Online auto parts exchange Covisint names CEO

Computerworld - Online automotive exchange Covisint LLC today named a former investment house and Internet publishing executive as its new CEO.

Kevin English, 48, was a managing director and CEO for e-commerce at Credit Suisse First Boston since 1999 and previously was chairman and CEO of TheStreet.com, a financial news Web site. He will begin his new job May 1. English was also named Covisint's chairman and president.

At a press introduction today in the Automotive Hall of Fame in Dearborn, Mich., English said he will lead the company by centering its attention on its customers through support, training and continuing customer acquisition.

Although "more than a hundred [online marketplaces] have gone the way of the [dinosaur]" in the past year, English said, the difference is that the failed ventures have been public companies without the deep support of industry. Where there is industry sponsorship, as in the Covisint model, there is a better chance of success, he said.

Southfield, Mich.-based Covisint was formed in February of last year by the Big Three automakers as a global online marketplace for parts and services procurement through a vast network of suppliers.

Tokyo-based Nissan Motor Co. and France-based Renault SA have also joined Covisint, which was created with software and services from Oracle Corp. and Pleasanton, Calif.-based Commerce One Inc.

English, a 1975 graduate of Stonehill College in Easton, Mass., was also previously a vice president and general manager at Nexis Enterprise Group and a vice president of sales and marketing at Nexis parent Lexis-Nexis Group in Miamisburg, Ohio. He also has experience in technology at companies including Computervision Corp., Aries Technology Inc., Jupiter Technology, Control Data Corp. and Xerox Corp.

In December, Covisint completed its legal incorporation, allowing the exchange to hire a CEO and a staff and to begin charging for its services (see story).

Last September, the new company received a green light from the German government to operate the online exchange (see story).

Related stories:

• Ford, GM almost ready to shut own exchanges, Dec. 11, 2000



• FTC gives go-ahead to auto industry exchange, Sept. 11, 2000



• Auto exchange gets backing from key supplier, June 8, 2000

Read more about data mining in Computerworld's Data Mining Knowledge Center.