KAR Auction Services named a new vice president of investor relations and treasurer on Monday, appointing Mike Eliason to the role.
Eliason has been with KAR since 2003, when he joined as a controller for ADESA Impact. He was most recently KAR’s vice president of financial planning and analysis.
Before KAR, he held various business development and finance positions with ALLETTE (the former parent company of ADESA), Enbridge and KMPG.
In the new post, he will report to Eric Loughmiller, KAR's executive vice president and chief financial officer.
Eliason’s responsibilities will include heading up investor relations, budgeting, forecasting, investment of funds, and cash management activities. He will also maintain his role leading KAR’s financial planning and analysis initiatives.
“With more than 20 years of finance industry experience, Mike has demonstrated a proven track record of savvy leadership and meaningful results,” said Loughmiller. “With his combination of experience and industry insight, Mike is an excellent leader for this role.”
Reinforcing its commitment to bring the remarketing industry together, AutoIMS on Thursday announced an expansion of its client services team through the hiring of an industry veteran and the naming of a new vice president.
Joining the AutoIMS staff as Director of Client Support after 20 years of service leadership most recently with AutoVIN and DataScan is Ann Cammarata.
“Ann’s many years of well-regarded client advocacy in the auto remarketing industry make her a perfect fit for AutoIMS,” said Mike Broe, president of AutoIMS (Auto Auction Services Corp.).
Simultaneously, Joe Miller was promoted to the role of vice president of client experience.
“Joe’s customer focus and deep understanding of how AutoIMS can positively impact client workflows, efficiency and return in the remarketing process make him a natural fit to address the growing expectations of our clients,” Broe said.
Miller has spent six years as the director of customer service at AutoIMS, supporting clients on all sides of the remarketing industry. Miller was part of Auto Remarketing’s inaugural group of Remarketing & Used-Car Industry’s 40 Under 40.
“Our clients and partners continue to increase their trust and investment with us, and with these changes at AutoIMS, we hope there is no doubt of our commitment to providing extraordinary service to the industry in return,” Miller said.
“Ann’s energy, relationships, and proven leadership skills will help us take client service to a new level,” Miller went on to say.
ADESA said Wednesday it has named Jason Ferreri executive vice president of online services in the U.S.
Ferreri has been with the company since 2004 and his most recent role was as senior vice president of commercial sales for ADESA.
In the new position, he will report to ADESA president and chief executive officer Stéphane St-Hilaire and KAR Digital Services Group president Peter Kelly.
His responsibilities will be to head up the strategy, adoption and execution of ADESA’s online initiatives.
“With a continued focus on our customers, we have combined all of our online products and services under one leadership,” said St-Hilaire. “Our goal is to provide our customers every advantage in both the online and in-lane auction spaces and provide a more consistent experience throughout the entire vehicle remarketing lifecycle. Jason brings a unique skill set and diverse background working with dealer services, commercial accounts, sales and online auction technology that will truly be an asset in optimizing our vehicle remarketing channels.”
Kelly added: “We are committed to harnessing technology’s transformative impact on the customer experience. It creates new business opportunities and offers streamlined efficiencies to help our customers run their business more effectively. Jason is a perfect leader to best leverage these tools for our customers.”
Chrome Data and Dealix founder Mark Boyd took on his latest industry challenge on Friday, joining automotive digital marketing technology provider LotLinx as vice chairman and chief revenue officer.
The company highlighted Boyd will lead all LotLinx growth initiatives
Boyd joins LotLinx after a 30-year career founding and advising many of the industry’s most important digital companies. In 1986 Boyd founded Chrome Data, and in 2000, he founded Dealix. LotLinx believes both operations became pioneers and leaders in their category and remain cornerstones of the industry's digital infrastructure to this day.
Boyd was one of LotLinx’s early investors and joined the board of directors in 2012. Most recently, Boyd co-founded Cargigi, where he served as chief strategy officer until the company's acquisition by eBay in March.
A frequent investor in and advisor to notable auto tech companies such as TrueCar.com, DrivingSales.com, CarJockey, Ignition Auto Marketing and CarGurus, LotLinx thinks Boyd has earned a reputation as an a change-maker, innovator and most valuable player in automotive digital technology.
“Mark has been central to our success since almost day one,” LotLinx chairman Len Short said. “For three decades, Mark has tirelessly championed innovative automotive digital technologies and strategies. We have benefitted greatly from his energy, insight and equal passion for dealers and technology.
“Now we’ll have his full leadership focus. It will certainly bring LotLinx to new heights,” Short continued.
