Page 84 - BusinessWest December 9, 2024

COURT DOCKETS>>
The following is a compilation of recent lawsuits involving area businesses and organizations. These are strictly allegations that have yet to be proven in a court of law. Readers are advised to contact the parties listed, or the court, for more information concerning the individual claims.
HAMPDEN SUPERIOR COURT
Michelle Graton, personal representative of the estate of Charles Grato v. Chelsea Green, DO Allegation: Medical malpractice, wrongful death: $50,000
Filed: 10/23/24
Hoop City Ventures LLC v. Del Homes LLC et al Allegation: Breach of contract, fraud, conversion: $38,353.37
Filed: 10/24/24
Continued from page 22
Lori Chartier v. NSA Property Holdings LLC and NSA Storage d/b/a Moove In Self Storage Allegation: Negligence; slip and fall causing per- sonal injury
Filed: 10/28/24
Eurovia Atlantic Coast LLC v. O’Donnell Paving & Landscaping Inc.
Allegation: Money owed for goods sold and deliv- ered: $57,135.39
Filed: 10/30/24
Government Employee Insurance Co. a/s/o Josh- ua Rivera v. City of Springfield
Allegation: Motor-vehicle negligence causing inju- ry: $12,873.64
Filed: 11/1/24
“It’s too early to see if it’s a trend or just data, but there is some indication that the young people, the Millennials, don’t want to be in SUVs like their parents were. And you’re starting to see a lot of young people migrate into the sedan market.”
recently, they simply weren’t available.
“We’re finally at the point where we can take care
of those customers, and that’s making them happy, and it makes us happy,” said Sullivan, noting that the southern end of the crowded parking lot at the Chevy/ GMC store reflects this reality. “The past several years, in many cases, people just said, ‘we’ll wait until next year.’ It was a very difficult time getting commer- cial vehicles.”
Mike Filomeno, Sales manager at Marcotte Ford, agreed, noting that truck sales, on both the commer- cial and consumer sides, remain solid as inventories grow. He cited, as one example, Ford’s Maverick, a small pickup with prices starting at $27,000.
“It comes in a hybrid and all-wheel drive, so it’s pretty popular; that’s a great price point,” he said, add- ing that Ford’s lineup of larger trucks is also perform- ing well.
And used-car sales are also solid, said Filomeno, noting that inventories have improved somewhat, pric- es have returned to something approaching normal, and, as a result of both factors, sales are up, contrib- uting to the dealership’s growth this year.
As for SUVs, they continue to dominate the mar- ket, with most manufacturers cutting back to one or two car models. Ford, for example, has just one, the Mustang.
But Sullivan said those in the industry are starting to see some movement among the younger genera- tions toward cars.
“It’s too early to see if it’s a trend or just data, but there is some indication that the young people, the
Eugene Mitchell v. Gándara Mental Health Cen- ter Inc.
Allegation: Breach of contract arising from data breach: $4,000,000
Filed: 11/1/24
Jon Gerhardson on behalf of himself and all other employees similarly situated v. Springfield Pie Inc.
Allegation: Violations of Massachusetts Wage Act: $100,000+
Filed: 11/5/24
Arena Funding Source LLC v. American Waste Removal LLC and Mark D. Anderson Allegation: Breach of contract: $73,636.74 Filed: 11/5/24
Millennials, don’t want to be in SUVs like their par- ents were,” he noted. “And you’re starting to see a lot of young people migrate into the sedan market.”
If that movement accelerates, then manufactur- ers may need to rethink their lineups and add more sedans, he went on. For now, the focus remains on SUVs. And larger numbers of these are coming in the hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and EV varieties, said those we spoke with, adding that sales of those vehicles are up across the board.
EVs still comprise only around 6% of all sales, said Sullivan, adding that the numbers continue to gradu- ally improve as the options increase and consumers become more familiar with them.
To that point, he said Balise recently brought each of the 23 EVs sold across its stable of dealerships to an event at the Palmer Motor Sports Park, where con- sumers could get acquainted with the various vehicles — and drive them on a racetrack. More than 100 con- sumers turned out, and most all of them came away impressed with what they saw and experienced.
“I did not speak to one of them who didn’t say, ‘now that I’ve driven one, I believe it’s the car for me,’” he recalled, adding that familiarity breeds comfort.
Marcotte agreed, noting that Ford’s lineup of EVs includes everything from the Mustang Mach-E to the F-150 Lightning pickup to an E-Transit cargo van, and that, increasingly, consumers are becoming more comfortable with such vehicles.
Cosenzi concurred, noting that the Hyundai store put more than 30 people in the IONIQ 5 this month, thanks to the $79-a-month, 13-month lease deal. She said the outlook for continued improvement is gen- erally positive, but much depends on whether the incoming Trump administration makes good on plans to kill the $7,500 consumer tax credit for EV purchas- es as part of broader tax-reform legislation.
“There’s a lot of speculation about what might happen with those incentives,” she said, adding that, at more than $10,000 in many cases, they certainly help some consumers get over the hump and into an EV.BW
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Drive
noting that there is still a large amount of pent-up demand — and, now, many options for meeting that demand.
Indeed, during COVID and its immediate after- math, manufacturers, hit with massive supply-chain issues, focused mostly on higher-end vehicles, driving up the average cost of a new car to levels many con- sumers were not willing to pay, said Cosenzi, adding that lots are now close to full with models across all trim levels, which has certainly helped drive sales.
“It was very hard to find middle and lower trim lev- els during that time,” she explained. “Now that things are opening back up again, it’s a lot easier to find a selection of low, middle, and high-end options of the same model. Buyers have more options than they’ve had in years.”
Meanwhile, other contributing factors include comparatively low unemployment, relatively strong consumer confidence, and those incentives from the manufacturers, Cosenzi said. “We’ve seen the manufacturers get more and more aggressive. Right now, we have 0% for 60 months — Nissan has it on its Rogue, which is a prime model, Volkswagen has it ... 0% is back. Meanwhile, the Hyundai Tucson has 1.9%; those are examples of how aggressive the incentives are.”
Marcotte agreed, noting that these incentives come in many forms, including the Ford Power Promise, whereby those buying or leasing an EV become eli- gible for a complimentary home charger and standard installation.
Picking up Speed
With improved availability and overall sales up 10%, the question then becomes, ‘what are people buying?’
Some of everything is the obvious answer, but especially SUVs and crossovers — in part because there are simply fewer cars to buy — as well as trucks, EVs, and hybrids, said those we spoke with.
And commercial vehicles as well, noted Sullivan, adding that year end is traditionally a busy time for such sales as contractors and others look to take advantage of Section 179 tax deductions. But until
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