DALLAS (Jan. 26, 2023)—President of the California New Car Dealers Assocation (CNCDA) Brian Maas was elected the 2023 chairman of the Automotive Trade Association Executives (ATAE) at the ATAE annual winter meeting in Dallas.

“In the midst of one of the biggest transitions, if not the biggest transition, in the automotive industry, ATAE’s support to dealers while they navigate challenges and shifts in the auto retail industry is more important than ever,” said Maas. “I’m pleased to lead the organization in the coming year and to help ensure a healthy and fruitful franchised dealership model for years to come.”

In his role at CNCDA, Maas protects and promotes the interests of the nearly 1,300 franchised new-car dealers in the state, with lawmakers and regulatory agencies. Before taking the helm of the Assocation in 2013, Maas directed the political activities and served as the organizations’s chief legislative advocate for 12 years, starting in 2002.

Prior to joining CNCDA, Maas served as a lobbyist with the California Bankers Association and spent 12 years as a political law and lobbying expert with Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP in San Francisco and Sacramento.

Maas is a native of San Leandro, Calif. and a graduate of the McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento and the University of California, Berkeley.

Members of ATAE, which represents more than 100 state and metro new car and commercial truck dealer associations in the U.S. and Canada, work together on legislative and regulatory challenges facing dealers and support their respective members with educational and training programs, auto shows, conferences and other business services.