Alliance Auto Auction announced recently that it has brought on former National Auto Auction Association president Jimmy Compton as the auction’s regional sales and operations manager.
In this post, Compton will head up Alliance’s business development efforts to help increase corporate and fleet accounts.
His most recent position was as director of national accounts at Metro Auto Auction of Phoenix/Dallas. Compton was general manager of Manheim Arena before that post.
He was NAAA’s 2002-2003 president.
“We are thrilled to have Jimmy join the Alliance team. He is an experienced and well-known industry leader and will be a valuable asset to our team,” said Tim Adams, general managing partner at Alliance Auto Auction.
Compton added: “I’m excited to be able to utilize the experience I have acquired over the years with this unique, young company and help contribute to their rapidly growing footprint in the industry. The Alliance team is really more like a family, and I am so honored to be a part of it.”
An assertion made by NADA in it’s recent Dealership Workforce Study late last year was just reaffirmed by analysts at CNW Research, as well: sales staff turnover remains a big issue for dealerships.
That said, CNW’s latest Retail Automotive Summary offers a bit of a silver lining: though sales personnel turnover still “haunts” dealerships, the trend moved in a positive direction during 2013.
CNW president Art Spinella pointed out that while turnover rates for salespeople at new-car dealerships remain high, numbers dropped to about 111 percent last year.
This compares to a high of 124 percent in 2011, brought on by the 2008 economic downturn.
Though these numbers still seem unusually high, Spinella noted that historically, new-car dealership sales personnel turnover has been above 100 percent for decades. But not all dealership staff is heading out the door.
“Technician turnover continues to be a bright spot,” says Spinella, with barely a 15-percent turnover last year.
Office staff is all seeing a positive trend of slower turnover, according to the report.
NADA’s 2013 Dealership Workforce Study showed high rates of turnover for sales people, as well, especially for female sales personnel.
According to the NADA study, the turnover rate for female sales consultants is at 76 percent.
NADA pointed out high rates of dealership employee turnover might be due in part to long hours.
“The total number of hours and weekend that employees are scheduled to work has a significant impact on retention,” NADA said in the report.
Sales consultants working 50 to 60 hours per week earn 4 percent more a year than their counterparts working 40 to 45 hours, the NADA report noted. But there's a caveat.
When employees work over 45 hours, turnover increase and retention decreases, implying a change to the incentive system may be due.
AutoTrader.com is tapping into the well of industry knowledge held by longtime auto market expert Michelle Krebs.
The analyst with over 30 years of experience in the industry is joining the AutoTrader team to provide industry analysis and insights from the site’s data, the company shared.
Krebs' most current role was as senior analyst at Edmunds.com. She has written for publications such as Motor Trend and the New York Times.
"The opportunity to work for AutoTrader, the dominant player in the industry, is an analyst's dream come true," said Krebs. "Throughout my career, I have tried my best to provide honest and fair commentary on what's happening in the auto industry and to help car buyers confidently make one of the biggest investment decisions they face. My abilities are enhanced by AutoTrader's rich data resources and deep bench of experts."
Krebs will be located at AutoTrader's Detroit office, bringing with her over 30 years of experience studying and reporting on automotive trends.
"Today, 79 percent of consumers are using the Internet to find their next new or used car, and AutoTrader has emerged as a leader in this space because our brand is fueled by the best people," said John Kovac, senior vice president of marketing for AutoTrader Group. "Michelle Krebs is a great addition to our team.
"She has a rich knowledge of data and offers the industry unique insights. She is highly respected by top-tier media nationally, and we know that she will provide a tremendous value to our automotive retailers, automakers and consumers."
Preferred Warranties Inc., provider of vehicle service contracts for pre-owned vehicles, has named a new sales manager for the company’s Mid-Atlantic Region.
Steve Chapman will oversee the sales activities of seven consultants, as well as business development for PWI’s territory, which includes Pennsylvania, Delaware, West Virginia and parts of Maryland and Virginia.
“Steve’s proven experience as a sales and F&I professional will be a great asset to PWI and independent dealers in this very important region,” said Brian Cosgrove, Preferred Warranties vice president of marketing and sales.
“This is where PWI started in 1992. Today many hundreds of independent dealers in this region sell our VSCs, and there are many more that deserve to.”
Chapman comes to PWI from TMX Finance Co., based in Savannah, Ga., where he was a regional manager. Prior to that, he served as senior vice president and director of operations for Excel Finance Co. in Austin, Texas.
