Manheim has appointed two new general managers. Emily Decker will serve as GM of Manheim Indianapolis, while David Aguilar will have that role with Manheim El Paso.
Decker, a 20-year veteran of Manheim, started as a dealer registration administrator and took on various roles with increasing responsibility at Manheim’s Tampa, St. Petersburg and Lakeland Locations. She most recently was assistant GM at Manheim Statesville.
Decker is engaged in company leadership programs including Manheim’s Guiding Coalition, the Cox mentor program, Women with Drive and the prestigious Cox Leader’s Edge program.
“Emily is a powerful addition to our GM ranks,” Tim Janego, regional vice president, east, said in a news release. “Our clients and the Indianapolis team will benefit from her deep knowledge, insight and commitment.”
Aguilar joined Manheim in 2013 as a human resources manager and quickly transitioned to reconditioning manager for the Manheim San Antonio and Dallas locations. His strong background in operations, acquired while serving in the U.S. Marine Corps for eight years and working in operations for the city of Austin, Texas, for 12 years, laid the foundation for his roles with Manheim.
“David’s quick rise at Manheim is a testament to his strategic focus and ability to help dealers move inventory in a market filled with discriminating buyers,” said Barry Roop, regional vice president, west. “His no-nonsense approach and collaborative style makes him ideal for this position.”
ADESA has promoted two within its dealer services team.
C.J. Lopez, previously major dealer accounts manager, has been promoted to director of major dealer accounts. Kjersta Loyd, formerly general sales manager of ADESA Golden Gate, has been promoted to regional dealer sales manager for the Mideast/Midwest regions.
Both positions will report to Steve Dudash, vice president of dealer services.
Lopez will act as a strategic partner and oversee relationships with major dealer groups. He will be responsible for sharing the latest technologies, products and services to support customers’ evolving business needs and enhance their overall auction experience.
Lopez started his career with ADESA in 2006 as the dealer sales and services manager of ADESA San Diego. He won numerous awards, including 2009 first Place Dealer Consignment (Division 2), 2010 Western Region Dealer e-Business Champion and 2011 Dealer Sales MVP Western Division. In 2012 he was promoted to general sales manager, and in 2014 he was promoted to major dealer accounts manager. Lopez recently won 2015 Major Dealer Accounts MVP honors. He received a bachelor’s degree from Montclair State University.
“C.J. has consistently produced impressive results during his 10 years with ADESA,” said Dudash. “As major dealer accounts manager, he has successfully developed and implemented national partnerships while still working closely with his team and with customers. I look forward to working with him on strategies and tactics to enhance our product and service offerings to dealers on a national level.”
Loyd will collaborate with local auction sales managers and provide guidance on managing dealer sales activities. She will develop plans and sales strategies to ensure consistency across auction location and prioritize common goals, such as providing quality service to customers.
Loyd brings nearly 20 years of automotive industry experience to her new position. She began her career with ADESA Seattle in 1998 and served in roles of increasing responsibility for more than a decade.
She worked at Washington Liftruck for two years and then returned to ADESA Seattle in 2010 in outside sales for the dealer consignment team. She was promoted to dealer sales and services manager at ADESA Houston in 2011, where she won 2012 Central Region Dealer Sales MVP and 2013 West Region Online Champion honors. In 2014, she was named general sales manager of ADESA Golden Gate.
“Kjersta has been an outstanding performer throughout her two decades in the industry, and I welcome her to the national dealer services team,” said Dudash. “She will be instrumental in ensuring we implement best practices and standardization to provide more dedicated service and support to customers across the Midwest and Mideast regions.”
Aid to Canadian wildfire victims
Customers at ADESA’s Canadian auction locations recently donated $129,652 to support the Canadian Red Cross Alberta Fires fund.
The northern Alberta community of Fort McMurray was evacuated May 3 as the largest wildfire in Alberta’s history swept through the area. It destroyed roughly 2,400 homes and buildings and called for the evacuation of more than 88,000 residents. The wildfires burned for more than a month, consuming more than 1.4 million acres.
“This wildfire will have a tremendous impact on the Canadian economy,” said Gregg Maidment, senior vice president of Canadian operations. “We really wanted to find a way to make a difference in partnership with our colleagues in the industry.”
The fundraising drive at all ADESA Canada auctions allowed buying and selling customers to donate in denominations up to $2,500. Offering a range of donation levels allowed more members of the used-car auction industry to participate, said Maidment. “ADESA was just the facilitator. The credit really goes to our customers who gave generously to this relief event.
“Although our auctions are involved in a number of charity events every year, this is the first time we’ve done something like this,” Maidment continued. “This was a way for us to join forces with our clients to raise money to help out. Our hearts go out to the families affected, and we thank our industry partners for their generosity in raising these funds.”
