OpenAuto.com Strengthens Experienced Management Team
8 March 2000
OpenAuto.com Strengthens Experienced Management Team With New CFO, Board of Directors; Former Coffee People, Jamba Juice CFO Joins Open Market Auto E-Tailer
WALNUT CREEK, Calif.--March 8, 2000--President/CEO, ING Barings Managing Director Sit on
Board of Directors
OpenAuto.com, the first open market automotive e-tailer (http://www.openauto.com), today announced additions to its executive management team that will support the Company's rapid growth.
Mark Archer, who has more than 20 years of finance and operations management experience with some of the nation's most recognized retail companies, joined OpenAuto.com as its senior vice president, chief financial officer and secretary. OpenAuto.com also introduced its Board of Directors, comprised of former Volkswagen of America president and CEO, William J. Young; vivid studios president and CEO, Craig Wingate; and ING Barings managing director, William Hallisey.
"The additions of Mark Archer to our executive management team and William Young, Craig Wingate and Bill Hallisey to our Board of Directors complement the existing strengths of OpenAuto.com management while offering valuable external perspectives and key industry insight to our growing business," said John Truchard, OpenAuto.com's co-founder, president and chief executive officer. "Their collective experiences will help accelerate OpenAuto.com's position as an emerging leader within the online car buying industry."
At OpenAuto.com, Archer's responsibilities include establishing the infrastructure to support the company's rapid growth in addition to directing its fund raising activities. Prior to joining OpenAuto.com, Archer served as executive vice president and CFO of Coffee People Worldwide, the nation's second largest specialty coffee retailer. While in this role, Archer helped take Coffee People's predecessor company, Gloria Jean's Gourmet Coffee, public through a reverse merger with Coffee People Inc., followed by the merger of Coffee People with Diedrich Coffee.
Before that, Archer was senior vice president and CFO of segment-leading restaurant chain Jamba Juice Company, where he helped the Company grow from five to more than 75 stores when he left. Archer has also held CFO and other senior-level financial positions with Del Taco, Inc., Canteen Corporation, and Denny's Inc.
"I am intrigued by OpenAuto.com's unique open market approach to selling cars and trucks online, and believe that we have established the best processes and partners to succeed in this competitive marketplace," Archer said. "I also relish the opportunity to call upon my financial management experience to build a world-class finance and administrative team at OpenAuto.com."
As an OpenAuto.com Board member, Young brings to OpenAuto.com significant automotive industry management experience, having served 18 years at Volkswagen of America (VOA) -- most notably as president and CEO. While serving as VOA's president, Young was also president of V-Crest Systems, Inc., a computer services company serving 1,200 auto dealer agencies, as well as president of VCI, Inc., a $2 billion financial services company.
Prior to his VOA presidency, Young served as vice president and general manager of Volkswagen United States, Inc., and held several sales management positions with responsibility for national, regional and zone sales. Before his appointment as vice president of Volkswagen United States, Inc., Young operated his own automotive marketing-consulting firm, WJ Young & Associates.
Currently, Young is chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer of Advanced Machine Vision Corp., worldwide leader in the design, manufacture, and sale of vision systems used to control manufacturing processes resulting in production and quality yield rates superior to other processes and control methods.
Wingate, another OpenAuto.com Board member, has extensive entrepreneurial, multimedia, music and entertainment experience. He currently is president and chief executive officer at vivid studios, a firm that specializes in building online ventures for start-up businesses and strategic initiatives within established companies. (vivid was recently acquired by Modem Media.) vivid's clients include such firms as PBS Online, Gymboree, EventSource.com, OpenAuto.com, Startups.com, American Century, and The Webby Awards, among others.
Wingate joined vivid in 1995 to develop original Web-based business opportunities after serving as general manager and publisher of the Information Services Division of the Music & Entertainment Group at Cardinal Business Media, Inc.
Prior to Cardinal, Wingate launched The Parent Company, an information resource business serving parents and professionals working with families, kids with special needs, and adoption issues. During this period he also worked as a business consultant, developing information services for several companies in the financial and insurance industries.
Finally, William Hallisey, a managing director in ING Barings' private equity group, also contributes his business strategy acumen to OpenAuto.com's Board. ING Barings is the corporate and investing arm of ING Group. It offers corporate and institutional clients a specialized range of products and services in the field of corporate and investment banking. It includes lending, equity and debt capital markets, treasury, trade and commodity finance, project and structured finance, research and advice on mergers and acquisitions.
About OpenAuto.com
OpenAuto.com provides the first online open market where buyers can comparison shop from the largest selection of new cars and trucks and find the most competitive prices. Using OpenAuto.com, car buyers can research, compare, finance and buy their vehicle completely hassle-free. Trusted, specially trained OpenAuto.com market specialists advise and guide buyers through the car purchase cycle -- relieving buyers from unwanted sales pressure from dealers.
OpenAuto.com's unique approach to selling cars online has attracted the largest number of participating auto dealers, and has enabled the company to secure strategic alliances with some of the most recognized finance, insurance, automotive and technology companies. Collectively, these attributes and many others help OpenAuto.com provide online car buyers with the Internet's easiest and most trusted car buying experience. Launched in November 1999, OpenAuto.com is a venture-backed company based in the San Francisco Bay Area. For more information, please visit www.openauto.com, or call 925/974-8700.
