Mr Odgers has more than 13 years of experience in the automotive industry, including roles at Sydney City Toyota/Lexus and Carsales, and will be responsible for driving Autotrader Group’s motor dealerships strategy.

The new appointment builds on the business’ strategy to provide an open platform for dealerships through the combined offering across CarsGuide, Autotrader and Gumtree Cars.

Combined, the three brands bring a three-shop window for partners, with a reach of over 3.3 million unique visitors a month.

Autotrader, CarsGuide and Gumtree Australia managing director Mark Kehoe said: “We’re thrilled to welcome Saxon into the role of head of dealer marketplaces.

“His rich background in the automotive industry and vision for the evolution of the sector will enable him to transform the way we run our motors teams and become laser focused on our digital proposition into the future.

“We’re especially excited to onboard Saxon as we work towards our future planning across each business.”

Mr Odgers said: “The open platform offering provided by Autotrader, CarsGuide and Gumtree Cars presents an exciting opportunity in the Australian automotive industry, bringing more visibility to both dealerships and consumers and I can’t wait to bring our proposition to more dealers and partners and help them benefit from our unique and powerful ecosystem.

“My family has worked in the automotive industry since 1922, so for me to have the chance to work across these three brands and focus on optimising our solutions, is a natural fit for me.

“The Australian automotive industry and its move from offline to online is a true passion of mine as the sector is evolving at a rapid pace and changing how dealerships market their business and sell to consumers.

“I fully support this evolution and actively interpret how buyers research, engage and interact with dealerships to assist the vehicle sales function and customer experience within dealerships.”

Mr Odgers joined the business in late December and will work closely with the dealer sales team to ensure value is articulated and return on investment is achieved with national dealer groups.

By Neil Dowling