Reflecting on his new career post, Boyd added, “Growing companies is a special passion of mine. I love the auto industry and I work hard to apply my passion to make our industry better for both consumers and dealers.
“I have never been more committed to a product and its impact on a dealer’s business. LotLinx is the future of automotive digital marketing,” Boyd went on to say. “I look forward accelerating LotLinx’s growth. It’s the right thing for dealers and our industry.”
This week, MetroGistics promoted three of its employees into managerial positions at the automotive logistics services provider.
Brittany Twist, Alisha Bray and Alycia Lamartina all have new roles as Twist is now claims manager while Bray and Lamartina are both operations managers
“We’re thrilled to promote all three valued employees,” MetroGistics co-founder and managing partner William Billiter said. “These individuals have been successful assets to our logistics team, continuously offering expertise and solutions.”
Along with this promotion, MetroGistics highlighted that Twist is on track to receive her Certified Insurance Counselor designation from the National Alliance for Insurance Education & Research. She holds a certification on damage analysis and structural damage from the National Auto Auction Association.
Twist has attended St. Louis Community College for business management and marketing/public relations. She will be celebrating her fifth year with MetroGistics in May.
Bray graduated from Missouri State University in 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in general business and finance. Her career with MetroGistics started on the first day of business when she began working full-time straight out of college. She has worked in nearly every department at one point or another, growing her knowledge about operations.
Ultimately, Metrogistics mentioned Bray looks forward to continuing the growth of the team while spreading knowledge throughout the group.
Lamartina graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 2011 from University of Missouri-Saint Louis. She grew up in the transportation industry, becoming a third-generation logistics dispatcher. Both her father and grandfather worked in the logistics field.
“I am proud to work for a company that is constantly expanding and allowing room for employees to advance from within,” Lamartina said. “I know I will face new challenges, but am excited to learn and achieve new endeavors for our company on a personal level. I am looking forward to helping take MetroGistics to the next level.”
Cox Automotive continued to adjust its leadership structure on Tuesday as the company promoted VinSolutions vice president and general manager Lori Wittman to become senior vice president and to lead the newly formed Cox Automotive Sales and F&I Solutions team.
The company added that Wittman will maintain her role as the general manager of VinSolutions.
Cox Automotive explained that it created the Sales and F&I Solutions team after the company named VinSolutions as its designated CRM solution. The team comprises the dealer-facing portions of Cox Automotive’s F&I holdings as well as VinSolutions.
As part of her new role, Wittman will lead Cox Automotive in addressing the automotive industry’s steady movement away from on-site software and toward online solutions for the F&I space.
Wittman joined VinSolutions in 2013 with 20 years of cross-industry technology and business operations experience. She was an associate partner with Accenture, and also held positions with Freightquote and H&R Block.
“Lori has been a driving force in the company’s continued growth from day one,” said Keith Jezek, president of Cox Automotive Software Group. “Her dedicated leadership is a huge benefit to both VinSolutions and Cox Automotive.
Now, in addition to shaping the future development of VinSolutions, Lori will lead this new team,” Jezek continued. “Forming the Sales and F&I Solutions team is another example of how Cox Automotive continues to align and integrate offerings to enable dealer clients to be more profitable and efficient.”
On Monday, ADESA named Marty Nowlin as vice president of human resources.
In his new role, ADESA said Nowlin will develop and execute all human resources strategies in support of the overall business plan and direction of the company. His key areas of responsibility will include talent management, succession planning and the company’s training and development programs. Nowlin will also lead the company’s team of human resources professionals throughout North America.
“Marty is a veteran leader with a successful track record in the HR field and proven collaboration skills that will help take our company to the next level and ultimately achieve a high level of credibility as an effective and responsive business partner,” said ADESA president and chief executive officer Stéphane St-Hilaire.
“We are excited to welcome Marty to the team, and we are confident that he will be a positive driving force for our ADESA human resources operations throughout the United States,” St-Hilaire added.
Prior to joining ADESA, Nowlin was the vice president of human resources at Sears Holdings Corp. in Indianapolis and Chicago. He has held numerous HR leadership positions during his nearly two decades in the field, including vice president of human resources of Manpower Group and Stanley Black & Decker.
Nowlin has a bachelor’s degree in business from Indiana University.
During a week in which president and chief executive officer Chip Perry explained how the company is completely revamping how it conducts business with dealers, TrueCar added another executive who also spent time with Autotrader to be its new senior vice president of dealer sales
Tasked with contributing directly to strengthening dealer relationships across the TrueCar Certified Dealer network is Jim Menard, who has experience with not only Autotrader but Search Optics and vAuto as well.
