WALTHAM, Mass. -

DealerRater appointed a 30-year automotive industry executive and former senior vice president at J.D. Power to the newly created position of chief executive officer.

Accepting the role today is Gary Tucker, who will be responsible for leading the company through its next phase of growth, building on DealerRater’s consumer review and content marketing disciplines.

DealerRater indicated Tucker will direct the company’s long-term growth strategy and lead the evaluation of any potential acquisitions.

“Given his global marketing and retail experience within the automotive industry, Gary was an ideal choice to lead DealerRater through the next critical phase in our growth story,” DealerRater founder Chip Grueter said.  “The entire DealerRater team is thrilled to welcome Gary as our CEO as we continue our evolution into the epicenter of consumer sentiment for the automotive industry.”

Since its launch in 2002, DealerRater has grown to feature reviews of nearly 41,000 U.S. and Canadian dealers as well as nearly 1.4 million consumer reviews. DealerRater believes it maintains more dealership reviews than the next five consumer review sites combined.

Most recently, Tucker was senior vice president of global product management and marketing at J.D. Power, reporting directly to the company’s president.  In that capacity, Tucker was responsible for developing products and services to meet the needs of J.D. Power’s customers around the world, as well as brand marketing.

During his 12-year tenure at J.D. Power, Tucker also held various senior management positions, including executive director of client services for the automotive industry.

Earlier in his career, Tucker was vice president of marketing and product planning for American Isuzu Motors. During his three years with Isuzu, he also served as vice president of sales and as vice president of asset management.

Previously, Tucker held various sales and marketing positions at GE Capital Auto Financial Services, including business leader of the Canadian unit, GE Capital Autolease Canada, located in Mississauga, Ontario. He also spent 10 years in the retail automotive industry in the Northeast.