TrueCar names former AutoTrader.com boss its new chief executive

Online car-shopping portal TrueCar Inc. on Monday named former AutoTrader.com boss Chip Perry as its new president and chief executive, effective Dec. 15.

Perry, 62, will succeed TrueCar founder Scott Painter, who abruptly announced in August that he would step down as chief executive amid the company’s ongoing losses and some dealer dissatisfaction with Santa Monica-based TrueCar.

“I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished but it’s time for a change and we have found exactly the right person for the job,” Painter said of Perry in a statement.

Perry was chief executive of AutoTrader.com from the company’s inception in 1997 until 2013, guiding the car-shopping site into a company with $1.5 billion in annual revenue.

He also oversaw a series of acquisitions at AutoTrader.com, including the venerable auto-research and pricing firm Kelley Blue Book.

More recently, Perry has been president and CEO of RentPath, the Atlanta-based parent of ApartmentGuide.com and Rent.com.

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TrueCar, with 350 employees, operates a website that helps consumers shop for cars from participating dealers. TrueCar takes a $299 cut from each new-car transaction and $399 for used vehicles.

But TrueCar and some of its dealers have clashed over how they share customer transaction data, among other disputes. Those dealers include AutoNation Inc., America’s largest auto retailer, which severed its relationship with TrueCar in July.

“TrueCar has in the past had a lot of issues with dealers and I believe those issues are adjustable,” Perry said in an interview Monday. “You can’t create a fantastic consumer experience ... without the ready, willing and able participation of car dealers.”

Earlier this month, TrueCar reported that its third-quarter loss narrowed from a year earlier, to $11.1 million from $13.6 million.

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