WASHINGTON — The National Automobile Dealers Association elected Gary Gilchrist as its next vice chairman, indicating he is likely to be the group’s chairman in 2024.
Gilchrist, president of Gilchrist Chevrolet-Buick-GMC in Tacoma, Wash., was elected to the 2023 post during the association’s board meeting Tuesday.
Gilchrist, 69, started in the auto industry in 1977 selling cars in Tacoma after graduating from college. He represents Washington’s new-car dealers on NADA’s board of directors.
Also Tuesday, Geoffrey Pohanka, current NADA vice chairman and chairman of Pohanka Automotive Group in Capitol Heights, Md., was elected chairman for 2023.
Pohanka, 65, represents new-car dealers in metro Washington, D.C., on the NADA board of directors and is a third-generation dealer who started in the automotive business in 1973. His dealership group sells 15 brands at stores across Maryland, Virginia and Texas. The company was founded by his grandfather in 1919.
Pohanka’s late father, Jack, was a pioneer in dual franchising who coined the term “megadealer” and also was a former NADA president.
Pohanka will succeed 2022 Chairman Mike Alford, dealer principal of Marine Chevrolet in Jacksonville, N.C., and Trent Cadillac-Buick-GMC in New Bern, N.C.
The new terms begin at the 2023 NADA Show in Dallas, which is being planned for Jan. 26-29.
This story will be updated.