TradeRev has made three additions to its leadership team, bringing aboard Julie Derybowski, Sachin Bhalla and Cara Gray.
Derybowski will serve as executive director of U.S. operations, managing essential functions to optimize sales productivity. Bhalla will be director of marketing and will be responsible for building the TradeRev brand plus the overall marketing innovation strategy in Canada and globally, as well as advertising initiatives and the brand’s social media. Gray will serve as director of marketing, industry event planning and social media for the U.S., managing the company’s multimedia communications and the planning and execution of industry related events as the company continues to rapidly expand its U.S. presence.
“TradeRev is at a tremendously exciting growth juncture with the recent launch of our updated app, our ongoing aggressive U.S. expansion, and our new U.K. presence. At this critical point, we need proven industry leaders to continue helping take our brand to the next level,” TradeRev executive vice president Keith Crerar said in a news release. “Julie, Sachin and Cara all bring diverse, important skillsets that will add new value and help us unlock new opportunities.”
Derybowski joined ADESA, TradeRev’s parent company, in 2004, where she held a variety of positions in analytical services, IT, program management, online product management and dealer sales, and was critical in expanding ADESA’s mobile product offering and international footprint. She earned a bachelor’s degree in finance and marketing from Franklin College.
Bhalla started his career in 2005 as a marketing specialist at Deloitte in Canada and worked for a variety of other companies, including Draftfcb, Publicis, BNOTIONS, BBDO and Public Inc., where he managed a variety of Tier A brands like Apple, Coors Light, Campbell’s, Visa and Absolute Vodka. He received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Guelph.
With nearly 15 years of marketing experience, Gray joined the ADESA marketing team in 2009, managing national consignor marketing campaigns, industry events and media buys. Prior to that, she held marketing managerial positions in the property management and home-building industry. She earned a bachelor’s degree in public relations from Ball State University.
As part of pre-planned leadership change, KAR Auction Services on Monday promoted Jim Money to be president of Automotive Finance Corp. (AFC). Money will take over this role with the KAR subsidiary effective on Saturday.
Money, who most recently served as chief financial officer of AFC, will report directly to Don Gottwald, KAR’s chief operating officer.
“During his nearly 17 years with the company, Jim has developed a deep understanding of all aspects of this business and a strong commitment to this industry,” Gottwald said. “He is an accomplished professional who is well-respected by employees, customers and business partners, and we have tremendous confidence in his ability to successfully lead AFC.”
Money’s promotion comes as part of a long-standing and well-executed succession plan. John Hammer, who most recently served as AFC chief executive officer and president, is leaving the company on Friday for professional and personal reasons. He and his family will be relocating to the South, where he has a unique opportunity to lead a retail dealership group.
“AFC has thrived under John’s direction, and we wish him the best in his new endeavor,” Gottwald said. “John has developed Jim to be an exceptional leader and positioned him, and AFC, for continued success.”
Money brings more than 25 years of experience to his new role. While at AFC, he has overseen finance, underwriting, collections and risk management operations. Most recently, he directed the business operations of Preferred Warranties, a vehicle service contract company owned by AFC, and was instrumental in growing the business and expanding its geographic reach.
Prior to joining AFC, Money held a variety of senior management positions within financial and service organizations. Money holds a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University and is a licensed certified public accountant.
Also part of the company’s comprehensive succession plan is the promotion of Amy Wirges to vice president of finance. Wirges, who most recently served as operational controller for AFC, will report directly to Money.
Wirges joined AFC in 2001 and has played an integral role in directing the operation's financial needs, including system conversions, internal control improvement and mergers and acquisitions integration. She brings more than 15 years of experience to her current role and is a seasoned industry veteran with proven leadership skills.
Prior to AFC, she worked in public accounting. Wirges holds a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University and is a licensed certified public accountant.
Tony Zolla has a background with technology enabling consumers to watch movies or purchase tickets. Now Cars.com is asking Zolla to bring his tech expertise to help dealers and buyers connect to move metal.
On Monday, Cars.com named Zolla as chief product officer, effective immediately. Zolla will be responsible for defining the company’s product strategy for both consumers and dealer customers, overseeing the development and launch of new products, and guiding the innovation of existing properties.
Zolla will report directly to chief executive officer and president Alex Vetter and will be based in the company’s Chicago headquarters.
“Tony is a widely respected leader in digital commerce who will utilize his broad understanding of consumer and marketplace behavior, coupled with deep technology expertise, to drive our consumer-first approach at Cars.com,” Vetter said.
