnover cost can reach about $400,000 a year following search and training expenses and any lost sales and service business, according to AIADA.
The first edition of the webinar will be hosted on April 18 at 10 a.m. EST. To register, click here. To register for the second webinar at 4 p.m. EST, click here.
KAR Auction Services announced on Wednesday that it has brought on Thomas Fisher to oversee the company’s information technology strategy, operations and activities as executive vice president and chief information officer.
Fisher was most recently senior vice president of cloud operations and general manager of Genesys, a global leader in customer experience platform solutions.
Working across KAR’s end-to-end remarketing platform, in his new role Fisher will design and implement an enterprise strategy that aims to optimize KAR’s various technology assets in order to promptly deliver the company’s data-driven customer insights and product solutions, the company said.
“For nearly two decades, Tom has been at the forefront of designing and implementing technology solutions that improve the customer experience,” Jim Hallett, chairman and chief executive officer of KAR, said in a news release. “His proven track record of success across multiple international industries makes him uniquely qualified to lead the next stage of KAR’s digital transformation. Tom’s addition to our organization and leadership team is a huge win for our company and our customers.”
Fisher, a digital and cloud computing pioneer, according to KAR, has two decades of customer-focused technology strategy, operations, sales and product development experience.
“KAR’s commitment to leading technology innovation in the wholesale used-vehicle marketplace is recognized well beyond their industry,” Fisher said. “They’ve invested strategically and built an impressive portfolio of assets and capabilities. I am eager to advance the next phase of this progressive agenda, and accelerate the delivery of first-of-their-kind solutions and insights to KAR’s customers around the globe.”
Prior to joining Genesys, Fisher served as chief services officer and led an international team of more than 1,000 employees for Interactive Intelligence, an Indianapolis-based software and cloud developer that has been recently acquired by Genesys.
At Interactive Intelligence, Fisher also previously served as vice president of global sales operations and engineering and systems engineering director.
He began his career at as an IT analyst with Andersen Consulting and an applications consultant for Cisco Systems; he graduated from Ohio University with degrees in biology and communications systems management.
As executive vice president and chief information officer, Fisher is a member of KAR’s senior leadership team, and he will report to Hallett.
Group 1 Automotive on Monday announced the appointment of Daryl Kenningham to the new position of president of U.S. operations effective May 1. Currently, Kenningham serves as Group 1’s regional vice president of the dealer group’s Western region.
In his new role, the company said Kenningham will be responsible for all of Group 1’s U.S. dealership operations, which include 111 dealerships and approximately 9,400 employees. Group 1 added that it will also consolidate its Eastern and Western regional operations into a single unit with current Eastern region vice president David Fesmire assuming the new position of vice president of operations reporting to Kenningham.
Kenningham joined Group 1 in 2011 in the role of regional vice president for the Eastern region. Prior to joining Group 1, Kenningham served in a variety of sales, marketing, and operational roles with both Nissan and Gulf States Toyota, a private distributor serving the south central U.S. for Toyota Motor Sales USA.
“Daryl's extensive experience with major automotive manufacturers, as well as his thorough understanding of our retail operations, makes him the perfect person to lead our U.S. business. As our company continues to grow in all three of our markets – the U.S., Brazil and the U.K. – there are increasing demands on my time,” said Earl Hesterberg, Group 1's president and chief executive officer.
“Daryl’s appointment to this new role will enable me to focus more on strategic and growth initiatives and will be a seamless transition from an operating viewpoint as Daryl has detailed knowledge about every one of our 111 U.S. dealerships,” Hesterberg went on to say.
John Mendel’s career took him to posts with Ford, Mazda and most recently Honda where he retired this month after serving as executive vice president of the automobile division since November 2004.
Mendel doesn’t appear ready to walk away from the industry altogether as TrueCar announced on Monday that he has been nominated for election to its board of directors.
TrueCar said Mendel will stand for election as a Class III director at its annual meeting of stockholders on May 18. Mendel would fill the vacancy created by the departure of director Abhishek Agrawal, who is not standing for re-election. The other two current Class III directors have been nominated for re-election at the meeting.
“We are very excited to nominate John Mendel for election to serve as a director to the TrueCar board,” TrueCar chairman Chris Claus said. “John is a seasoned automotive executive with more than 30 years of experience leading great automotive brands in sales, service, marketing and executive management.
“We believe John would serve all TrueCar shareholders with distinction, and would provide invaluable advice and counsel to our management team, as he has a deep understanding of all of the forces at play in our category that influence OEMs, dealers and consumers,” Claus continued.
Prior to joining Honda, Mendel spent 28 years with Ford and served as executive vice president and chief operating officer for Mazda North American Operations. He began his career with the Blue Oval’s U.S. operations in 1976 and held numerous sales and marketing positions within Ford, Lincoln Mercury and Ford Customer Service.
Mendel also served as director of marketing with Ford of Britain from 1999 to 2002 before joining the leadership team at Mazda.
