Veteran auto industry business leader, digital strategist, innovator
joins business intelligence and performance improvement company

SALT LAKE CITY – Kevin Root, an industry veteran with a quarter-century of automotive and technology experience, has been named president and chief operating officer of DrivingSales, the company announced last week. Root joins the rapidly-growing business intelligence and performance improvement company to further build on and execute its mission of delivering unbiased, actionable insights to help automobile dealers increase profitability.

Root, who has served on the DrivingSales advisory board since 2009, is charged with both operational and strategic responsibilities for the company. During his career, Root has launched more than a dozen successful first generation products and digital solutions, and was recognized by J.D. Power and Associates as “one of the 10 original automotive e-business pioneers.”

“Kevin will be key to helping us move our vision forward. He brings one of the sharpest strategic minds in our industry, as well as critical expertise and hands-on experience turning strategies into business-building solutions,” said DrivingSales CEO and founder Jared Hamilton. “His background aligns perfectly with our insight- and information-driven mandate: his performance-improvement solutions for dealerships and OEMs have been foundational for our industry, and his industry research has broken new ground on everything from reputation management to the impact of social media on dealerships. We are excited to have Kevin join our team as we focus on bringing the next chapter to our dealer community and clients!”

DrivingSales, founded in 2008 and on track for its third consecutive year of triple-digit revenue growth, has attracted users from one of every three franchised dealerships in the United States. The company has won multiple awards, including a "Stevie" Award in the American Business Awards for Innovative Company of the Year for 2012.

“I have watched DrivingSales grow to become a key industry influencer over the past four years, doing what no one else in the industry has done: create a new platform to ensure dealers get the unbiased, relevant and unfiltered intelligence and insight they need to build their businesses,” said Root. “The passion and integrity its talented team brings to everything they do makes DrivingSales one of the best positioned companies in the industry.”

Root joins DrivingSales from Dealer.com, where he was chief strategy officer and chief product officer. Prior to joining Dealer.com, he served for 10 years in product strategy, retail performance improvement and marketing positions at Cobalt and DriverSide. Root is widely known for producing the e-commerce performance research that has become the auto industry benchmark and has led large studies on the subjects of social media, reputation management and emerging consumer trends. His extensive accomplishments include the creation of more than a dozen technology products and services used by thousands of dealers and many of the leading manufacturers. He has consulted with and developed digital marketing and retail performance improvement solutions for many automotive OEMs and enterprise dealer groups including Lexus, VW, Audi, DaimlerChrysler, Ford, Kia, Subaru and AutoNation.

Oct. 15, 2012