- Ken Kraft, as chief marketing
and sales officer, will lead combined sales and marketing teams to
drive profitable growth and enhance the customer experience.
- Current Chief Sales Officer Tim
McKinley will retire at the end of 2024 after 11
distinguished years at Cox Automotive.
- Before joining Cox Automotive in 2021, Kraft led marketing and
sales operations at Cox Business, the commercial services division
of Cox Communications.
ATLANTA, Aug. 6, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- Cox Automotive today announced an expanded
leadership role for Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing
Officer Ken Kraft. In addition to
his current marketing responsibilities, Kraft will lead the
company's sales organization. He will continue to report to Cox
Automotive President Steve Rowley
and remain a member of the executive leadership team.
Since joining Cox Automotive in 2021, Kraft has partnered
closely with the sales and product teams to develop effective and
impactful marketing strategies, resulting in significant growth and
improved customer satisfaction. In addition to championing a
people-first culture, he has been instrumental in reimagining and
simplifying the company's brand architecture, expanding its
industry presence and elevating important customer
relationships.
"There's no one better to lead this best-in-class marketing and
sales organization than Ken Kraft,"
said Steve Rowley, president of Cox
Automotive. "Ken's laser focus on putting the customer first and
his deep understanding of how marketing and sales can partner
together to drive business success have been the hallmarks of his
over 35-year career."
As Kraft steps into his new role, he will collaborate closely
with Tim McKinley, the current chief
sales officer, who will retire at the end of the year. McKinley
concludes a distinguished 40-year career, including six years at
Cox Communications and 11 years at Cox Automotive. He has been a
key member of the Cox Automotive executive leadership team for the
past five years, helping lead record revenue growth during his time
with the company.
"I'm honored to lead such a talented and passionate group of
team members and continue to build on a solid foundation," said
Kraft. "By further aligning our sales and marketing efforts, we can
better serve our customers, bring innovative solutions to market
faster and achieve unprecedented success for Cox
Automotive."
Before joining Cox Automotive, Kraft led marketing and sales
operations at Cox Business, the commercial services division of Cox
Communications. He built the marketing and sales operations team
and positioned them as strategic business partners, playing a
pivotal role in Cox Business' explosive growth. Prior to joining
Cox, Kraft had a long-standing career in telecommunications,
leading marketing, communications, product and sales teams at
AT&T, BellSouth and Sprint.
A longtime Atlanta resident,
Kraft is passionate about giving back to the community and
environmental stewardship. He currently serves on the board of the
Chattahoochee Riverkeeper. Previously, he served on the boards of
the Trust for Public Land, Woodruff Arts Center, Fernbank Museum,
Adaptive Spirit and the Sandy Springs Education Force.
Kraft earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from the
University of South Carolina and serves
on the Dean's Leadership Council for the College of Information and
Communications.
About Cox Automotive
Cox Automotive is the world's
largest automotive services and technology provider. Fueled by the
largest breadth of first-party data fed by 2.3 billion online
interactions a year, Cox Automotive tailors leading solutions for
car shoppers, auto manufacturers, dealers, lenders and fleets. The
company has 29,000+ employees on five continents and a portfolio of
industry-leading brands that include Autotrader®, Kelley Blue
Book®, Manheim®, vAuto®, Dealertrack®, NextGear Capital™,
CentralDispatch® and FleetNet America®. Cox Automotive is a
subsidiary of Cox Enterprises Inc., a privately owned, Atlanta-based company with $22 billion in
annual revenue. Visit coxautoinc.com or connect via
@CoxAutomotive on X, CoxAutoInc on Facebook
or Cox-Automotive-Inc on LinkedIn.
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SOURCE Cox Automotive