Former NIADA President Dies

Joe Eikenberg Sr., a former president of the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association and a past president of U-Save Auto Rental of America, died last month.  Eikenberg, 86, was a national leader in the independent used-vehicle industry in the 1980s and 1990s.  He was named the first recipient of NIADA’s National Quality Dealer of the Year in 1976 and served as NIADA’s president in 1979-80.

During his tenure with NIADA, he was very involved in national lobbying efforts and testified to Congressional sub-committees on several occasions on the rights of independent used vehicle dealers.  "Joe was a very good friend and great leader of NIADA. He was also our first quality dealer of the year. We will all miss him," said Mike Linn, NIADA’s CEO.  Eikenberg was a leader of a small investment group that purchased U-Save Auto Rental served for several years as the company’s president.  During his time as president, U-Save Auto Rental was named in two consecutive years to Inc. magazine’s Inc. 500 list of the fastest growing American privately held companies.

Auto Remarketing’s publisher emeritus Ron Smith called Eikenberg an icon of the independent used-car industry.  “Joe, almost single-handedly, changed the used car dealer’s image from someone you could hardly trust to a respected small businessman.  The respect dealers have today as sharp, honest, hardworking men and women can be traced back to Joe Eikenberg and the way he handled business and relationships,” Smith said.
The Eikenberg name has long been respected among independent dealers in the Maryland market and is still be carried on by his son, Joe Eikenberg Jr.  Joe Eikenberg is survived by his wife Doris, children and grandchildren.