Rick DeSilva, Jr. of Liberty Hyundai in Mahwah, New Jersey, assumed the NJ CAR Chairmanship, effective November 1, 2016. He succeeds Larry Kull as Chairman. Rick is a 19-year veteran of the retail automotive industry and first joined the NJ CAR Executive Committee in 2011 as Regional Vice President – Northern Region I.
Rick grew up in Mahwah, graduating from Mahwah High School in 1993. He attended Clemson University and graduated in 1997 with a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing. He went to work at the Torrance California headquarters of Toyota Motor Sales in 1997, where he spent three months fielding customer calls before being transferred to the Lexus National Sales office. Rick transferred to the Boston Regional Office in 1998 and worked in the Distribution, Sales and regional Customer Relations departments before being promoted to District Parts & Service Manager for Massachusetts and South Boston metro dealers, a position he held for three years. In 2001, he was promoted to District Sales Manager in Western Massachusetts and Vermont where he held that position until he left the company in early 2003. That year, along with his brother Mike and his father Rick, Sr., he started Liberty Hyundai where he was responsible for the Parts & Service business. Rick graduated from the NADA Dealer Academy in 2005.Rick is a member of the NADA NextGen Leadership Club and is also co-chairman of NJ CAR’s NextGen Committee as well as the Subaru Regional Retailer Advisory Board. Rick is also a Mahwah Board of Education Trustee and a member of his local Rotary Club. He has been married 17 years and has three daughters.
Other Senior Officers for the 2016-2017 association year are: Vice Chairman Robert J. Larson (Larson Ford, Lakewood), Secretary Leonard R. Datello (Action Auto Group, Flemington) and Treasurer Scott R. Senior (Three County Volkswagen, Lyndhurst).
NJ CAR wishes Rick and the rest of the Executive Leadership the best of luck as they take the reins of NJ CAR for the coming year.