Two auto dealers with Pennsylvania ties were elected as the next chairman and vice chairman of the National Automobile Dealers Association.

Tom Castriota, owner of Castriota Chevrolet in Hudson, Fla., is incoming chairman of the trade group, and Rob Cochran, president and CEO of #1 Cochran in Western Pennsylvania, will serve as vice chairman.

The men will be sworn in at the annual NADA Show in New Orleans in January.

Castriota, 70, has served as NADA’s vice chairman this year alongside 2024 Chairman Gary Gilchrist.

After the election at an Oct. 22 NADA board of directors meeting, Castriota laid out his objectives as chairman next year. 

“I want every dealer and dealership employee to know that NADA will continue to be the strong voice of the dealer that you need,” he said in a press release. 

“NADA, along with our state and metro associations, is here to protect and promote our franchise system. NADA will continue, through our Dealer Attitude Survey, to bring the dealers’ concerns to their perspective OEMs. And finally, NADA will continue to be the dealers’ influential voice before Congress, the administration and federal regulators, and the courts.”

Castriota worked for his family’s Pittsburgh dealership after retiring from the Marine Corps. He and his wife, Anita, later bought the Chevrolet store in Florida. He’s represented the Sunshine State on NADA’s board since 2016.

Cochran, 58, has sat on the NADA board since 2020 and currently serves as chairman of NADA’s Industry Relations Committee. His auto group has more than 30 stores between Pennsylvania and Ohio.

“The privilege of working on behalf of our families is powerfully motivating to me,” Cochran said, “and I will do everything I can to advance the needs and priorities of franchised dealers everywhere.”

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