Dealer-to-dealer digital auction platform TradeRev announced several executive appointments on Tuesday, including new roles for Kayne Grau and Keith Crerar. 

Grau, formerly president of Data as a Service at TradeRev parent KAR Auction Services, has been named executive vice president, U.S. and commercial sales for TradeRev.

Crerar has been named executive vice president of global operations at TradeRev and will oversee all dealer efforts, including registration, auction experience, post-sale support and logistics. TradeRev says the moves are aimed at accelerating the company’s North American expansion and helping dealers experience more simplified, personalized, hands-on support. 

“Keith has spent his career working alongside dealers and understanding their challenges — his service-first approach will ensure our customers receive the best, most responsive and personalized service in the industry,” said Becca Polak, TradeRev president and chief legal counsel/secretary at KAR, in a news release.

“And we’re thrilled to welcome Kayne and his entrepreneurial mindset to our team. He is a widely respected dealer advocate who will help inject our offerings with additional data analytics and technology horsepower.” 

These moves follow the recent release of TradeRev’s Move Metal services menu, offering dealers customized support levels ranging from self-service to full-service. The menu includes the company’s TradeReady seller protection, an optional service that guarantees no post-sale returns or arbitrations. Crerar will continue to standardize and streamline the TradeRev experience for dealers across North America while deploying new approaches to address some of the auction industry’s historical challenges.   

Grau joined KAR through the acquisition of DRIVIN in 2017. He has played a role in fortifying KAR’s data analytics capabilities and syndicating the DRIVIN predictive analytics tools across KAR’s portfolio of physical, online and digital auction marketplaces. At TradeRev, he will focus on accelerating the company’s expansion in new and existing markets and overseeing the TradeRev ground crew supporting dealers who select full-service options. He will also take a more informed and holistic view of TradeRev customers’ used inventory.

TradeRev also announced several promotions within the TradeRev sales organization. Kathy Hopkins, formerly director of dealer sales at sister business unit, ADESA, has joined the team as vice president of sales covering the North Central, Mountain and West U.S. regions. Additionally, Will Farmer has been promoted to vice president of sales for the Northeast, Southeast, and South Central U.S. regions.