AutoCanada Inc. has hired two AutoNation Inc. executives, designating one of them president of its Canadian operations, following Michael Rawluk’s March 3 resignation.
Jeffrey Thorpe, market president for AutoNation in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., will take over as president of AutoCanada’s 60 Canadian dealerships, the Edmonton, Alberta-based company announced Friday.
Thorpe, according to AutoCanada Executive Chair Paul Antony, has “proved himself” at scaling businesses and possesses both the vision and commercial acumen necessary to maintain the dealership group’s momentum.
“With his extensive industry knowledge and experience operating a dealership platform at scale through centralised services via [a] head office, which closely mirrors AutoCanada’s operating rhythm, he will be an excellent addition to our executive team,” Antony said in a statement.
Thorpe previously oversaw AutoNation’s operations in a number of Midwest and Western United States areas, including Colorado, Minnesota, Chicago, Cleveland, Northern California, and Los Angeles. The AutoNation veteran of more than 24 years will relocate from Denver to Edmonton.
Brian Feldman, the domestic market brand president at AutoNation, was also named senior vice president of Canadian operations and disruptive technologies by AutoCanada, reporting to Thorpe. He had worked at AutoNation in a variety of capacities for more than 18 years, according to his LinkedIn profile, and was named a 2014 Automotive News 40 Under 40 honoree.
Feldman previously worked for Ford Motor Company.
Additionally, AutoCanada announced the appointment of Lee Wittick to the position of senior vice president of operations and OEM partnerships. Wittick joins AutoCanada from the Humberview Group in Toronto. He most recently served as managing partner of Applewood Chevrolet-Cadillac-Buick-GMC and Mississauga Kia, two of the group’s 21 locations.
With the American auto market “five years ahead of Canada,” Antony added, AutoCanada expects to leverage Thorpe and Feldman’s best practises to supplement the dealership group’s current playbook in Canada.
AutoCanada owns and operates 78 new-vehicle dealerships throughout Canada and the United States, including locations in Illinois.
AutoNation is ranked first on Automotive News’ ranking of the top 150 dealership groups in the United States, with plans to retail 262,403 new vehicles in 2021.
Melissa Burden assisted with the reporting on this story.