Del Mar Recovery Solutions, a full service repossession management, skip-tracing, license plate recognition and remarketing firm, recently hired a previous honoree in Auto Remarketing’s annual list of Women in Remarketing.
Joining the company as its new senior vice president in charge of client relations and business development is Claudia Plascencia, who is being asked to develop Del Mar Recovery Solutions’ growing portfolio of regional and national auto finance companies and its credit union client base.
Plascencia comes with a wealth of experience within the industry, having spent the last five years at Repo Remarketing, where she was instrumental in acquiring numerous large corporate accounts.
“I am excited to start a new challenge within Del Mar Recovery Solutions and look forward to working with the team to further develop their already extensive product and service suite,” said Plascencia, who was a part of the 2012 group of Women in Remarketing and was a speaker at last year’s Re3 Conference in San Diego during Used Car Week.
“I am fortunate to be joining such a respected company that prides itself on top quality service and paying attention to detail at every level of the recovery process,” she went on say.
Del Mar Recovery Solutions president and chief executive officer Joshua Elias highlighted what it means for Plascencia to join the company.
“Claudia’s wealth of experience and industry knowledge has already made her a key addition to the Del Mar Recovery Solutions family,” Elias said. “We view her appointment as a sign of our commitment to being the leading full service recovery company in our industry.
“The increasing demand from our clients led us to look for an addition to our team who will fit in with our ethos of innovation and exceptional service, and it is very fortunate that we were able to find someone of Claudia’s caliber to fulfill this role,” he continued. “I’m confident that Claudia will play a key role in providing and implementing high quality solutions for our clients.”
Dealership software platform provider ELEAD1ONE appointed a new chief technology officer on Monday.
Taking on the role at ELEAD1ONE, a division of Data Software Services, is Jake Massey, who the company said will manage the critical technology and development systems supporting ELEAD1ONE’s automotive-only sales, marketing, digital and service efforts, as well as enterprise systems and applications for all corporate processes.
“Our internal IT systems and operations play a significant role in the success of our business, as well as how we deliver new technologies and enhancements to our clients,” stated ELEAD1ONE partner Bill Wittenmyer.
“Jake and his team have already achieved several successful upgrades to our software and technology,” Wittenmyer continued. “We will continue to leverage Jake’s extensive expertise in managing first-class IT departments, deep insight on operational excellence and dedication to drive our solutions and deployment throughout our company and provide valuable input and feedback to our product portfolio. In turn, this will ultimately improve our client satisfaction in a competitive market.”
An accomplished IT professional, ELEAD1ONE noted Massey specializes in high volume enterprise application development and planning, including systems that support millions of users.
Throughout his career, Massey has managed several IT organizations across many continents and developed a multitude of commercial products for use in corporate intranets.
“ELEAD1ONE has an unwavering commitment to the success of their clients and understands the importance of leveraging IT for strategic business advantage, and I look forward to building on this success in my new role,” Massey said.
“It is a great opportunity, and I am excited to work with this team to help ELEAD1ONE advance its business forward through IT, with a focus on reliability, stability, security, technical execution and customer support,” he went on to say.
Former Hyundai Motor America president and chief executive officer John Krafcik is now the president of TrueCar, which released a statement on the news Thursday.
The position is a newly created one, TrueCar said.
In April, Krafcik was named to TrueCar’s board of directors.
“John Krafcik not only has a deep understanding of the automotive industry, but he also knows how to run an organization at scale — and the timing is right for him to join our team,” said Scott Painter, founder and CEO of TrueCar. “John brings additional credibility to our commitment to making automotive retailers our partners, and he’s here to ensure we do just that.”
Krafcik added: “TrueCar is hard at work with our retailer partners, building a bridge of trust with consumers. I am thrilled to be joining the team and driving this transformation further, in ways that serve consumers, retailers and the industry in new and exciting ways.”
vAuto announced this week it has promoted one of its own to lead the company’s product management efforts.
Mandi Fang has been promoted to the role of vice president, product management — a newly created position for vAuto.
The company said that Fang will lead the development, growth and innovation of the company’s new- and used-vehicle inventory management solutions.
“Mandi is a highly effective and passionate ally for our dealer customers, our people and our products,” says Randy Kobat, vice president and general manager for vAuto. “Her new role will help us continue to enhance and expand our new and used vehicle product offerings, as well as develop and innovate new solutions that help dealers and their OEM partners sell more vehicles.”
