Data mining, lead generation and sales opportunity provider AutoAlert recently hired two key vice presidents to steward a multi-million-dollar investment in its software tools and dealership performance-enhancing services.
Joining AutoAlert are Tony Rhoades as vice president of product and James Burton as vice president of portfolio management.
Rhoades is the former executive director of Information and Consumer Strategy for The Gunn Automotive Group. He spent the last 16 years delivering results in various automotive retail sales, finance, technology, and e-commerce roles, the majority of which was with Gunn dealerships.
Rhoades has also served on the dealer advisory boards of several industry technology providers, and is a sought-after speaker for automotive industry events and conferences. AutoAlert noted Rhoades' considerable retail experience, technical background, and dealer-centric approach will serve the company well as he leads product improvement and innovation.
Burton is a former executive and dealer with operational expertise with publicly held CarMax Auto Superstores and privately held independents as well as AutoTrader.com’s Trade-In Marketplace.
Burton will lead a newly created portfolio management team where he will focus entirely on the performance and retention of existing AutoAlert clients.
With more than 18 years' experience in automotive and automotive retail services, Burton brings both a strategic perspective and tactical execution to portfolio management.
AutoAlert highlighted Burton’s proven record of accomplishment has shown consistent performance and profit enhancement for the dealerships he has managed and supported. Burton has served on multiple advisory boards, industry panels and OEM boards.
“The addition of Tony and James will ultimately drive improved performance and profit for AutoAlert dealers,” said AutoAlert chief executive officer Brian Skutta, who took on his current post last September after departing from VinSolutions.
“Their industry knowledge, hands-on approach, and passion for our industry will drive continued innovation for our product set and utilization across our dealer base. We could not be more excited to have them on the team,” Skutta added.
Black Book is ramping up it dealer services team with the promotion of Adam Mann.
Mann, national sales director since 2013, has been named vice president of dealer services for the Black Book Activator Division.
In his new role, Mann will be responsible for leading a team of U.S. sales professionals and executing business development initiatives for the Activator Division.
This division of Black Book develops and markets web-based and mobile-friendly products to help dealers convert more digital automotive shoppers and elevate customer satisfaction levels, the company explained.
“The auto dealership industry has never been more customer-focused than it is today, which is why dealers rely on Activator to deliver tools and solutions that convert more leads into satisfied customers,” said Mike McFall, president of Black Book Activator. “Adam recognizes this important element in the relationships we build with our dealer customers, and I’m confident he will drive additional growth by communicating the unique values and profit potential offered by Activator solutions.”
Mann joined the company back in 2008 as Northwest regional manager. In this role, company management said he successfully developed a young territory for Activator.
In 2010, he became the southwest regional sales manager, while also managing clients in the Northeast region.
“Adam will be focused on supervising the U.S. sales force to identify market opportunities and fulfill business needs, and ensure the delivery of quality solutions to Activator’s roster of dealership customers,” said Jared Kalfus, senior vice president of sales for Black Book. “Furthermore, Adam will be instrumental in building and maintaining a strong Activator sales team, and he will be pivotal in building key relationships with our national network of dealers.”
Before joining Black Book, Mann worked as a used-car director, overseeing all business operations from multi-point, multi-franchise, wholesale and retail to service reconditioning, advertising, marketing, compliance and staffing.
“Mann’s experience at the dealership level helped shape his current attention to customer satisfaction levels, and he is also extremely knowledgeable of the auctions business,” Black Book management said.
ADESA announced right before the holidays the appointment of a new fleet/lease manager at ADESA Dallas. Ronna Webb, formerly the director of CRM and inside sales at ADESA, takes on the position of fleet/lease manager backed by 27 years of experience in the industry.
“Ronna is an industry veteran with a proven track record of innovative performance and mentorship,” said Ken Osborn, ADESA Dallas general manager. “Her ability to envision and execute streamlined operational and administrative processes and inspire strong leadership across all levels will make her a true asset to the ADESA Dallas management team.”
As new fleet/lease manager, Webb will be responsible for start-to-finish processing of a high-volume commercial portfolio.
Webb’s automotive career began in 1987 as a block clerk and moved into other positions such as factory department supervisor, General Motors account manager, factory manager and general operations manager. Auto Remarketing honored Webb in 2011 as a member of our annual “Women in Remarketing.”
It was announced this afternoon Janet Barnard will be taking on the position of president of Manheim North America.
The move is effective immediately.
Barnard, who previously served as executive vice president and chief operating officer, will continue to lead the company's core vehicle auction business that includes 78 operating locations and a team of more than 18,000 employees, the company shared.
Now as a member of parent company Cox Automotive’s leadership team, she will also be responsible for strategic business functions such as operations, sales, customer experience and product development.
