Standards organization serves OEMs, technology providers, and dealers
MCLEAN, Va., April 28, 2025– The Standards for Technology in Automotive Retail (STAR), the leading automotive IT standards organization, announced the election of its 2025 Board of Directors and Officers. The Board consists of three representatives elected from its member organizations of technology providers, three representing its retail dealership members and dealer associations, and three from its membership of automotive manufacturers.
The 2025 Board of Directors consists of: JP Garvey, Dealer Principal of the Garvey Automotive Group, Phil Taylor, Chief Executive Officer of Motive Retail, John Reed, Solutions Leader for the Manufacturing and Mobility Industries at Microsoft, Brendan Ayers, Automotive Business Development Manager for Amazon Web Services, Dan Ruddy, Vice President of Industry Relations for the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), Erik Day, Chief Financial Officer at Warren Henry Auto Group, Gautam Mazumdar, Senior Manager of Sales and Dealer Experience at Nissan North America, Harsha Yarram, Dealer Data and Integration Manager at General Motors, and Anders Puwanant, Head of APIs and Integration Frameworks at Volvo Construction Equipment.
“This year’s Board is composed of a robust returning lineup of seasoned directors as well as the welcome addition of Brendan Ayers from Amazon Web Services. In addition, with veteran Director Anders Puwanant from Volvo Construction Equipment serving as STAR’s Vice Chairman of Technology, the organization is better positioned than ever to lead the way in automotive standards,” noted JP Garvey, Chairman of STAR and Dealer Principal of Garvey Automotive Group.
STAR’s 2025 officers are:
JP Garvey, Chairman
John Reed, Vice Chairman
Phil Taylor, Treasurer
All of STAR’s officers served in 2024 and were re-elected for the 2025 annual term. Officer elections are held annually once that year’s Board of Directors is installed. 2025 Board elections were delayed due to the inclement weather affecting STAR’s 2025 General Session and NADA.
STAR typically holds its Board of Director elections as part of its annual General Session meeting just before the NADA conference and expo starts. Each member of the Board serves a rolling three-year term. This provides open slots for one representative from each of the following classifications to be elected to the Board each year: OEMs, dealers, and technology providers. Elections are competitive- only those member organizations in good financial standing allowed to vote or run for a seat on the Board. Associate members, conversely, are non-voting members and therefore ineligible to run or vote for STAR’s Board of Directors. While elections are confidential, the Board meetings themselves are open to all STAR members, who are encouraged to attend to learn more about STAR’s priorities and procedures.
About STAR
Standards for Technology in Automotive Retail (STAR) is a nonprofit organization whose members include dealers, original equipment manufacturers, retail system providers, and automotive-related industry organizations. STAR uses non-proprietary technology (IT) standards as a catalyst in fulfilling the business information needs of dealers and manufacturers while reducing the time and effort required to support related activities. Collectively, STAR develops industry standards and emerging technologies for the benefit of retail automotive dealers. Incorporated in 2001, STAR defines industry standards for automotive retail, standard architecture that supports global data interoperability, and standardizes the dealership IT infrastructure. To learn more about joining STAR, please visit starstandard.org or follow the latest updates on LinkedIn.
