BURLINGTON, Vt. — One of the founders of Dealer.com was named the company president on Wednesday.

Dealer.com chief executive officer Mark Bonfigli relinquished the title of president and appointed Rick Gibbs to the position. The company recounted that Gibbs co-founded the operation in 1998 and has since held the role of chief technology officer.

Management praised Gibbs for shaping and directing Dealer.com's technological vision. Now as president, the company is looking to Gibbs for guidance as it significantly increases employee headcount and accelerates product development and delivery volume during the years ahead.

"Rick's appointment sends a strong signal to the industry that we are first and foremost a technology company that empowers auto dealers, dealer groups and OEMs. We see a growing trend of powerful software as a service business models being driven by technologists," Bonfigli explained.

"Rick's expertise and dedication have been critical in enabling us to nearly quadruple our revenues over the last three years — among the most challenging years ever in the auto industry," Bonfigli continued. "Combining creativity with strategic foresight, he has consistently led Dealer.com's research and development teams to deliver cutting-edge products that are responsive to dealers' needs and outperform anything on the market.

"He has continued to refine product management and added business analysis groups to benchmark best practices that keep our clients two to four years ahead of the competition. Assuming the role of president and CTO, Rick will now help guide us to entirely new levels of technology development, growth and expansion," he continued.

Gibbs offered a reaction to being appointed company president.

"I'm honored and thrilled to take on the role of president and excited about the opportunities ahead for Dealer.com," Gibbs emphasized.

"We have an industry-leading pipeline of products, a very strong and financially sound company, and are well-positioned for continued growth," he continued.

Prior to co-founding Dealer.com, executives mentioned Gibbs consulted for a number of Fortune 500 companies, designing and building next-generation Web applications and interactive training systems