“I am honored and excited to have the chance to be considered for the board at TrueCar,” Mendel said. “I have admired the progress the company has made under the guidance of Chip Perry, and I look forward to being part of an even more exciting future going forward.”
And speaking of Perry, he recently shared with Auto Remarketing what he called the “road map” TrueCar now is following. The first part of the series can be found here, and the second one is available here.
LotVantage announced on Wednesday that it has brought on two new additions to develop the company’s OEM Brand Manager utilization tool, which aims to help OEMs market their promotions and advertisements through their dealers’ social media channels.
The digital marketing solutions provider chose Branden Elwell, who was most recently the senior vice president of sales at VisualCue, and Patrick Pearson, a former client of LotVantage who utilized its software while leading the marketing department of Chrome Capital, a motorcycle leasing company.
“Both Elwell and Pearson bring many years of experience to LotVantage and they have already hit the ground running. Our OEM Brand Manager has the potential, to not only help LotVantage grow as a company, but it is disrupting how OEMs think about their marketing strategy” LotVantage vice president Jim Jabaay said in a news release. “Brand Manager makes it easy for OEMs to disseminate brand messaging at the dealer level, which can be a challenge to get dealer participation with a tool like ours.”
Elwell is a high-performing sales and business development executive who has led top-tier sales organizations, LotVantage said.
Throughout his career that spans more than 25 years, he has worked within the retail, healthcare, staffing and SaaS software industries.
For most of Elwell’s career, he has been responsible for the development of software companies.
Pearson has a 30-year background working in business development for advertising and public relations agencies.
His career began at the global public relations and communications firm Burson-Marsteller.
Prior to Chrome Capital, he served as director of marketing at Hersheypark.
“LotVantage is experiencing exciting growth with our OEM Brand Manager,” company president and chief executive officer Matthew Brown said. “Now that we have brought in Elwell and Pearson, we’ll be able to exponentially grow that side of our business.”
SGS’s Automotive Services group announced it recently brought on a national sales executive to join its sales team to lead the company’s off-lease, rental-return and non-traditional inspection services sales efforts.
Chosen for the position is Scott Fornwalt, who most recently managed auctions in both the St. Louis and the Detroit areas, overseeing operations, sales, and online auctions.
“We are excited to welcome Scott to the team,” SGS vice president of business development Bob Gapinski said in a news release. “He has been involved in the remarketing industry in various roles giving him valuable insight into our customer’s buying process, challenges and needs.”
With over 20 years of remarketing industry experience, Fornwalt’s background includes buying and selling used vehicles as well as managing end-of-lease vehicle inventory, according to SGS.
“I look forward to being able to leverage my industry experience to gain future opportunities for SGS,” Fornwalt said. “I hope to create opportunities in new markets and build lasting relationships with our customers by constantly keeping my eyes and ears open for new opportunities and ways to support our customers.”
Fornwalt will be based out of Detroit.
On Monday, automotiveMastermind announced that it recently brought on Scott McKenzie as vice president of operations and strategy and Fred Mather as chief commercial officer.
McKenzie, who most recently served as associate director at JMI Equity, has been working closely with automotiveMastermind since a strategic growth investment in the company last year.
Mather holds 25 years of experience in sales and sales management of high-growth companies in the U.S. and the United Kingdom.
“As the need for predictive analytics grows, we must continue to grow with it. Bringing in Scott and Fred ensures we will be able to quickly adapt to change, while creating a strong culture that benefits our dealer partners and allows for our continued growth,” automotiveMastermind chief executive officer and co-founder Marco Schnabl said in a news release.
“A recent study shows that customers visit an average of 1.6 dealers before making their purchase; that underscores the need for using predictive analytics to capture that customer before they leave for another dealership. Our dealer partners have come to expect exceptional results from us and with these hires we are committed to continuing to deliver that to them," Schnabl continued.
McKenzie brings five years of private equity investment and operations experience to his new role as vice president of operations.
At JMI Equity, McKenzie first worked in an investing role, sourcing and evaluating investment opportunities. More recently, as a member of the operations team, he collaborated with management teams throughout North America to streamline their operations.
“My experience in private equity made me better appreciate how uniquely positioned automotiveMastermind is for success. JMI looks at thousands of businesses a year, and automotiveMastermind is one of the best assets we have spent time with during my tenure,” McKenzie said. “There are only a few businesses that get the right product to market at the right time and Mastermind is one of them – it’s easy for dealers to see the hard dollar ROI that the product offers. Our potential for growth is unbounded and I couldn’t be more excited to join the team.”
In addition to sales and sales management, Mather has had direct experience in financial publishing and services with companies such as Bowne and St. Ives.
“I am most excited for taking on the immense opportunity to support positive change in the relationship between leadership in the automotive industry and the customer,” Mather said. “We’re here to realize ROI and help sell more vehicles, and if we can grow and expand the relationship between the dealer, OEM and customer, we have achieved our goal.”
Mather has also worked at Adtech Undertone where he led both of its sales and publishing teams.
