Follow the Leaders

This new online magazine feature, "Follow the Leaders," provides an opportunity to ask the leading automotive industry executives about their company mission, objectives, challenges, and opportunities. The readable interview format is intended to enable a quick-read while capturing the managerial significance and strategic importance of each executive's response. There probably has never been a time when new, innovative, and visionary leadership is needed more in the "car business." It is those exemplary industry leaders that will be featured on this media feature.
RECENT EXECUTIVE INTERVIEWS:

Robert Miller, Co-Founder of Compli

Robert Miller shares Compli's vision to be the leading provider of Compliance and Risk solutions for auto dealerships by combining best in class expertise, content and technology enabling customers to improve compliance, workforce productivity and reduce costs and exposure.

Contact: info@compli.com



read the interview

Jesse Biter, Founder of Dealers United

Jesse Biter shares Dealers United's mission to level the playing field for privately-owned dealerships so that they can effectively compete with MegaDealers.

Contact: jesse@dealersunited.com



read the interview

Joe Castle, Founder & CEO of SOCIALDEALER

Joe Castle discusses SOCIALDEALER's mission of leveraging Social Media to develop tools and provide innovative solutions to the automotive industry that promote the value of marketing brands and products.

Contact: j.castle@socialdealer.com

Check out Joe's Facebook page.



read the interview

Kevin Collins, President of Lending Solutions, Fiserv

Kevin Collins discusses the Fiserv mission to provide integrated technology and services solutions that enable best-in-class results for clients, and the next generation lending experience.



read the interview

Chip Grueter, President and Founder, DealerRater

Chip Grueter talks about DealerRater's reputation as the most trusted online repository of auto dealer consumer reviews - and how DealerRater provides its Certified Dealer customers with the best and most innovative tools to help them leverage their customer reviews.



read the interview

Phil DuPree, President of AutoUSA

Phil DuPree talks about the strategic shift AutoUSA has undergone in the way they do business with dealerships: they've moved from being just a "lead provider" to a partner providing dealerships with powerful tools and resources.

Contact: dupreep@autonation.com



read the interview

Derek White, President and CEO of E-Drive Autos

Derek White explains what E-Drive Autos is doing to provide better value to car-buying consumers and to help dealers turn wholesale losses into profitable situations

Contact: derek@edriveautos.com



read the interview

Mark De Lucia, Chief Executive Officer of DealerMine Corporation

Mark De Lucia explains how DealerMine helps dealerships reduce their investment in slow-moving idle parts inventory - and create and maintain a sustainable profit centers in their parts departments.

Contact: Mark@dealermine.com



read the interview

Naveeen Agarwal, Chief Executive Officer of Pricelock

Naveen Agarwal explains that Pricelock is a different kind of energy company -- one that seeks to empower individuals and businesses to control and minimize their fuel and energy costs. In fact, their aim is to be the leader in the online energy space.

Contact: info@pricelock.com



read the interview

Todd Smith, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of ActivEngage, Inc.

Todd Smith heads up an award-winning live chat service provider for the auto industry, with dealers being their primary market. He says, "I see a future where dealerships will know the true triggers that generate vehicle sales." And ActiveEngage is focused on providing the dealership with exactly that!



read the interview

David Westcott, Dealership Operations Committee Chairman, NADA

David Westcott on how the most important asset for any dealership is a well-trained, fully informed staff - and how NADA Academy, 20 Group and NADA University are helping dealerships attain that goal.



read the interview

Stan Schwarz, Founder and CEO, PassTime

Stan Schwarz talks about PassTime's mission of providing quality products for lenders, dealers, and customers in the special finance industry.

Contact: jmorgan@passtimeusa.com



read the interview

Ron Lamb, President, The Reynolds and Reynolds Company

Ron Lamb talks about Reynolds' history of delivering superior results for dealerships by providing technologies and services that help dealers make their business more efficient, their people and processes more effective, and their business operations more profitable.

Contact: Thomas_Schwartz@reyrey.com



read the interview

John Lyboldt, VP of Dealer Services, NADA

John Lyboldt says that NADA University delivers what its tagline promises: "one source, endless possibilities," including solutions for dealers' business challenges, and a variety of mission-critical training options that help dealership employees excel at everything they do.

