PALO ALTO, CA – LiveDeal, an online marketplace for buying and selling goods locally, has appointed Devon Cohen as vice president, automobiles. Cohen, the former CEO of FordDirect.com, joins LiveDeal with experience in the Internet and automobile industries. As vice president, automobiles, Cohen will focus on the $370 billion used auto market in the U.S. and the $5 billion auto classifieds listing business to further accelerate LiveDeal´s growth in the industry.
Throughout his 25-year career, Cohen has led the development of businesses in all stages, from concept through business reinvention, in senior management positions including CEO, COO, and CFO. Cohen has been recognized for effective development and execution of business, financial, and strategic processes.
Cohen previously served as CEO of FordDirect.com. There, he was recruited by the president of Ford Division and the chairman of the Ford Dealer Council to redefine marketing strategy, reorganize, and build FordDirect, an in-channel joint venture between a manufacturer and its dealer base. Cohen focused on leveraging the Internet to increase vehicle retail sales, increasing Internet sales to over 150,000 vehicles per year, and by building strong consumer and dealer relationships, increasing dealer participation by over 5,000 participating dealerships.
Cohen´s automotive industry experience includes serving as the group vice president – automotive for Westchester, NY-based Tradeout, a B2B eBay sister company. Cohen also served as the vice president and general manager for DaimlerChrysler Financial Services. Earlier, he was vice president -- services division, for the company´s Mercedes Benz Credit Corporation and CEO of DaimlerChrysler´s Remarketing Services of America (RSA). Cohen also served in senior management positions at financial services companies including HSBC – Marine Midland Bank, Goldome Realty Credit Corp, Merrill Lynch Mortgage Corp., and Accounting Firm KPMG Peat Marwick.
Cohen holds a B.S. in accounting from SUNY Binghamton. He is one course from becoming a Kellogg Executive Marketing Scholar at Northwestern University in Chicago. Cohen sits on the board of directors of a number of automotive, Internet, and financial services companies. He has been a keynote speaker at leading trade association conferences and has been honored for his business achievements as a finalist in the Ernst & Young "Entrepreneur of the Year" award, "Top 40 Executives Under 40" from the Business First Newspaper in Buffalo, NY, and as a Willis Bryant Scholar as a top national mortgage banking school graduate.
