Gary Perdue, a senior executive with 21 years at Arcadia/TranSouth Financial Corporation and its predecessor, The Associates Financial Services, a subsidiary of Citigroup, has joined DealerTrack to spearhead the company's national sales programs, Mark O'Neil, president and chief executive officer, has announced.

DealerTrack(SM) automates the entire automobile dealer-lender process from financing to daily information sharing.

Mr. Perdue, who has served as Senior Vice President, National Sales & Marketing, for Arcadia/Transouth since 1995, will be responsible for developing and implementing DealerTrack's national sales strategy including expanding the company's customer base of automobile dealerships and dealer groups and growing the number of lenders participating in the system. Currently, Chase Manhattan Bank, AmeriCredit and Subaru Motor Finance participate in the DealerTrack system, and dealers can submit applications and receive virtually immediate responses to these institutions electronically.

"Gary Perdue brings to DealerTrack the benefit of extensive dealer relationship and lender experience," Mr. O'Neil said. "He built the Arcadia/Transouth National Accounts Division from a small relationship with CarMax to a $750 million operation and developed the strategy for and built a highly successful e-commerce program.Gary is well-respected in the auto finance arena, and I am confident that his background and strong relationships within the industry will help DealerTrack as we expand our presence among both dealers and lenders."

In his prior role within Arcadia/TranSouth, Mr. Perdue was responsible for national sales, marketing, e-commerce and acquisitions.

He is president and a founding member of the National Auto Finance Association and holds a B.A. degree from Slippery Rock University, Slippery Rock, Pa. He will be relocating from Dallas to New York and will be based at DealerTrack's Long Island headquarters.

"DealerTrack offers an exciting business proposition to both auto dealers and lenders, by helping to facilitate the industry's conversion to a Web-based auto finance process," Mr. Perdue said. "I am eager to begin helping both dealers and lenders make the switch to DealerTrack's innovative Internet-based model and enhance their efficiency, cost-effectiveness and productivity."

The DealerTrack system allows dealers to submit a consumer's credit application online to multiple financing institutions. Dealers can also access real-time application and contract status information from each online lender on the DealerTrack platform, regardless of whether their application was sent electronically or by fax.