“Tony’s excellent track record of leading product innovation and creating seamless experiences across web, mobile and retail store channels is aligned with our multi-channel approach and will enable Cars.com to help consumers win throughout the car ownership lifecycle,” Vetter continued.
Zolla comes to Cars.com with 18 years of progressive experience building and leading high-performance organizations at top consumer brands. Most recently, he was senior vice president of product and customer experience for the $2 billion retailer Redbox.
Prior to Redbox, Zolla served as vice president of digital product management, user experience and technology at Ticketmaster, where he led global ecommerce product management, UX design, product engineering, and technical operations for the company’s marketplace offerings. While at Ticketmaster, Zolla was responsible for strategy and roadmap development for both B2B and B2C products.
Zolla holds a master’s degree in business administration from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, a master’s degree in ecommerce technologies from DePaul University and a bachelor’s degree in information systems from Loyola University Chicago.
“Cars.com is an innovator in digital automotive marketing that continues to lead the industry as a valuable resource and influencer in the car shopping journey,” Zolla said.
“I’m thrilled to be joining the team and look forward to delivering best-in-class experiences to Cars.com consumers and customers that are both fun and engaging,” he went on to say.
Search Optics is expanding its reach worldwide, hiring five new executives to help secure a foothold in the international automotive industry.
The company announced the hiring of five new senior executives in the US, EMEA and APAC regions. The executives are:
- Guy Barron, senior vice president, global human resources
- Amanda Frank, vice president, brand marketing
- Xavier Montibert, vice president, business development EMEA
- Mark Vitorovic, vice president, business development EMEA
- Tom Wright, managing director APAC.
“Search Optics pursues the highest-quality talent at the local level, with an awareness of cultural distinctions in each new country we enter. We are committed to providing best-in-class technology in combination with real people to drive meaningful and superior results," David Ponn, chief executive officer of Search Optics, said in a news release. “Guy, Amanda, Xavier, Mark and Tom are outstanding examples of the kind of talent and dedication that will help our clients achieve their business goals, while better enabling Search Optics to expand into new regions.”
The five new executives have a combined 80 years of marketing industry experience, and will assist Search Optics in expanding its mobile-first philosophy, focusing their automotive advertising efforts on the mobile space, as automobile customers are searching for vehicles more frequently online and on mobile platforms.
Search Optics recently won the Google Mobile Champion Award for North America, aided by having more than 1,100 employees certified by Google.
The National Automobile Dealers Association has hired Peter Fong as senior vice president of dealership operations.
Fong’s more than 20 years of experience include various executive-level sales, marketing and brand management positions at Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Group LLC. He also guided Carmoza, an auto transport start-up company, through its merger and acquisition.
He most recently was executive vice president and chief marketing officer at The Judge Group, a global firm specializing in technology consulting, staffing solutions and corporate training. He joined that company in 2013.
“Peter brings tremendous understanding and a wealth of hands-on experience to NADA,” said NADA president Peter Welch. “With Peter at the helm of dealership operations, NADA will be able to continue providing our member dealers and their employees with innovative educational and training programs designed to meet the challenges of automotive retailing both now and well into the future.”
“I'm absolutely thrilled to be returning to the automotive industry, particularly now given the ongoing digital transformation of both the automotive manufacturing and retail sectors,” said Fong. “My primary goal will be driving value-added changes in all areas of dealership operations, so that the next generation of products and services provided by NADA to dealers and their employees is second-to-none.”
NADA's dealership operations department provides educational solutions and consultative services to member dealers in order to improve business operations. It includes membership, member resources, NADA and American Truck Dealer (ATD) Academy, NADA/ATD 20 Group and NADA/ATD University Online.
Fong said one key area of interest in his new role will be implementing best-in-class educational and training programs for dealerships to accelerate the “online to in-store” car buying experience for consumers.
“Digital technology and services will play a key role in the successful adoption of this process industrywide,” he said.
Fong replaces John Lyboldt, who left NADA last year to become president of the Alexandria, Va.-based Truckload Carriers Association.
Fong received a degree in mechanical engineering from Villanova University and served in the U.S. Navy from 1986 to 1994. He was a naval aviator, instructor and test pilot, and later served as the senior class instructor and advisor for the Villanova University Naval ROTC Unit while earning an MBA in strategic marketing and international management.
He is active with several professional and civic organizations, and serves on the board of trustees for Villanova. Fong served as an advisory board member for the automotive start-up GoMoto. He also served as vice chairman for the Wish Upon a Hero Foundation, area chairman for the New Jersey Chapter of the United Way and advisory board member for the Southern New Jersey Chapter of the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition.
Fong lives in Moorestown, N.J., with his wife and three children.
TradeRev, a mobile vehicle appraisal and auctioning system for dealers, has hired Jason McClenahan as Northeast regional sales director.
