CHICAGO — Automotive artificial intelligence solutions provider LotLinx has named Eric Turner vice president of product management. Turner’s addition will help support initiatives to develop new offerings to meet the growing need for auto dealers to evolve their advertising spend and strategy, according to the company.

Turner comes to LotLinx with a deep understanding of the automotive industry developed while working at Ford Motor Co. where he led key initiatives to grow the Lincoln brand during the past five years. His major contributions to Lincoln include leading the marketing team during the development of the company’s newest flagship SUV, the 2018 Navigator, developing and executing the go-to-market strategy for the 2017 Continental, and collaborating with dealers in the Pacific Northwest to grow sales and service market share and profitability.

As the top company in Crain’s Chicago Business “Fast 50” list, LotLinx added Turner to the team to accelerate business progress by growing the company’s portfolio of AI-based digital advertising solutions. In this role, he will lead the development and launch of new offerings, including some that are currently nearing completion.

“LotLinx’s revolutionary AI-based marketing solutions directly benefit dealerships in meaningful ways,” said Turner. “My objective is to deepen LotLinx’s roots as the leading innovator in automotive digital marketing by working with our team to develop and launch world-class products. Like so many other aspects of life and business, AI is critical to the future of marketing. It is thrilling to join LotLinx’s team of talented and driven people who are already experiencing tremendous success with this new technology.”

“Our goal is to always push forward and find new and exciting ways to help dealers allocate their ad spend for the right initiatives, in turn creating a massive improvement in their ROI,” said Lance Schafer, LotLinx’s general manager of product and technology. “Eric is the perfect person to spur innovation amongst our team and get in front of the dealers who use LotLinx AI to identify ways to continue helping them sustain success. His skills will be put to use early, as some of our newest offerings are ready to go to market very soon.”