America’s Group CEO Cam Hitchcock plans to step down from his post and retire from the company on Dec. 31, the auction group said Thursday.

Executive vice president and chief revenue officer Chuck Tapp will become CEO.

XLerate Group acquired the America’s Auto Auction group late last year and rebranded the 16 XLerate auctions with the AAA name earlier this year.

The combined company — America’s Group — has more than three dozen auctions.

Hitchcock became CEO of XLerate in 2014 and has held that role for the combined company.

“We thank Cam for his significant contributions to the development and growth of the company, including the successful integration of AAA and XLerate Group during 2022, and wish him all the best in the future,” said Gary Hokkanen, who is a partner at Brightstar Capital Partners. Brightstar obtained majority ownership of what was then XLerate in 2021.

“We are thrilled that Chuck will lead the company moving forward,” Hokkanen said. “We believe his experience and reputation in the industry will help AAA grow and continue to provide differentiated services to its customers in 2023 and beyond.”

In the news release, Tapp added: “I’m thrilled to take the reins from my friend Cam and am excited about the future of the company. I believe that this challenging time in our industry will also bring great opportunities, and the men and women of AAA are poised to capitalize on these opportunities and leverage both our digital and physical auction sites to redefine the remarketing industry.”

Hitchcock said: “This is a tough decision for me as the relationships we’ve developed over the years are very important to me, and the excitement of combining XLerate Group and America’s Auto Auction almost a year ago transformed and united both companies and changed industry dynamics. I have no doubt that AAA will continue to flourish under the leadership of Chuck and the entire senior leadership team.”