The National Automobile Dealers Association's chief economist is leaving the organization to run data analytics and consumer insights for one of the largest health systems in the country.
Steven Szakaly's last day at NADA will be Nov. 2. A spokesman for NADA said the association has not yet named a replacement.
Szakaly, 39, joined NADA in October 2013. He will join Lehigh Valley Health Network at the group's headquarters in Allentown, Pa.
"My wife jokes that I'll probably end up back in automotive one day because she knows I love cars too much," Szakaly said.
Founded as the Allentown Hospital in 1899, Lehigh Valley Health Network has eight campuses. It also includes a large physicians group and more than a dozen ExpressCARE locations for minor ailments.
Szakaly was born and raised in the Detroit suburb of Trenton. He earned his undergraduate degree at Wayne State University in Detroit and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
In 2000, Szakaly began a four-year stint at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. He launched his auto industry career in 2004 when he joined the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Szakaly consulted for General Motors from 2007 to 2010, then joined Cliffs Natural Resources in Cleveland, an international mining and natural resources company. In a previous interview with Automotive News, Szakaly said that in his mind, he was still in the auto industry, because some of Cliffs' products are used in auto parts.
"So technically, I never really left," he joked.
Tom Worobec contributed to this report.
