NADA’s 63-member board of directors also elected Tom Castriota, who owns Castriota Chevrolet in Hudson, Fla., as secretary and Gary Gilchrist, president of Gilchrist Chevrolet-Buick-GMC in Tacoma, Wash., as treasurer.
Walser, 65, current NADA vice chairman and CEO of Walser Automotive Group in Bloomington, Minn., was elected chairman for 2021. He and Alford will start in their roles in February during the virtual 2021 NADA Show.
Walser got his start in auto retail in 1974 and was the association’s industry relations committee chairman. He will succeed 2020 Chairman Rhett Ricart, 63, who is CEO of Ricart Automotive Group in Groveport, Ohio, near Columbus.
“I’m humbled by the continued confidence of my fellow dealers,” Walser said in a statement. “I promise to do the very, very best I can, and I will be looking for a lot of hand-raisers because this will be a team effort all the way.”