Menard will report to executive vice president of dealer sales and service Brian Skutta, who said “Jim’s dealer-centric focus and breadth of experience across media, software and in-store process makes him a perfect fit for the TrueCar team.
“Jim’s leadership will further enhance TrueCar’s ability to engage our dealer body in order to drive profits and improve the user experience, which will result in a win-win for both dealers and consumers,” Skutta added.
Previously, Menard was president and general manager of the U.S. subsidiary of Search Optics, a global digital marketing provider that specializes in the automotive industry. There, he led the company’s U.S. strategy, working directly with dealers to create sales opportunities. He
Menard joins TrueCar after spending nearly 20 years in the auto industry fostering partnerships with dealerships across the U.S., and has played a pivotal role in shaping the evolution of auto classified listings as it progressed from print into the digital space.
Menard also served as vice president of dealer field sales at AutoTrader, and was vice president and general manager of dealership management software provider vAuto, where he oversaw several acquisitions and consistently delivered year-over-year performance for the company.
“I’m excited about the direction TrueCar is headed and the positive impact it will have on the auto industry,” Menard said.
“I will strive to build an outstanding sales organization that dealers consider an essential partner to their business,” he continued. “TrueCar is poised to develop an even more productive relationship with both dealers and consumers, and I look forward to being a part of the process."
The direction Menard referenced changed significantly earlier this week when Perry revealed a series of sweeping changes to TrueCar’s product offering, data policies, billing model and practices, consumer-facing advertising and website messaging — plus plans to hire more than 100 field services consultants to help dealers get the most out of TrueCar.
The former vice president of product for Chrome on Tuesday joined Vast, a big data-as-service platform.
Taking on the role as vice president of data products and being charged with further developing and extending Vast’s product offerings for automotive brands and for dealers is Andrew Lumsden.
“Our focus at Vast is data and analytics and for using that intelligence to improve the car buying process for dealers and consumers alike,” Vast chief executive officer John Price said.
“Andrew brings a matching passion for making connections between data, technologies and people, along with a record of proven innovation. His contribution will be invaluable as we broaden exposure of Vast’s services to our OEM and dealer customers,” Price said.
Lumsden has provided the North American automotive industry with data, content, e-commerce and other technology-enabled solutions for the past 15 years. Most recently at Chrome Data, he oversaw the development and management of its products, services, sales and marketing and content operations.
Previously, Lumsden spearheaded product development for AutoData’s syndication business and managed data content/operations for consumer electronics brand Logitech. Lumsden has worked closely with many of the biggest names in the automotive industry, including General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, Hyundai, Google, Cox Automotive, Kelley Blue Book, Cars.com, Edmunds.com, AutoNation, Carfax, eBay Motors and others.
Lumsden joins Vast on the heels of its recent announcement of $14 million investment from Capital One Growth Ventures.
“There’s a lot of talk in our industry about ‘big data,’ but, until now, there has not been a true data solution that leverages its benefits to answer the pain points that plague used car shoppers,” Lumsden said.
“Vast is delivering unprecedented data innovation to our industry, and I’m truly excited to join this creative and determined team,” he went on to say.
ADESA subsidiary Recovery Database Network (RDN) named its new chief executive officer this week, expanding the role of a president and CEO from another subsidiary.
Taking on the leadership post at RDN along with his responsibilities at CarsArrive Network is Michael Briggs.
As the leader of both RDN and CarsArrive, ADESA indicated Briggs will integrate the respective strengths of both companies to create new synergies, and build a more robust end-to-end remarketing solution for customers.
Briggs will continue to report to Peter Kelly, president of KAR Digital Services Group and chief technology officer of KAR Auction Services.
“Michael has done a fantastic job growing CarsArrive, and we are confident that his visionary leadership style and knowledge of the industry will benefit both organizations and our customers,” Kelly said.
“We are focused on leveraging our unique complementary services and the expertise of these companies, ultimately investing in developing more platforms and solutions, including mobile accessibility,” he added.
ADESA added RDN will now be headquartered out of the CarsArrive Network’s Mesa, Ariz., office.
“CarsArrive and RDN have built strong reputations and service offerings separately, and this success is a result of the talent and dedication of these teams. Working together, we will be able to provide customers with an even wider assortment of services, including a seamless, comprehensive solution that incorporates virtually every stage of the vehicle remarketing lifecycle: from repossession to auction to the dealership lot,” Briggs said.
“This partnership will also allow us to leverage more of our Phoenix-based resources and develop technology synergies to provide an improved customer experience and truly demonstrate the combined strength of the KAR group of companies,” Briggs went on to say.