Contact: jlyboldt@nada.org



read the interview

Chip Perry, President and CEO, AutoTrader.com

Industry leader Chip Perry describes how AutoTrader.com continues to work to provide dealers, manufacturers and private sellers with the tools, products and advertising solutions that allow them to best merchandise vehicles to in-market new, used and/or Certified Pre-Owned car shoppers.

Contact via: Mark Scott



read the interview

Steve Lind, EVP of Corporate Development, Autobytel

Steve Lind describes how Autobytel is delivering new technology to help dealers have more control of - and visibility into - their marketing spend for leads.

Contact: (949) 225-4500



read the interview

Forrest Heathcott, President, JM&A Group

JM&A Group's Forrest Heathcott talks about feeling bullish on F&I - and how his team aims to help dealers maintain their focus on this critical profit center - so dealers can sell more new and used vehicles.

Contact Forrest via: Ilisa.Finkelman@jmfamily.com



read the interview

Mike Pitcher, President & CEO, LeasePlan USA

Mike Pitcher talks about LeasePlan's aims to plan and develop more new, innovative products to assist its clients with their fleet operations -- as well as continuing to exceed client expectations by providing the highest quality service and expertise.

Contact Mike via: brooke.hathaway@leaseplan.com



read the interview

Jonathan Altman, President, ClearMechanic

Jonathan Altman talks about ClearMechanic's mission to improve service center profitability by increasing consumer trust - achieved via improved communication between consumers and service advisors during the repair process. Altman says that many car owners approach the repair process with skepticism and fear, but that these negatives can be overcome easier than you think.

jonathan.altman@clearmechanic.com



read the interview

Bob Ward, CEO, Fleet Advisors

Bob Ward discusses Fleet Advisors' mission to treat the clients' 'fleet' dollars as if they were their own, delivering service without conflicts of interest, providing checks and balances, and enabling clients to leverage their fleet with several fleet providers.

bob.ward@fleetadvisors.com



read the interview

Kim Orr, V.P Automotive, eXtéresAUTO

Kim Orr discusses eXtéresAUTO's mission to provide the technology solutions that allow dealerships to meet the ever-evolving opportunities on the Internet - especially when it comes to Search. Orr points out that about 9 out of 10 car shoppers use search engines in their buying process; and about 7 of 10 searchers only look at first-page results. That means dealers had better have a smart search strategy.

kim.orr@exteres.com



read the interview

Todd Smith, President, ActivEngage

Todd Smith discusses ActivEngage strategy and mission, and the challenges and opportunities of the current marketplace. That includes converting more anonymous website visitors into qualified leads -- even doubling or tripling current numbers -- and this applies to all dealership profit centers, not just vehicle sales.

ted@activengage.com



read the interview

Phil DuPree, President, AutoUSA

Phil DuPree discusses AutoUSA's strategy and mission, and the challenges and opportunities of the current marketplace -- including how to properly capitalize on Social Media opportunities. AutoUSA is America’s Best Source of Online Customers is an online lead-referral service connecting customers who shop for new vehicles on the internet, to over 4,000 automotive retail franchises nationwide. AutoUSA success is built on a combination of superior web-based technology, superior dealer customer service and partnerships that include the country’s most well respected online automotive resources, including Edmunds.com, Kelley Blue Book, MSN Autos, Yahoo! Autos, America Online, NADA and others.



read the interview

Daniel Farrar, CEO, OPENLANE

One certain thing in these uncertain times: used vehicle sales are faring far better than new vehicle sales. Mr. Farrar explains how OPENLANE has positioned itself in this lucrative space by ensuring that dealers are able to continually increase efficiency of operations and boost profits.



read the interview

Bobby Gaudreau, Sales Director for Automotive Services Group, IMN Loyalty Driver

More and more dealerships are realizing the dangers of sending email campaigns on their own. There are frequent horror stories of large and small dealer groups getting blacklisted. Too many GMs and Internet Managers spend hours putting together an email campaign, then hit send, but have no idea who received what -- or if anyone received it at all! This is where companies like IMN Loyalty Driver come in -- helping dealers to connect and communicate with their customers while delivering relevant, timely content -- which, in turn creates loyalty and an engaged audience.



