SALT LAKE CITY — Kevin Root was named president and chief operating officer of DrivingSales, the company announced today.

Root, who has served on the DrivingSales Advisory board since 2009, is charged with both operational and strategic responsibilities for DrivingSales. During his career, Root has launched over a dozen successful first generation products and digital solutions, and was recognized by J.D. Power and Associates as “one of the 10 original automotive eBusiness pioneers.”

“His performance-improvement solutions for dealerships and OEMs have been foundational for our industry, and his industry research has broken new ground on everything from reputation management to the impact of social media on dealerships,” said Jared Hamilton, DrivingSales’ CEO and founder.

Root is an automotive industry veteran with more than 25 years of automotive and technology experience. He joins DrivingSales from Dealer.com, where he was chief strategy officer and chief product officer. Prior to joining Dealer.com, he served for 10 years in product strategy, retail performance improvement and marketing positions at Cobalt and DriverSide.

Root’s extensive accomplishments include the creation of over a dozen technology products and services used by thousands of dealers and many of the leading manufacturers. He has consulted with and developed digital marketing and retail performance improvement solutions for many automotive OEMs and enterprise dealer groups, including Lexus, VW, Audi, DaimlerChrysler, Ford, Kia, Subaru, and AutoNation.

“I have watched DrivingSales grow to become a key industry influencer over the past four years, doing what no one else in the industry has done: create a new platform to ensure dealers get the unbiased, relevant and unfiltered intelligence and insight they need to build their businesses,” said Root.