"Janet has done a tremendous job of reinforcing Manheim's position as an industry leader and setting a vision for the company's long-term success," said Sandy Schwartz, Cox Automotive president. "We congratulate her on this well-deserved achievement and look forward to the many contributions she will continue to make to our industry, our company and our customers as a valued member of the Cox Automotive executive team."
Barnard has been involved with a number of initiatives designed to further the industry over the past three years.
This includes working to create a multiplatform selling solution and launching a $100 million multi-year auction modernization effort.
Prior to joining the auction giant, Barnard served as senior vice president and general manager for Cox Communications' Central Region.
She was responsible for growing the $1.2 billion region in voice, data and video services across a residential and commercial base of more than 700,000 customers.
Prior to that role, Barnard served as senior vice president and general manager for other Cox Communications regional business areas, including Northern Virginia, Middle America and Omaha.
Barnard began her career with Cox Communications back in 1988 as the accounting manager for Middle Georgia operations.
She is also very active in her community and is a member of the Metro Atlanta Clean Tech Leadership Council.
She was most recently recognized by Women in Technology (WIT) as the winner of the 2014 Woman of the Year in Technology Award in the Large/Enterprise Organization category.
Barnard also gives back to her community as a supporter of and participant in the Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America (KPCRAA).
In addition, she has been involved in All Our Kids, acting as a board member and mentor for this organization that serves at-risk youth by providing mentoring and college scholarships to those who uphold certain behavioral and performance standards in the program.
DealerRater announced the expansion of its leadership team with the addition of two new vice presidents. The executive team welcomes Bobby Gaudreau and Jeff Provost, both with a wealth of prior knowledge with related organizations, into the positions of vice president of sales and marketing and vice president of customer service, respectively.
Both additions will report directly to Gary Tucker, DealerRater’s chief executive officer.
“Bobby and Jeff will help the DealerRater team further establish our site as a place to build trust between dealers and car shoppers,” Tucker said. “As online reviews continue to have a greater impact on consumer purchase decisions, we’re confident that the experience and skill sets Bobby and Jeff bring to their new roles will help grow and shape our platform to meet the needs of dealers and their customers.”
Gaudreau will be in charge of the company’s sales and marketing efforts, including the expansion of the Certified Dealer client base. He will also lead the initiative to broaden consumer awareness of DealerRater’s offerings.
Provost takes on the responsibility of the company’s operations, including customer service, moderation, implementation and dealer experience, collectively supporting the company’s primary goal of building trust between car shoppers and dealers.
Both of the new VPs bring over decade of experience into their current positions. Gaudreau, with over 15 years of sales and leadership experience, with software and technology, moves to the company from Vee24, where he served as vice president of sales. Provost has more than 14 years of experience in customer-focused operational roles, for startups and enterprise organizations, joining DealerRater after serving as vice president of operations at FitLinxx.
Black Book on Tuesday promoted one of the many industry experts featured at Used Car Week — Jared Kalfus.
Kalfus now is senior vice president of sales, expanding his current role overseeing data licensing and lender solutions to now include the sales team of Black Book’s Activator division.
The company contends the promotion further solidifies Black Book as one of the leading providers of data and insight to the broader automotive industry, which relies on data-driven solutions to serve customers across every aspect of the automotive supply chain.
With 20 years of experience in the automotive industry, Kalfus joined Black Book in June 2012, where he began his tenure as vice president of automotive licensing. Kalfus will remain responsible for overseeing the national sales team focused on licensing Black Book data to automotive OEMs, auctions, VARs and marketing companies.
Kalfus also leads the Black Book Lender Solutions team that supports automotive lenders, finance customers, banks, credit unions and title lenders.
“The expansion of Jared’s leadership role is a strategic decision that provides stronger integration of resources for Black Book’s automotive dealership customers,” Black Book president Tom Cross said.
“Black Book’s innovative data-driven solutions reach every corner of today’s automotive channel,” Cross continued. “Jared will leverage his expertise in sophisticated data platforms to lead our sales teams focused on offering customers a new level of profit potential, particularly at the automotive dealership level.”
A leading pioneer of the online lead-generation industry for automotive, Activator can develop and market innovative Web-based and mobile-friendly products to help thousands of dealers convert more digital automotive shoppers into satisfied customers.
“Today, auto dealers and sales professionals rely on data-driven, Web-based tools and resources to identify and convert quality online customer leads,” added Mike McFall, president of Black Book’s Activator division.
“With the vast majority of automotive shoppers beginning their vehicle research process online, Jared’s end-to-end sales leadership skills will help effectively communicate the value of our services and better position our products among thousands of Black Book Activator dealerships throughout the country,” McFall continued.