Fang joined the company in 2008 after serving five years in product development, management and sales roles with Reynolds & Reynolds.
“I’m extremely excited and honored to take my work with vAuto and our dealer clients to the next level,” says Fang. “As a part of the AutoTrader Group, we have a responsibility to continue to bring best-in-class, integrated solutions that help our dealers succeed. It’s a privilege to be offered the opportunity to advance this important effort at vAuto.”
In her new role, Fang will lead a cross-sectional team that will work to identify and prioritize current product enhancements and manage all phases of new product development.
One industry observer classified Alan Mulally as “the man who saved Ford.” Now it’s up to Mark Fields to keep the Blue Oval on an upward track.
As was reportedly to be in the works, Ford announced Thursday that Mulally has decided to retire from the company July 1, and Fields will be named Ford president and chief executive officer and elected as a member of the company’s board of directors.
It’s been quite a transformation since Mulally took over Ford in September 2006. Under Mulally and the company’s One Ford plan for profitable growth, Ford has achieved 19 consecutive quarters of profitability, developed the strongest product lineup in Ford’s history and embarked upon the company’s most ambitious global expansion in the past half century.
And the Blue Oval’s certified pre-owned program is enjoying unprecedented successes, too. Ford is coming off of its best year ever for CPO sales, according to Autodata Corp. Its Ford/Mercury and Lincoln programs combined to sell 227,755 vehicles in 2013 for a 32-percent year-over-year hike.
“The key to our success these last two years is that our Ford and Lincoln dealers have a competitive program — and I would underscore the involvement that our dealer council played in revamping our program. They were very much at the forefront of helping us develop a more competitive program,” Ford’s national CPO sales manager Todd Fites told Auto Remarketing last October.
“We worked with the dealer council to come up with the right set of benefits to make our program fully competitive in the industry,” Fites said. “We continue to believe that we have the best dealer body in the industry, and the CPO sales growth these last two years is a key proof point that backs up that statement.”
Part of the reason for the certified gains is because Ford filled its new-model pipeline with vehicles primed to become a quality CPO unit. Kelley Blue Book senior analyst Karl Brauer made the assertion that it was Mulally who kept Ford from experiencing a similar financial fate as its domestic brethren.
“He came in after a series of failed leaders that had allowed Ford’s product and position to deteriorate to a precarious position,” Brauer said. “He also managed to secure financing for Ford’s turnaround before the credit crunch, though that could be argued as a negative because it saddled Ford with private debt that Chrysler and GM were able to cast off as part of their government restructuring.
“Conversely, Ford never needed government help to survive, which many consumers view as an important distinction among domestic automakers. Regardless, Alan Mulally turned Ford around by changing the corporate climate, securing financing and creating a plan the company could follow back to profitability,” Brauer went on to say.
More on Mulally’s Tenure
Mulally is retiring after nearly eight years leading Ford and capping a remarkable 45-year career.
“Alan deservedly will be long remembered for engineering one of the most successful business turnarounds in history,” executive chairman Bill Ford said. “Under Alan’s leadership, Ford not only survived the global economic crisis, it emerged as one of the world’s strongest auto companies. We always will be grateful to Alan for his leadership, compelling vision and for fostering a culture of working together that will serve our company for decades to come.”
The transition in July is approximately six months earlier than previously anticipated, following Mulally’s recommendation to accelerate the timetable based on the readiness of Ford’s leadership team.
“Alan and I feel strongly that Mark and the entire leadership team are absolutely ready to lead Ford forward, and now is the time to begin the transition,” said Bill Ford, who recruited Mulally from Boeing in 2006.
Mulally thanked the Ford team for their many contributions and accomplishments.
“It has been an honor to serve and contribute to creating a viable, profitably growing company for the good of everyone associated with the Ford Motor Co.,” Mulally said. “By working together with all of our stakeholders around the world, we now are accelerating Henry Ford’s original vision to open the highways to all mankind.
“Ford’s future is so bright, and Mark — supported by an experienced and dedicated senior leadership team — is absolutely the right leader to continue to deliver on our compelling vision,” Mulally added.
New Executive in Charge
Fields was named Ford’s chief operating officer in December 2012. He has been leading all of Ford’s global business operations and most skill teams, including product development, manufacturing, purchasing, and marketing, sales and service.
