Page 16 - BusinessWest May 26, 2025

AUTO SALES >>
Too Many Moving Parts
Fast Pace of Change Clouds
Projections for Auto Industry
BY GEORGE O’BRIEN
[email protected]
‘Fascinating.’
That’s the first word Ben Sulli-
van, chief operating officer at Balise
Motor Sales, used to describe the
current landscape for the auto indus-
try, and especially dealers, as tariffs of some kind,
involving some countries and some products,
loom over the sector.
He would use many others, especially ‘uncer-
tainty’ and ‘volatility,’ terms that explain why, by
and large, the large Balise stable of dealerships
across Western Mass., Connecticut, and Cape
Cod isn’t really doing much of anything at this
point in response to what’s happening and is
conducting what could be described business as
usual.
That includes refraining from use of ‘beat the
tariffs prices’ advertisements and similar mes-
sages that many others have deployed — although
they’ve been discussed.
“We just didn’t think we had enough clarity to
do that,” Sullivan said, hitting on just how much
uncertainty exists today. “If we’re going to say
something to our customers, we have to make
sure that we’re on solid ground. We absolutely
stayed away from creating any kind of frenzy
around these things because we just don’t know if
it’s true or not.”
But while it’s business as usual in some
respects, dealers are certainly doing more busi-
ness than usual for this time of year.
Indeed, while Sullivan said sales in March and
April were up 24% over that same period a year
ago, Carla Cosenzi, president of TommyCar Auto
Group, which has five dealerships in Hampshire
County, put the number at more than 30% across
all brands, with Hyundai and Volkswagen leading
the way.
“We’ve seen a surge in consumer urgency —
they’re trying to get ahead of the potential tariffs,”
she said. “And, right now, incentives are still good
— there are a lot of low APRs available for con-
sumers across the board — and their trade val-
“Consumers are
getting smart
when it comes to
how to manipulate
the market and
take advantage
of the best
opportunity and
time to upgrade
their vehicle and
learning how to
really maximize
their equity.”
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MAY 26, 2025
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