McClenahan will be responsible for leading and growing the sales team and driving the expansion of the TradeRev presence throughout the northeastern U.S. He also will help manage the company’s partnerships with local dealership groups, including the recently added Pohanka Automotive Group.
“As we continue on our path of aggressively expanding TradeRev’s U.S. footprint, having a leader like Jason who has more than 16 years of auction industry experience will be instrumental to our growth and relationship building strategy,” said TradeRev executive vice president Keith Crerar.
“Having served in a range of progressively more important roles in the auto auction industry, Jason has a keen understanding of the needs and pain points that today’s dealers face, and how our solutions can help to make their operations more profitable and efficient.”
Prior to joining TradeRev, McClenahan held a variety of positions with ADESA including assistant general manager, operations manager and sales manager. His most recent role was general manager of ADESA Ottawa. Under McClenahan’s leadership, ADESA Ottawa became one of the fastest-growing dealer consignment auctions within the last four years.
As he prepares to take over as manager of the Carolina Auto Auction, Eric Autenrieth is proving that you can go home again.
Autenrieth spent 10 years working alongside his parents, Henry and Patty Stanley, after they purchased Carolina Auto Auction. His roles included outside dealer sales rep, sales and marketing manager, fleet/lease manager and assistant general manager. When the Stanleys bought the Indiana Auto Auction in 2007, their son moved north to manage that facility.
“We’re delighted that Eric will be returning to Carolina Auto Auction,” said Henry Stanley. “He has done an outstanding job at the Indiana Auto Auction in the nine years since we bought that facility. The time was right to make changes to the management structure at Carolina Auto Auction, and we know that the auction will continue to grow and thrive under his supervision.”
“2007 was not an opportune time to start a new venture in the auction industry,” said Patty Stanley. “The economic downturn presented all of us with serious challenges, but Eric showed tremendous leadership and skill in making Indiana Auto Auction a success. He has grown the sale to offer 800 cars a week, with an excellent balance of fleet/lease and dealer consignment.”
The Stanleys said that thanks to Autenrieth’s efforts, Indiana Auto Auction has been named one of the top auctions in the nation for Fiserv every year since 2011.
“Carolina is ‘home’ to me and my family, and I am excited to start working with the team at Carolina Auto Auction,” said Autenrieth. “Like their counterparts at Indiana Auto Auction, the staff at Carolina Auto Auction really focuses on one-on-one relationships with their customers, and I look forward to working with them all to build on the pattern they have set for excellence in service and performance.”
Autenrieth will transition to his new leadership role over the next several months, dividing his time between Carolina Auto Auction and Indiana Auto Auction.
He will maintain close ties to Indiana Auto Auction, overseeing the management team there, which will be headed by Luke Dietrich.
“I know that I’ll be leaving the operations at Indiana Auto Auction in capable hands with Luke Dietrich at the helm as general manager,” Autenrieth continued. “He has worked in the auction industry for 15 years, the last five with me at Indiana, and is thoroughly devoted to our customers and employees. He will uphold the Stanley/Autenrieth standard at the auction — that integrity stands above all — and will continue our commitment to service.”
Following Henry Stanley’s lead, who was NAAA president in 1999-2000 and is a member of the NAAA Hall of Fame, Autenrieth has been president of Midwest Chapter of the NAAA, and currently serves on the NAAA board of directors. He is also ServNet’s vice president/treasurer, slated to assume the role of president in the spring of 2018, a position held by his mother, Patty, from 2014 through 2016. She is currently ServNet’s chairman of the board.
Carolina Auto Auction holds sales every Wednesday at 9 a.m., Indiana Auto Auction every Thursday at 9 a.m. with a heavy-duty truck sale every other Tuesday.
ADESA, a business unit of KAR Auction Services, has named Richard Griskie as chief information officer.
The company highlighted on Thursday that Griskie will oversee the operation of information technology systems for ADESA and several subsidiary businesses within the KAR Auction Services group of companies. He also will contribute to the management and direction of the overall business plan and be responsible for identifying and implementing technology strategies.
“We are pleased to welcome Richard to the team. He brings more than 25 years of automotive experience and a successful executive-level leadership track record that will further amplify our IT efforts across the company,” said ADESA CEO and president Stéphane St-Hilaire.
“As we continue to shift our operational structure to enhance technology effectiveness and service offerings, it is important for us to have individuals who can elevate the team’s performance and continue to improve and enhance our processes to deliver above and beyond on our customers’ needs.”
Griskie previously served as the vice president of technology operations and process for Dealertrack in New York. He also worked for companies such as JM Family Enterprises, Reynolds & Reynolds and Accenture. Griskie received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan.
