This week, CU Direct appointed former AutoNation and TrueCar executive Ron Frey to serve as the company's chief strategy officer for automotive solutions. Frey begins his new position this month.

Frey has spent 30 years serving the automotive and credit union industry, bringing innovative business and technological advancements to the industry. In his position with CU Direct, he will oversee the planning and direction of automotive solutions as it relates to product and market expansion.

This includes the oversight of existing products, including CUDL, one of the nation’s largest credit union auto financing platforms, and AutoSMART, a credit union industry's online vehicle shopping site that offer more than 2 million vehicles in dealer inventory.

Frey comes to CU Direct from AutoNation, where he was chief strategy officer and president of AutoNation Direct.

“Ron's expansive leadership, partnered with strategic planning has led him to succeed in implementing cutting-edge technology solutions,” CU Direct president and chief executive Tony Boutelle.

“We are excited to have him join our team, as we continue to evolve our innovative automotive products to better serve our 1,000 credit unions and more than 12,000 dealer partners,” Boutelle continued.

Frey's extensive experience also includes serving as CEO of Autoland, and playing an integral role in the launch of Cars Direct. In addition, he served as the chief operating officer and partner of TrueCar in 2005.

“I am pleased to be joining the CU Direct Team where I can leverage my background in technology innovation, deep automotive experience and credit union experience,” Frey said.

“I look forward to digging in and looking for ways to bring innovation and value to our credit unions and dealer partners,” he went on to say.