read the interview

Michael Wysocki, CEO, United Road

The new vehicle and the specialty market are materially below previous levels, of course, but United Road has experienced growth in used vehicles and retail single units. Just as the contraction of vehicle shipments is driving undercapitalized carriers out of the market, United Road is on track to grow its market share in these interesting economic times.



read the interview

Al Babbington, CEO, OneCommand

OneCommand is the leading provider of Relationship Performance Marketing (RPM) solutions to the automotive industry. Our fully integrated, turnkey solutions assure that dealerships, manufacturers, and lenders are able to communicate effectively and consistently across multiple channels.



read the interview

Lee Domingue, CEO of Indirect Lending, Wolters Kluwer Financial Services

The second quarter of 2009 was promising for Wolters Kluwer Financial Services, with lenders showing increased interest in using their Indirect Lending solutions. As the focus on compliance has continued to grow, lenders need to be sure that the dealerships they are working with are meeting regulatory guidelines and staying updated when it comes to regulatory change.



read the interview

John Fuller, President and CEO, Dealer Services Corporation

The challenges and rewards of providing quality products, financing, and services to North American dealers during these topsy-turvy times. Mr. Fuller discusses the satisfaction that comes with empowering dealers and helping them succeed as the entire industry changes and evolves so rapidly.



read the interview

Ted Rubin, Co-Founder, ActivEngage

Ted Rubin discusses ActivEngage strategy and mission, and the challenges and opportunities of the current marketplace. That includes converting more anonymous website visitors into qualified leads -- and this applies to all dealership profit centers, not just vehicle sales.

ted@activengage.com



read the interview

Phil DuPree, President, AutoUSA

Phil DuPree discusses AutoUSA's strategy and mission, and the challenges and opportunities of the current marketplace. AutoUSA is America’s Best Source of Online Customers is an online lead-referral service connecting customers who shop for new vehicles on the internet, to over 4,000 automotive retail franchises nationwide. AutoUSA success is built on a combination of superior web-based technology, superior dealer customer service and partnerships that include the country’s most well respected online automotive resources, including Edmunds.com, Kelley Blue Book, MSN Autos, Yahoo! Autos, America Online, NADA and others.



read the interview

Joe Steinberger, Vice President of Product and Business Development, CentralDispatch

Joe Steinberger discusses CentralDispatch's strategy and mission, and the challenges and opportunities as a transportation marketplace company. CentralDispatch.com is the automotive industry's transportation marketplace and connects dealers and carriers through its nationwide online network. In addition to launching new products, Joe works closely with the dealers, car carriers and brokers who use CentralDispatch daily. Joe has over 15 years of professional IT experience and has worked with the Internet since its early days. As CEO of Intertune he helped numerous Fortune 500 companies streamline business processes.



read the interview

Luis Guimaraes, General Manager of Pennzoil-North America

Demand for lubricants is forecasted to be fairly flat in the US through to 2011. In the face of this, Luis Guimaraes, General Manager of Pennzoil-North America, remains focused on key opportunities in the category. He describes in a brief Q&A how Pennzoil can continue to achieve growth through the strength of its people, products and programs.



read the interview

Jared Hamilton, Founder, DrivingSales

Jared Hamilton founded DrivingSales in 2003 as a way for his classmates to keep in contact and collaborate on best practices while he attended NADA's Dealer Candidate Academy. As a third generation dealer, Jared literally grew up in the car business, and has a wealth of experience in every facet of dealership operations, has worked every department, and has helped many stores grow and adapt in these exciting times.

Most recently, while the GSM of a large metro Ford store, Jared led a two-year research project, filming a series of documentaries about the Internet's effects on the auto industry and how the most successful people are adapting to it.

With a focus on a plain, old-fashioned approach to customer service, solid leadership and proper financial management, all fueled with a geek-like passion for embracing new technologies, Jared empowers dealers to take

read the interview

Michael Sheridan, President, Global Debt Network Inc.

Mike Sheridan discusses Global Debt Network Inc.'s strategy and mission, and the challenges and opportunities as a marketplace for buying and selling auto loans online.

read the interview