carClub.com Adds Four Business Leaders to Board of Directors
24 February 2000
carClub.com Adds Four Business Leaders to Board of Directors
SAN FRANCISCO--Feb. 24, 2000--New Board Members Bring Expertise from Blue Chip Companies in the
Automotive, Consumer Credit, Technology and Investment Sectors
carClub.com, the first Internet company to deliver savings and benefits to both car owners and automotive retailers, today announced four new board members from blue chip companies in the automotive, credit, technology and investment sectors.
The new Board members will help to position carClub.com as a major change agent in the $1.4 trillion automotive industry, furthering carClub.com's opportunity to capitalize on this vast market.
The new Directors are Norman Buchan, executive vice president of The Chase Manhattan Bank and president of Chase Manhattan Automotive Finance Corporation; Brian Kelley, vice president of Ford Motor Company and president of its e-commerce unit, ConsumerConnect; Andrew Rosen, principal of private investment firm Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst Incorporated; and Mark Tolliver, president of iPlanet E-Commerce Solutions, a Sun-Netscape Alliance.
"We are thrilled to welcome these distinguished business leaders," said Michael London, president and CEO of carClub.com. "They bring to our Board the highest caliber of experience in financing, technology, international operations and consumer and retailer marketing."
The carClub.com Board currently includes top-ranking executives from Ford Motor Company, MarketWatch.com, Inc., First Union Corporation, Point West Capital Corporation and financial consulting firm Edgar, Dunn & Company.
Norman Buchan is an executive vice president of the Chase Manhattan Bank and the president of Chase Manhattan Automotive Finance Corporation, which is a leader in the field of Automotive Finance with a $24 billion managed assets portfolio. This portfolio covers a full range of loan, lease and commercial finance product offerings. He has served in numerous managerial capacities around the world, with a particular emphasis on Asia, including retail and wholesale corporate banking assignments.
Buchan has served as a David Rockefeller Fellow. He is currently a member of the advisory board of the Auto Finance Committee of the Consumer Bankers Association, the Brooklyn Academy of Music and the David Rockefeller Fellows program under the umbrella of the New York City Partnership.
Brian Kelley, vice president of Ford Motor Company and president of its e-commerce unit, ConsumerConnect, manages Ford's e-supplier relationships and e-consumer activities, telematics and customer relationship centers across all of Ford's products and services. Prior to joining Ford, Kelley was vice president and general manager for sales and distribution with General Electric's Appliance Division and spent 10 years in various management positions at Procter & Gamble.
Andrew Rosen is a principal of Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst Incorporated, a leading private investment firm. Prior to joining Hicks, Muse in 1993, Rosen served as an associate with The Carlyle Group, a Washington, D.C.-based private investment firm. Rosen also serves as a director of Hillsdown Holdings and International Home Foods, Inc.
Mark Tolliver is president and general manager of iPlanet E-Commerce Solutions, a Sun-Netscape Alliance. Working with industry giants such as America Online, Netscape and Sun Microsystems, Inc., Tolliver oversees the development and introduction of industry-leading software and services for e-commerce. Tolliver also served as president of Sun's consumer & embedded division, overseeing core Java technologies used to create network-connectable applications for consumer and embedded devices such as automobiles, set-top boxes, telephones, smart cards and Jini technology. Before joining Sun, Tolliver was vice president of marketing at MasPar Computer Corporation and spent 16 years at Hewlett-Packard.
Chase, Hicks, Muse and Sun have all made significant investments in a recent round of private funding for carClub.com.
About carClub.com
carClub.com is a membership club that uses the power of the Internet to connect vehicle owners and automotive retailers, creating a mutually beneficial relationship founded on trust and fair pricing. carClub.com combines business-to-consumer and business-to-business strategies on one technology platform to create a new distribution channel in the automotive market.
carClub.com's business-to-consumer membership structure helps consumers harness the collective power of the Internet to ensure that they receive the fairest possible treatment and prices. carClub.com's unbiased automotive experts and product and service retailers provide consumers with reliable information and the peace of mind that they are making wise decisions regarding their cars. The buying power of its membership also provides savings on most car-related expenses, from discounts on gasoline, insurance and maintenance to advice from professional mechanics over the phone.
carClub.com's business-to-business component provides a growing network of selected automotive retailers with a program to market their products and services directly to carClub.com members, significantly lowering their customer acquisition costs. Retailers receive a benefits package that saves them money on products and services to help run their businesses and also includes personalized Web sites. carClub.com's program gives each of these businesses added credibility with consumers because of carClub.com's emphasis on honesty and good value in the automotive market.
This unique combination delivers value to buyers and sellers over the entire life cycle of vehicle ownership. carClub.com can be contacted via its Web site www.carClub.com or by calling a customer service representative at 800/carClub.