Fields’ role as COO has included leading the company’s weekly business plan review meeting, which Mulally established to track the progress of the One Ford plan and to monitor the global business and competitive environment. The Thursday meetings are credited with driving a reliable and transparent process for running Ford’s global operations and enabling Ford’s senior leadership to work closely together and act decisively on its plan.
Before serving as COO, Fields served as executive vice president and president for the Americas since October 2005. There, he led the transformation of Ford’s North American business – turning it from record losses several years ago to record profits in each of the last four years. Earlier, Fields guided the product-led transformation of Ford’s European operations and formerly held European luxury brands, as well as the relaunch of Ford’s independent operations in Argentina and a major restructuring and product renaissance at Mazda.
Fields underscored his commitment to the One Ford plan, including building on the company’s unprecedented global introduction of new products, innovations and excellence.
“It is a true honor to lead this great company and this talented team into the future,” Fields said. “Under Alan’s leadership, we have seen the power of One Ford and what a culture of positive leadership and working together can accomplish. My commitment is to build on that success by accelerating our pace of progress. All of us at Ford are committed to delivering even more of the great products and innovations that will deliver growth and define our company going forward.”
Brauer agrees that Fields is primed to lead the Blue Oval.
“Mark Fields is well positioned to succeed Mulally after 25 years with the company,” Brauer said. “His previous role as the head of Mazda gives him experience in the Asia-Pacific market, a critical region for growth going forward. In recent years Mark Fields ran operations and cut costs at Ford while serving as a key advisor to Alan Mulally in the formation and execution of the One Ford Plan. He¹s been the favored successor to run Ford for several years because of his background and experience with the automaker.”
Eric Ibara, another senior analyst at Kelley Blue Book, offered his assessment of both Fields and Mulally, pointing to the shrewd decisions the retiring executive made going into the last recession.
“To a certain degree, this message will be met with little fanfare as it was widely anticipated for some time now,” Ibara said. “However, the implication for Ford is enormous. Due to Mark Fields' age, which is youthful for an automotive CEO, he is poised to lead the company for a long time. He showed his brilliance in his plan to turn Ford around, created before Alan Mulally arrived, and mostly accepted by Alan and the rest of Ford as the right plan to implement.
“Mulally’s genius was in anticipating the dramatic falloff in sales that followed the financial crisis of 2008, sparing Ford the indignity of having to declare bankruptcy,” Ibara continued. “For this reason alone, Mulally has secured his rightful place in Ford's pantheon of visionary leaders with a space next to him reserved for Fields to earn.”
Announcing two new market vice presidents this morning, Manheim said Randy Beil — who has been vice president of remarketing for Chase Auto Finance since 2010 — will serve as the company’s MVP for the North Central Market, and Rob Touchette, who has been with Manheim since 2010, was named to the same role in the Pacific Market.
“With over 20 years of experience in the automotive finance and remarketing industry, Randy will complement our strong leadership team and operations in the North Central Market,” said Mike McKinney, the region vice president for East Region Operations at Manheim. “In addition, as a previous customer and strong collaborator who assisted in the creation of auction technology, Randy brings valuable insights and innovative thinking to this important leadership role.”
Rock Anderson, the RVP for West Region Operations at Manheim, added: “As a proven leader with deep automotive and sales expertise, Rob will use his experience to deliver solutions that drive customer growth and operational excellence. It’s always exciting to promote great talent, which is a key part of motivating employee teams and delivering a great experience for our customers.”
In Beil’s role as VP of remarketing for Chase Auto Finance at JPMorgan Chase, he was responsible for managing the entire lease process and remarketing interactions with Chase customers.
In his new position with Manheim, Beil is called to lead seven operating locations in the North Central Market, which include Manheim Cincinnati, Manheim Detroit, Manheim Flint (Total Resource Auctions), Manheim Indianapolis, Manheim Louisville, Manheim Ohio (Grove City) and Manheim Pittsburgh.
Before his time at Chase, Beil worked in several roles for for BMW of North America/BMW Financial Services. Among his positions were general manager of vehicle sales and remarketing, national manager of remarketing and national dealer and auction sales manager.
Meanwhile, Touchette earned a promotion to his new role on April 21. He became market general sales manager in 2010. The Pacific Market he will lead includes five operating locations: Manheim Central California (Fresno), Manheim Hawaii, Manheim Portland, Manheim San Francisco Bay and Manheim Seattle.
Before his time with Manheim, Touchette worked in a variety of roles for Cox AutoTrader for over a decade.
