WASHINGTON — The National Automobile Dealers Association elected Geoffrey Pohanka as its next vice chairman, indicating he is likely to be the group’s chairman in 2023.
Pohanka, 64, was elected to the 2022 post during the association’s board meeting Tuesday, which was held in Charleston, S.C.
Pohanka, a third-generation dealer who started in the automotive business in 1973, is president of Pohanka Automotive Group in Capitol Heights, Md., which consists of 16 stores representing nine brands across Maryland, Virginia and Texas. The company was founded by his grandfather in 1919.
Pohanka represents new-car dealers in metro Washington, D.C., on the NADA board of directors and is currently chairman of the association’s industry affairs committee.
“I grew up in the car business. It’s an amazing, rewarding and exciting business, and we’re all so fortunate to be in it,” Pohanka said in a statement.
Pohanka said his family has been involved in NADA “for generations” and that the association has helped the company “tremendously.”
“NADA has an amazing board and an amazing staff. And if we can help create a good environment for the industry, we can help create a vibrant economy and stronger communities,” Pohanka said. “That’s what I want to do, and I promise to give it my utmost 110 percent.”