With Black Book Lender Solutions serving as the sponsor, Kalfus presented Westlake Financial Services president Ian Anderson with the award as this year’s SubPrime Auto Finance Executive of the Year at Used Car Week. Kalfus joined fellow Black Book executive Susan Hughes for a presentation at the SubPrime Forum.
Chrysler Group’s vice president of dealer network development announced late last week his intentions to retire.
Peter Grady, who also leads Maserati North America as the company’s president and chief executive officer, will be stepping down, effective March 31.
The company said in the meantime, Grady will retain his current responsibilities and remain a member of the company’s NAFTA Leadership Team.
Christian Gobber will take over leading Maserati North America on the first of the year.
“I want to thank Pete for his many years of dedication to the company and wish him and his family the very best,” said Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.
Grady has been with the company since 1984 and has worked in sales, service and dealer network operations, both within the U.S. and internationally.
ServNet recently announced several adjustments to its leadership team. At its fall owners’ meeting, Eric Autenrieth, co-owner and general manager of Indiana Auto Auction, was elected to the group’s board of directors.
Autenrieth, also the group’s representative to the International Automotive Remarketers Alliance, succeeds Brad Sturgeon, of DAA of the Rockies and DAA of the Southwest, who concluded his term.
In other board news, former board member Ben Brasher, of Brasher’s Sacramento Auto Auction, was elected to the office of treasurer. Former treasurer and vice president Kevin Brown, owner of Missouri Auto Auction, will continue as VP until he succeeds Patty Stanley as president at the end of her current term in the fall of 2015.
“ServNet’s auction owners are extremely active in all aspects of the organization, serving as directors and officers to support the group’s position on all manner of industry initiatives,” said Pierre Pons, ServNet’s chief executive officer. “In addition to operating very successful businesses, they contribute a tremendous amount of their time and energy to ensure that ServNet and its individual member auctions are well positioned in the remarketing industry.”
Board positions remaining in place, according to ServNet, include: chairman of the board, R. Charles Nichols (BSC America/Bel Air and Tallahassee Auto Auctions; director, Bill Williams Jr. (Flint Auto Auction); and director, Dave Angelicchio (Pittsburgh Auto Auction, Winchester Auto Auction).
Southeastern Auto Auction’s president and chief executive officer announced the appointment of a newly created position of vice president of operations. Wayne DeLoach, the auction’s president, said that Bill McCready, formerly of Charleston Auto Auction in South Carolina, will take on the responsibility of the new VP position at Southeastern, where McCready will be accountable for driving business efficiencies and overseeing all auction operations.
“I am excited to be part of this fast growing organization,” McCready said. “Although the auction has been successful for over 25 years, owners Wayne (DeLoach), Tommy (Childs) and Danny (Williams) are dedicated to taking Southeastern Auto Auction to the next level. This past month we have implemented numerous types of technology that are new to this auction.”
Included in the changes are the updated website as well as physical renovations to the auction’s office, building and arena, set to be completed by the first of the upcoming year.
“We are thrilled to have Bill and all the experience that comes with him,” DeLoach said. “His background in marketing has already been demonstrated with numerous promotions scheduled for 2015. Bill will be working closely with our general manager Donnie Bazemore, and newly promoted assistant general manager Corey Fletcher. Donnie has been with the auction for 18 years and Corey, a graduate of Georgia Southern University with Cum Laude honors, has been with the auction for six years.”
McCready brings over 10 years of experience to the auction, including being an IARA Certified Automotive Remarketer.
Manheim announced this morning the appointment of former NextGear Capital chief operating officer Shane O’Dell into a new position with the company.
As Manheim’s first senior vice president of wholesale services, O’Dell takes on the responsibility of setting and executing key business strategies around Manheim’s third-party logistics. The company’s wholesale services include vehicle transportation, reconditioning, condition reporting, export and more.
O’Dell will report to Janet Barnard, the executive vice president and chief operating officer of Manheim North America.
“Having made investments in these areas over the years to better serve our customers, we feel putting in place a leader with Shane’s industry and operational experience will help us drive continued innovation and growth in this important part of our business,” Barnard said. “Shane brings high energy, strong execution skills and deep industry knowledge in this key role.”
O’Dell’s new role further includes focusing on Ready Auto Transport as well as leading and developing a multi-year plan to fortify and expand wholesale service revenue. Ready Auto Transport president Jerry Tassone will report to O’Dell.
The new SVP began his career in 1995 with Automotive Finance Corporation, where he served as branch manager and regional manager. He was a founding member of Dealer Services Corporation and served as both regional vice president of operations and chief operating officer. He was a critical figure of the later integration of DSC and Manheim Auto Finance Solutions, which formed NextGear Capital, where O’Dell oversaw the day-to-day operating activities and gave strategic direction on revenue growth and risk mitigation.
