Page 34 - BusinessWest December 21, 2020

GARY ROME HYUNDAI
150 Whitings Farm Road, Holyoke, MA 01040; www.garyromehyundai.com
GENESIS OF NORTHAMPTON
347 King St., Northampton, MA 01060; www.genesisofnorthampton.com
LIA CHRYSLER JEEP DODGE RAM
263 King St., Northampton, MA 01060; www.liachryslerjeepdodgeramnorthampton.com
LIA HONDA
293 King St., Northampton, MA 01060; www.liahondanorthampton.com
LIA NISSAN
10 Palomba Dr., Enfield, CT 06082; www.lianissanenfield.com
LIA TOYOTA OF WILBRAHAM
2145 Boston Road, Wilbraham, MA 01095; www.liatoyotaofwilbraham.com
LUNDGREN HONDA OF GREENFIELD
409 Federal St., Greenfield, MA 01301; www.lundgrenhondagreenfield.com
MERCEDES-BENZ OF SPRINGFIELD
295 Burnett Road, Chicopee, MA 01020; www.mbspringfield.com
NORTHAMPTON VOLKSWAGEN
361 King St., Northampton, MA 01060; www.northamptonvolkswagen.com
STEVE LEWIS SUBARU
315 Russell St., Hadley, MA 01035; www.stevelewissubaru.com
(413) 536-4328
(866) 323-1694
(413) 341-3750
(413) 282-7002
(860) 253-6827
(413) 596-2000
(413) 774-3200
(413) 624-4100
(413) 586-3102
(413) 584-5355
Tim Ferreira No
Faith Butler No
Jeannine DeAngelis No
Michael Lapointe No
Chris Bombard No
John Kupec No
Richard Bierce No
AUTO DEALERS
LISTED ALPHABETICALLY
DEALERSHIP
PHONE
GENERAL MANAGER
COMMERCIAL VEHICLES
GARY ROME KIA OF ENFIELD
809 Enfield St., Enfield, CT 06082; www.garyromekia.com
(860) 253-4753
David Nathan
No
J E ROBISON SERVICE CO.
347 Page Blvd., Springfield, MA 01104; www.robisonservice.com
(413) 785-1665
John Robison
No
LIA HONDA
20 Palomba Dr., Enfield, CT 06082; www.liahondaofenfield.com
(860) 741-3401
Geoffrey Lutley
No
LIA HYUNDAI
40 Palomba Dr., Enfield, CT 06082; www.liahyundaiofenfield.com
(860) 745-7400
Ted Banas
Yes
LIA TOYOTA OF NORTHAMPTON
280 King St., Northampton, MA 01060; www.liatoyotaofnorthampton.com
(833) 353-0212
Myron Callender
No
LIA VOLKSWAGEN OF ENFIELD
140 Elm St., Enfield, CT 06082; www.liavw.com
(860) 745-2000
Christopher Proctor
No
MARCOTTE FORD
1025 Main St., Holyoke, MA 01040; www.marcotteford.com
(413) 536-1900
Michael Filomeno
Yes
Peter Wirth
Faith Butler
Joe Clark
Yes
No
No
explained. “Typically, people just want to come in and see them: ‘give me a call when it gets here.’ Now, they’re ‘here’s my deposit, call me when I can pick it up.’
“I don’t have any pickup truck inventory,” he went on. “So any busi- nesses looking to make those year-end purchases for tax writeoffs ... that’s just not happening this year because there’s little or no availability for them when it comes to that type of vehicle.”
Still, overall, dealers are reporting that the parking lots are more full than they have been.
Peter Wirth said supplies have been steadily improving at Mercedes-Benz, and in the meantime, between the stock at the Chicopee location and a sister dealership in New York, most customers have been able to find what they’re looking for or factory-order it.
Cosenzi, meanwhile, said inventory
Autos
Continued on page 71
METRO CHRYSLER DODGE JEEP RAM
650C Memorial Dr., Chicopee, MA 01020; www.metrojeep.com
(877) 220-8331
Mike Kuzdzal
Yes
SARAT FORD LINCOLN
245 Springfield St., Agawam, MA 01001; www.saratford.com
(413) 786-0430
Jeff Sarat
Yes
VOLVO CARS PIONEER VALLEY
253GreenfieldSt.,SouthDeerfield,MA 01373;www.volvocarspioneervalley.com
(413) 665-2140
Ryan Deveney
No
Autos
Continued from page 32
of greater appreciation for the car, and a time when many chose to focus on, and put money in, their homes, their cars, or both.
“There was a point in time during all this when your vehicle was prob- ably the only recommended mode of transportation available to you,” she explained. “And if you chose, for what- ever reason, not to have a car for a long time, suddenly, you felt you needed one.
“And if you had one, and it wasn’t as safe or new or nice as you might like, you did something about that,” she went on. “It was the same with home improvement — people were look-
ing around and saying, ‘I didn’t spend much time here before. Now I do; I need to do something.’ The same with their car.”
Cosenzi agreed. “We saw many people reallocating their household budget,” she said. “We saw the majority
of the people who shop our brands put their money in their houses and their vehicles, and also feel more like they had to rely on their vehicles, now more than ever.”
Elaborating, she said — and oth- ers did as well — that this sentiment applies to both service (taking better care of the car currently in the drive- way) and buying or leasing something new or newer, more reliable, and in some cases lighter on the monthly budget.
Indeed, some manufacturers have been offering unprecedented incen- tives — Cosenzi noted that at least one brand is offering no interest for 84 months — and many of those still employed and with stimulus checks in hand soon eyed new or used cars as rock-solid investments.
“People were saying, ‘I can upgrade my car and get a lower interest rate; I can have a newer car that’s under war- ranty; I can pay less in interest in the long run and maybe lower my pay-
ment,’” she explained. “There are a lot of people who weren’t working or ner- vous about not working, that were tak- ing advantage of the stimulus and real- ly took that to make decisions about how to allocate their income.”
The problem is that supplies haven’t been able to keep up with demand — for most of this year and on most lots, anyway.
Keep On Truckin’
Which brings us all the way to back to Rob Pion pointing at that single line of new cars at his dealership. He said inventories have been consistently low and are due to remain that way. And when vehicles do arrive on the lot, they’re either already spoken for or not on the lot for long, especially when it comes to trucks, the pride of the GM line.
“We’re preselling vehicles at an unprecedented rate — the vehicles are sold before they hit my lot,” he
34 DECEMBER 21, 2020
AUTO SALES
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