Longtime Mercedes-Benz financial executive Alex Mallmann is taking the helm at AutoGravity, the financial technology company said last week.
Mallmann, 47, replaces Andy Hinrichs as CEO, effective immediately. Hinrichs, a co-founder of AutoGravity, has left the company.
Mallmann, former CEO of Mercedes-Benz Auto Finance China, was named AutoGravity's president and CEO and has joined the board of directors, according to a company statement.
Hinrichs, 47, spearheaded AutoGravity as its platform gained 2 million users and more than two dozen lenders since its 2015 launch.
Before launching AutoGravity, Hinrichs was CFO for Daimler Financial Services in Africa and Asia-Pacific. Last year, he was an Automotive News All-Star.
AutoGravity enables customers to shop for a vehicle, select a nearby dealership, choose from up to four finance or lease offers and get preapproved. The dealership receives a fee on the financing, and customers finalize the transaction at the dealership, where they can buy finance and insurance products and take vehicle delivery.
AutoGravity has launched real-time inventory for new and used vehicles from dealership groups nationwide so consumers can browse vehicle inventory. As of last month, AutoGravity had an inventory of more than 1.5 million vehicles on the platform.
Mallmann's tenure at Mercedes stretched two decades. He started at the company in 1998, based in Brazil. From there, he has held several senior positions at Mercedes across the Americas and Europe, including CEO for Mercedes-Benz Financial Services in Spain from 2011 to 2013 and Mercedes-Benz Financial Services in Portugal from 2007 to 2011, according to his LinkedIn profile.
AutoGravity also said that former CDK Global executive Jason Bonifay has become the company's chief technology officer, effective immediately. Bonifay, 43, was vice president of development for product and engineering at CDK Global before joining AutoGravity in May as the company's vice president of engineering.
He replaces Sheng Wang, 49, who was named chief technology officer in December but has left to pursue other opportunities. Before taking that post, she was the company's first director of product, helping launch the AutoGravity platform, as well as branded platforms for Volkswagen Credit and Kia Motors Finance.
