CHICAGO -

As the new vice president and general manager of national sales for auto industry digital marketplace Cars.com, Julie Scott seeks to bring growth to Cars.com’s national sales channel.

In doing that, Scott will focus on advertising that drives business for OEMs, regional dealership groups and brands looking to gain from Cars.com’s insights and its monthly audience of more than 22 million unique visitors.

Cars.com said Scott, who officially joined the company in September, brings more than 20 years of experience as a “creative revenue generator and agenda-setting strategic leader.”

Her experience is in the areas of integrated team leadership and business development. Most recently, she served as senior vice president and general manager for The Onion, leading its branded content division.

In that post, she built and managed Onion Labs, an in-house digital content agency. Cars.com said that agency has doubled revenue for branded content since its inception and is expected to hit a 20-percent year-over-year growth goal in 2019.

Earlier, she served in a senior role at global marketing and technology agency Digitas. She was also with global advertising agency network FCB (formerly DRAFTFCB).

"What attracted me to Cars.com is its ability to target in-market car shoppers more effectively than any competitor in the marketplace, and a leadership team that understands that relationships and ROI are paramount,” Scott said in a news release.

She added, “I'm inspired to be working hand-in-hand with OEMs and their agencies to understand their unique challenges and leverage our valuable data to deliver innovative digital advertising solutions that convert shoppers to buyers,” said Scott.

Cars.com chief revenue officer Doug Miller added, “We are excited to welcome Julie to the team just as the need for real in-market car shoppers who are ready to buy is sparking new marketing, insights and data solutions for our OEM partners. “Julie brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to Cars.com in digital advertising and strategic business development as we deliver new ways for automakers to find concentrations of real shoppers and grow their businesses.”