EDMONTON, AB, April 8,
2022 /CNW/ - AutoCanada Inc. ("AutoCanada" or the
"Company") (TSX: ACQ), a multi-location North American automobile
dealership group, today announced that it has made the following
appointments to further strengthen the Company's executive
team:
- Jeffrey Thorpe – President,
Canadian Operations
- Brian Feldman – Senior Vice
President, Canadian Operations & Disruptive Technologies
- Lee Wittick – Senior Vice
President, Operations & OEM Relations
Mr. Jeffrey Thorpe has been
appointed President, Canadian Operations, and will be responsible
for overseeing AutoCanada's strategies and day-to-day operations in
Canada and driving the Company's
ongoing growth, synergies and efficiencies. Mr. Thorpe will report
directly to Paul Antony, Executive
Chair of AutoCanada.
Jeff is a proven leader in the automotive retail industry with
over 24 years of experience with AutoNation, the largest automotive
retailer in North America. He most
recently held the position of Market President at AutoNation and
was responsible for operations in multiple U.S. Markets and
providing direct leadership over automotive dealership operations
in Colorado, Minnesota, Chicago, Cleveland, Northern
California and Los Angeles.
Throughout his career, Jeff has undertaken positions of increasing
authority and responsibility including, Business Development
Manager, New Vehicle Sales Manager, New Car Director, General Sales
Manager, General Manager and Market President. Jeff has established
himself as an effective leader who builds and mentors strong teams
and people. Over his extensive tenure at AutoNation, Jeff became
well known in the industry for cultivating multiple dozen General
Managers and senior leaders within the automotive ecosystem. Jeff
and his family are relocating from Denver, Colorado to Edmonton, Alberta where AutoCanada is
headquartered.
Mr. Antony said, "We are excited to welcome Jeff as our
President, Canadian Operations. His significant industry expertise
and experience operating a dealership platform at scale using
centralized services through head office, which closely mirrors
AutoCanada's operating rhythm, will be an excellent addition to our
executive team. Jeff has proven himself at building and scaling
organizations through the development of a strong culture of values
and winning. He is a progressive leader with the vision and
business acumen to lead AutoCanada's Canadian operations, and I am
extremely confident that Jeff will make great contributions in his
role at the Company as we continue to build on our positive
momentum and drive industry-leading performance."
Mr. Brian Feldman has been
appointed as Senior Vice President, Canadian Operations &
Disruptive Technologies, and will report directly to Jeff.
Brian has a proven and unique track-record of success over his 20+
years in the automotive industry. During his tenure at
AutoNation, Brian held various operational, strategic and retail
leadership positions, most recently serving as Domestic Market
Brand President. Prior to this, Brian held multiple Senior Director
roles at AutoNation with responsibility over national sales
processes, new vehicle pricing and inventory, operations strategy
and sales systems. Additionally, Brian spent extensive time
in automotive retail with multiple brands holding nearly every job
from Service Advisor to General Manager. His combination of
retail, corporate and manufacturer experience allowed him to
develop subject matter expertise and revolutionize sales,
marketing, training and business development practices at a scale
larger than can be found in the Canadian marketplace.
Mr. Lee Wittick has been
appointed as Senior Vice President Operations & OEM Relations
and will also report directly to Jeff. Lee has over 33 years of
experience in the automotive industry and has spent the last 15
years with the Humberview Group in Toronto, Ontario, where he most recently held
the position of Managing Partner at Applewood Chevrolet Cadillac
Buick GMC and Mississauga Kia. In addition to his role at the
dealerships, he assisted the Humberview Group in Senior Leadership
Development, Customer Experience, Group Rewards Referral Program,
and Group Marketing. Lee and the Applewood Chevrolet Cadillac Buick
GMC team grew the dealership to become one of Canada's top-performing dealerships. Prior to
joining the Humberview Group, Lee was the founder and creator of
Trade Tracker which was one of the first online appraisal tools
offered across Canada. Lee sold
Trade Tracker to Dealer Track (now Cox Automotive) where it is
still sold today. Echoing Jeff and Brian's strong focus on building
culture to drive growth, Lee has a reputation for developing a
strong culture within organizations and helping team members to
realize their potential.
"We are also very excited to welcome Brian and Lee along with
Jeff to the AutoCanada team," said Mr. Antony. "Jeff, Brian and Lee
are highly experienced and proven automotive retail professionals.
All three bring deep knowledge in M&A, running centralized
services on large dealership platforms and mentoring people for
success. They have all previously demonstrated excellent leadership
skills in leading high performing teams focused on strong culture,
teamwork and collaboration that motivates people to deliver
results."
"We believe the U.S. automotive market is ahead of Canada by five years, and as such, we will
leverage best practices from Jeff and Brian to layer onto our
current playbook along with the Canadian expertise of our existing
operations team, as well as Lee's Canadian based perspectives to
complement Jeff and Brian's experience. This is the team that will
be instrumental in leading AutoCanada on the next leg of our
journey as we execute on our strategic growth initiatives."
AutoCanada also announced that Rhonda
English has been proposed for election to the Board of
Directors at the upcoming Annual General Meeting of the Company's
shareholders scheduled for May 5,
2022.
Rhonda is currently Chief Marketing Officer of CAA Club Group,
an independent automobile club and owner of several insurance
companies. Throughout her extensive career, she has
successfully driven company growth and profitability through
thought leadership and strategic direction in the automotive and
insurance industries. She previously held executive roles at
insurance companies and served on the Board of the Markham
Stouffville Hospital Foundation and retired as Past Chair of the
Foundation in 2019. Rhonda currently sits on the Markham
Stouffville Hospital Board, chairing the Quality & Safety
Committee.
"We are very pleased to welcome Rhonda to our Board of
Directors. Her wealth of experience in the automotive industry will
be a tremendous asset to AutoCanada," said Mr. Antony.
About AutoCanada
AutoCanada is a leading North American multi-location automobile
dealership group currently operating 78 franchised dealerships,
comprised of 28 brands, in eight provinces in Canada as well as a group in Illinois, USA. AutoCanada currently sells
Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, FIAT, Alfa Romeo, Chevrolet, GMC,
Buick, Cadillac, Ford, Infiniti,
Nissan, Hyundai, Subaru, Audi, Volkswagen, Kia, Mazda,
Mercedes-Benz, BMW, MINI, Volvo, Toyota, Lincoln, Honda, Acura and Porsche branded
vehicles. In 2021, our dealerships sold approximately 86,000
vehicles and processed over 800,000 service and collision repair
orders in our 1,303 service bays generating revenue in excess of
$4 billion.
Additional information about AutoCanada Inc. is available at
www.sedar.com and the Company's website at www.autocan.ca.
SOURCE AutoCanada Inc.