Carla Cosenzi: 32

President, TommyCar Auto Group

As she talked with BusinessWest upon receipt of notification that she was not only a member of the 40 Under Forty Class of 2012, but the highest scorer, Carla Consenzi was making final preparations for a trip to Wolfsburg, Germany and the headquarters of Volkswagen.
This was to be a fast-paced, three-day visit that would include a tour of the company’s manufacturing facilities and several meetings with VW hierarchy about 2012 and 2013 models and the sales year ahead. The trip puts an exclamation point on the continued growth and expansion of the TommyCar Auto Group, which Cosenzi serves as president and main spokesperson, and, more specifically, the opening of Northampton Volkswagen earlier this year.
“We had been looking for opportunities to expand and to challenge ourselves,” said Cosenzi. “The timing was right, and the circumstances were right; it was too good to pass up.”
This addition to the lineup now gives TommyCar four dealerships in Western Mass. — the others being Country Nissan in Hadley, Country Hyundai in Greenfield, and Patriot Buick GMC in Charlton — and it adds another chapter to the compelling story being written by Cosenzi and her brother, Thomas, as they continue the legacy of their father, Thomas E. Cosenzi. He created TommyCar, and was grooming his children for the business when he was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2007, a battle he fought bravely, but would ultimately lose two years later.
Sharing responsibilities with her brother, Carla Cosenzi has played a lead role in promoting and expanding the TommyCar brand — she is the face and voice of the company in radio and TV commercials — and making the company one of the leaders in the local automotive market. Meanwhile, she remains active in the community, continuing the Thomas E. Cosenzi Driving for the Cure charity golf tournament, which has to date raised more than $200,000 in support of brain-cancer research.
She also lends her time and energy as a volunteer at Baystate Children’s Hospital’s cancer center, and supports a number of organizations and causes ranging from the Food Bank to Toys for Tots to the Ronald McDonald House.
— George O’Brien