XLerate Group (formerly known as American Auto Auction Group) announced that Kelly McAllister has been promoted to Director of Business Development and that Julie Heichel was newly hired as the director of sales operations. Both McAllister and Heichel will report to Senior Vice President of Sales, Pat Dudash.

Kelly McAllister transfers to the XLerate corporate team XLerate’s Texas Lone Star auction, where he established himself as a thought leader and operator in both the online and traditional auction spaces.  Kelly has managed, directed and grown new and existing Private Label auctions for the company. His experience also includes ten years as the AutoNation accounts manager for Manheim and two years at DealerTrack.

“I have watched our industry approach auction sales as either online or in the lane,” says McAllister. “Online buyers and sellers are a growing part of our overall sales strategy, but they are not that different from the buyers and sellers we want in our physical lanes.  Our auctions are learning how to blend and tailor their approach to both." 

Pat Dudash added, “We see the opportunity in multi-platform sales from both dealer feeds and auction feeds to create another sales month in the calendar year.  That opportunity represents a large volume of units, and we need a quality and experienced person to manage this business unit for us.  Kelly has proven that he can both develop and successfully execute in - this emerging business model. ”

Julie Heichel comes to XLerate with a strong grounding in sales management, strategic business development, CRM and marketing within the automotive industry.  Notable is the decade she spent with ADESA developing dealer sales infrastructure and CRM for buyer and seller acquisition.  Heichel worked closely with auctions and institutional/commercial customers to positively impact retention. Recently, she spent four years with Automotive Finance Corporation (AFC) as a sales director and was instrumental in creating and implementing multiple operational initiatives for their business development and sales programs.

XLerate’s CEO Cam Hitchcock stated, “Pat Dudash and I are excited to now have Kelly McAllister as a full-time corporate resource for our XLerate group auctions and their General Managers.    We look for Kelly’s impact to grow in his new role.  Pat and I are honored to have worked with Julie Heichel in the past.  We are aware of her significant skills, strong work ethic, powerful communication style and passionate commitment to her team. The XLerate Group auctions and our corporate staff are pleased to welcome Julie to the team.”

XLerate is an established group of dealer-centric auctions with physical and satellite sale operations in California, Texas, Florida, South Carolina, Mississippi, Wisconsin and Michigan.