Cox Automotive President Sandy Schwartz announced December 11 that Janet Barnard will take on the role as president of Manheim North America, effective immediately. Barnard previously served as executive vice president and chief operating officer. In her new role, Barnard will continue to lead the company’s core vehicle auction business that includes 78 operating locations and a team of more than 18,000 employees. As a member of the Cox Automotive leadership team, she has the responsibility for strategic business functions such as Operations, Sales, Customer Experience and Product Development. Manheim is the leading provider of vehicle remarketing services, connecting buyers and sellers of used vehicles to the largest wholesale vehicle marketplace.

"Janet has done a tremendous job of reinforcing Manheim’s position as an industry leader and setting a vision for the company’s long-term success,” said Schwartz. “We congratulate her on this well-deserved achievement and look forward to the many contributions she will continue to make to our industry, our company and our customers as a valued member of the Cox Automotive executive team.”   

Over the past three years at Manheim, Barnard has implemented a variety of key initiatives designed to further the industry, while creating a more efficient auction experience for customers. This includes working to create a Multi-Platform Selling solution that makes buying and selling easier for customers and launching a $100 million multi-year auction modernization effort that uses technology to redesign processes, enabling employees to spend more time with customers.    

Prior to joining Manheim, Barnard served as senior vice president and general manager for Cox Communications' Central Region. In that role, she was responsible for growing the $1.2 billion region in voice, data and video services across a residential and commercial base of more than 700,000 customers. Prior to that role, Barnard served as senior vice president and general manager for other Cox Communications regional business areas, including Northern Virginia, Middle America and Omaha. Barnard joined Cox in 1988 as the accounting manager for Middle Georgia operations.  She is a member of the Metro Atlanta Clean Tech Leadership Council, which focuses on growing the clean tech economy, attracting and growing clean tech jobs and positioning metro Atlanta as a leader in sustainability. She was most recently recognized by Women in Technology (WIT) as the winner of the 2014 Woman of the Year in Technology Award in the Large/Enterprise Organization category. This award recognizes the accomplishments of Georgia’s top women leaders and the impact they have made in their communities. In 2010, Barnard was recognized as a Betsy Magness Leadership Institute Fellow, which honors the most successful female leaders in the cable and telecommunications industry. She was also recognized by CableFAX as a Top 25 Regional Player, as well as one of the Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Cable. 

Barnard gives back to her community as a supporter of and participant in the Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America (KPCRAA), which raises funds and awareness for Victory Junction and other charities supporting chronically ill children. In addition, she has been involved in All Our Kids, acting as a board member and mentor for this organization that serves at-risk youth by providing mentoring and college scholarships to those who uphold certain behavioral and performance standards in the program.