ROUNDUP: News items from the world of fixed operations

CarMax Inc. plans to hire more than 850 service technicians and detailers, the largest such hiring effort by the used-vehicle retailer in its 26-year history. Company executives say the technicians will primarily recondition cars and trucks for sale at CarMax's 215 stores.

CarMax employs about 3,700 technicians, spokesman Lindsey Duke told Fixed Ops Journal. Roughly 55 percent of the hires will be technicians, and the rest will be detailers and related employees, Duke added. The company says it provides its technicians an "award-winning training program, strong opportunities to grow long-term careers, reimbursement programs for (National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence) certification, and free or discounted tools."

The National Automobile Dealers Association estimates that the U.S. auto retail industry must hire 76,000 technicians each year through 2026 to keep pace with projected job growth.

Genstar Capital, a private equity firm in San Francisco, has acquired a majority stake in automotive technology provider OEConnection LLC. As part of the deal, Ford Motor Co. and General Motors will keep their minority investments in OEC.

Terms were not disclosed. The agreement closed Sept. 26.

OEC was founded in 2000 as a partnership among several automakers, including Ford and GM, to promote the sale of factory replacement parts to franchised dealerships and their wholesale customers. OEC also provides software and technology solutions in the data, supply chain and service segments of automakers' businesses. Headquartered in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio, the company serves more than 30,000 dealerships globally, along with 36 automaker brands and more than 135,000 repairers.

Genstar is acquiring the majority stake in OEC from Providence Equity Partners in Providence, R.I., an asset management firm that held the stake for about three years. Genstar says it "will provide the additional investment capital and resources to support realization of the company's growth strategies."

Scott Smith is the new vice president of aftersales for Mitsubishi Motors North America Inc., leading the automaker's service and parts operations. Smith formerly was vice president of parts operations for AutoNation Inc., the largest U.S. dealership group.

Smith, 53,will report to President Fred Diaz and serve on the company's executive committee. He previously worked for Ford Motor Co. in various fixed operations, marketing and retailing roles, and directed parts and service operations for Apple Auto Group.

Hendrick Automotive Group, the largest privately held U.S. auto retailer, is donating $1 million to a new automotive training center at Wake Technical Community College in Raleigh, N.C. The center will enable the college to expand its training of service technicians.

Rick Hendrick, chairman of the group of 96 dealerships, said his company has 500 openings for service technicians. He said Hendrick Automotive and other auto employers "will line up to hire" graduates of the facility, to be called the Hendrick Center for Automotive Excellence.

The $41.8 million, 100,000-square-foot facility on the college's Scott Northern Wake Campus will accommodate a doubling of enrollment in its automotive systems technology program, to 200 students. The center also will add a degree program in collision repair, college officials said.

The center is scheduled to open in fall 2021.

The service technology provider Dealer-FX has hired a new CFO, COO and chief technology officer in recent months, in what its chief executive calls a bid to help boost the Toronto-based company's growth.

"These guys have a proven track record," Dealer-FX CEO Gary Kalk told Fixed Ops Journal about the new executives.

This month, Dealer-FX hired George Kypreos as its new CFO. He was previously CFO of Fleet Complete, a fleet management software company based in Toronto.

The new COO, Bill Lucchini, formerly headed the cloud security business unit at Sophos Group PLC, a British security company. He joined Dealer-FX in July.

Alan Fong, previously chief technology officer at Fleet Complete, joined Dealer-FX in that position in August. The company says he is charged with boosting the company's research, development and testing for One Platform, a software product that gives dealerships access to data and analytics about fixed operations while helping them connect with service customers.

Kalk says his company's revenue has increased 20 percent this year compared with 2018.