Boats Group names sales VP for North America

Boats Group said it named Ian MacDonald as the company’s North American sales vice president.

MacDonald had been the sales vice president at Autotrader.com.

A key hire for 2017, MacDonald will focus on growing new business and expanding existing industry partner relationships, Boats Group said. He is a veteran in the digital classified space with 33 years of experience in the automotive industry, domestically and internationally.

Boats Group said MacDonald spent the last 14 years at AutoTrader.com and played a key role on its leadership team, growing the business from $50 million to $1.2 billion in revenue. He also oversaw the closing of Auto Trader Publishing, shifting more than $40 million in revenue from print to digital media in 2008.

“The experience that Ian brings to the Boats Group team in the digital sales space is invaluable, and we are delighted that he has decided to join us,” Boats Group CEO Sam Fulton said in a statement.

“As Boats Group works to leverage technology to deliver leading value to our industry partners we will also continue to focus our efforts on delivering a modern sales experience to prospects and current customers,” Fulton said. “Ian will be a tremendous asset in expanding the reach of this mission and accentuating the already strong sales and account management teams that we have in place today.”

“After a long career in the automotive sector, leading sales teams and partnering with customers as the industry evolved from traditional media and practices to the digital age, I am excited to join the Boats Group as we strengthen our position as leaders in the marine industry,” MacDonald said.

“I look forward working closely with the Boats Group team and our industry partners to offer ever-evolving and improving solutions and service to help them grow their businesses,” he said.

This announcement is the most recent of a series of key hiring updates from Boats Group following their acquisition by Funds advised by Apax Partners, including the appointment of Sam Fulton as Boats Group’s new CEO and the appointment of Sam Peterson as the company’s CTO.