Doubling in size and launching two new businesses in 2014, DrivingSales cemented its position as the leading information services provider in the retail automotive industry delivering valuable insights to dealers through its media properties, university and data & analytics tools

Salt Lake City, Utah – January 21, 2015 – DrivingSales today announced that 2014 marked a banner year of growth for the retail automotive information services provider. In addition, Chris Reed, an automotive digital marketing veteran, has joined the expanding team as President of DrivingSales Media and CMO of DrivingSales LLC. DrivingSales connects progressive dealers to the people and insights they need to optimize their daily business operations through DrivingSales Media, University and Data divisions. 

DrivingSales launched in 2008 as the industry’s first online community for auto dealerships, and the company has grown to become the industry’s leading provider of the most relevant, actionable insights for dealerships across a variety of platforms. With registered users in over 60% of dealerships nationwide, and three times the online user traffic of the next largest community, DrivingSales.com has become the leading network for collaboration, product reviews, and industry trends; and it is the central piece of the DrivingSales media division.  In addition, DrivingSales University and Data divisions deliver actionable insight to dealerships providing skills education, and performance insights as purely dealer-aligned, trusted third party.

In 2014, DrivingSales launched two new businesses that rapidly achieved critical mass. 

• DrivingSales News premiered in August 2014, exclusively reporting on the intersection between retail automotive and technology innovation. DrivingSales News produces over 100 video stories and articles each month and, in less than four months, has grown to deliver news to one-third of US dealerships.
• DrivingSales Data launched in June 2014 and is the industry’s first free cross-channel marketing analytics service, integrated directly with the industry’s major marketing platforms to provide valuable performance benchmarking for dealers.  DrivingSales Data has already been adopted by all North American 20 Group organizations as part of their services and is on track to have nearly 30 percent of US dealerships on its platform.

DrivingSales’ established businesses also continued to prosper in 2014.

• DrivingSales.com dealer network saw a 43% increase in unique user visits, and recognized 38 products for excellence on the basis of over 21,000 validated user reviews.
• DrivingSales Executive Summit and President’s Club continued to be the industry’s leading conferences for business and technology innovators, selling out for the fifth consecutive year.
• DrivingSales University engaged nearly 5,000 dealer learners in 310 courses across all aspects of dealership operations, and pioneered the industry’s first professional marketing certification program

“We are proud that DrivingSales has evolved into the leading information provider for auto dealerships, and one of the industry’s most influential brands, offering benefits to dealers at the critical juncture where retailing and innovation meet,” said DrivingSales CEO and Founder Jared Hamilton.

“Our promise continues to be to offer the most accurate, progressive, and useful insights to help dealerships stay ahead in their rapidly changing ecosystem,” continued Hamilton. 

“The addition of Chris Reed to our leadership team will, without doubt, keep us ahead of that promise. Chris has been a valued advisor to DrivingSales almost since inception. His track record in this industry as an innovator and leader is remarkable, as is his passion to contribute not just to the commercial good of our company, but to also help the people who fuel the auto industry - dealers and OEMs - prosper.”

Reed has over 25 years of experience in marketing, strategy and business management roles, leading marketing and sales efforts that built several businesses valued at over $1B.  Prior to joining DrivingSales, Reed served as CMO of CDK Digital Marketing, formerly Cobalt, where he led the marketing initiatives that supported the company’s five-fold growth, leading with insights on consumer behavior and industry best practices.

Reed holds a BA in Public and International Affairs from Princeton University, an MBA from Harvard University, and has been a graduate researcher on innovation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is the protagonist in two case studies taught at the Harvard Business School and at the Kellogg Business School.

“It has been exciting to watch DrivingSales develop from single community site to the ‘go to’ source for trusted insights for automotive retailers, manufacturers and vendors, a company respected for its independence and integrity,” said Reed. “The industry is entering a period of disruptive change that will create winners and losers. I am thrilled to be able to facilitate connections between innovative dealers, vendors and manufacturers to navigate this change with professionalism and profitability.”

About DrivingSales   

DrivingSales enables retail automotive dealers to learn, connect, innovate, and prosper in a rapidly changing retail environment. DrivingSales operates three business units geared at delivering actionable insight to dealers:  DrivingSales Media, which comprises the DrivingSales.com dealer community, DrivingSales News, Dealer Executive Magazine, and multiple industry conferences. DrivingSales University, the leading provider of automotive retail education content and certification programs, and DrivingSales Data, the industry’s largest cross-channel data analytics platform.

Founded by a third-generation car dealer in 2008, today DrivingSales is utilized by over 60% of franchised dealerships in North America as a resource to improve their business performance.  To learn more about the DrivingSales community, news, training or performance analytics visit DrivingSales.com, DrivingSalesNews.com, DrivingSalesUniversity.com and DrivingSalesData.com

DrivingSales Media Relations:
Melanie Webber (melanie@mwebbcom.com), mWEBB Communications, 424.603.4340
Crystal Hartwell (crystal@mwebbcom.com), mWEBB Communications, 714.987.1016