2008-07-08 17:48:07 -

- Bateman Group for OPENLANE Lisa Melsted, 415-503-1818 ext. 15 openlane@bateman-group.com OPENLANE, Inc., a leading online auction company in North America for automotive dealers to buy and sell wholesale vehicles, today announced the appointments of Laurel Finch to vice president and general counsel and James G. O'Brien to vice president of U.S. operations, effectively immediately. Ms. Finch and

Mr. O'Brien round out OPENLANE's executive team as the company continues to capitalize on tremendous market opportunity and its position as a pioneer and innovator in the online wholesale automotive auction industry.

As Vice President and General Counsel, Laurel Finch will be responsible for all legal matters for OPENLANE. Ms. Finch was most recently Deputy General Counsel and Senior Vice President at Visa USA, Inc., where she oversaw that organization's corporate, commercial, regulatory and intellectual property legal matters. Ms. Finch was also the lead internal securities lawyer on the recent Visa corporate reorganization and IPO. Prior to joining Visa USA, Ms. Finch was a corporate and securities partner at Heller Ehrman and Venture Law Group. Ms. Finch holds both undergraduate and law degrees from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from the Thunderbird School of Global Management.

"OPENLANE provides both automotive dealers and the consignors of wholesale vehicles compelling economic benefits," said Finch. "I'm excited about joining the OPENLANE team at this stage and look forward to helping further our goal of being a leader in the online auction business for wholesale used cars."

As Vice President of U.S. Operations, Mr. O'Brien will oversee all operations functions at the company's U.S. sales and operations center in Mesa, Arizona. He comes to OPENLANE most recently from Lanelogic, Inc., the automotive industry's first used vehicle market maker, where he served as President. Previously, O'Brien was a managing partner at Auto Job Consulting LLC, where his expertise included inventory management and dealer best practices. In addition, he has served as the national director of used vehicle strategy at Sonic Automotive, Inc. and as the director of used vehicles at AutoNation, Inc., two of America's largest publicly held auto retailers. O'Brien has also held positions at The Cobalt Group, iMotors.com, A.T. Kearney, J.D. Power and Associates, Lexus and Toyota Motor Manufacturing. He holds an M.B.A. from Wake Forest University.

"OPENLANE has taken an innovative approach to automotive remarketing that is transforming how wholesale automobiles are bought and sold," said O'Brien. "Having spent my entire career in this industry, it's exciting to see how OPENLANE has created a more efficient and cost effective alternative for dealers to acquire and dispose of inventory."

Ms. Finch will be based in the company's Menlo Park, Calif. headquarters and report to OPENLANE's CEO Roger Butterwick. Mr. O'Brien will be based in the company's U.S. sales and operations center in Mesa, Ariz. and report to OPENLANE co-founder and CFO Peter Kelly.

"Laurel and Jim bring tremendous experience to the OPENLANE management team and both strongly support our mission of providing automotive consignors and dealers the most streamlined way to buy and sell vehicles," said Butterwick. "We will rely on Laurel's and Jim's expertise to help guide OPENLANE into this new chapter of the company's history. The executive team is confident that their wide-ranging experience and abilities are what we need to take the company through this growth phase, and we welcome them on board."

About OPENLANE

OPENLANE, Inc. is a leading online auction company in North America for automotive dealers to buy and sell wholesale vehicles. The company offers end-to-end auto remarketing solutions to auto manufacturers, captive finance companies, lease and daily rental companies, financial institutions and wholesale auto auctions throughout the United States and Canada. OPENLANE powers online remarketing programs for American Honda Finance, Audi Financial Services, Avis Budget Group, Chase Auto Finance, Chrysler Financial, Ford Motor Credit, Porsche Financial Services, Volkswagen Credit, among others. For more information, please visit www.openlane.com or call +1 (866) 969-0321.

Editor's Note: Please note OPENLANE is spelled in all capital letters.

Former Executive from Visa USA and Automotive Industry Veteran
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