Billy Fuccillo Jr. powers his own auto empire

The son of mega-car dealer Billy Fuccillo is opening dealerships and selling cars—his way.
Last week, the 23-year-old Fuccillo Jr. opened his second dealership, Fuccillo Volkswagen in Schenectady.
The franchise, located at 2242 Central Ave. across the street from his father’s Fuccillo Hyundai, is Fuccillo Jr.’s second dealership. Last August, he opened Fuccillo Nissan of Clay, near Syracuse. His company operates as BFJ Enterprises.

I spoke with the younger Fuccillo this week by phone while he was tending to his Clay dealership. He tells me he has other acquisitions in the works, but is not able to discuss them yet.
As a youngster, Fuccillo Jr. spent many years learning the trade while working at his father’s dealerships. Today, Fuccillo Sr.’s Fuccillo Automotive Group includes 26 stores in New York and Florida with combined annual revenue of almost $1 billion.

After graduating in 2011 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he majored in political science and Spanish, Fuccillo Jr. managed his father’s Fuccillo Hyundai and Kia stores in Schenectady before opening up his own dealerships.
Fuccillo Sr., who is known for his catch phrase, “H-U-G-E,” once told me for one of our 10 Minutes With interviews that he saw a lot of potential in the car business for “Junior’s” friends, many of whom were college graduates working in mediocre-paying jobs.
“Why would they go work for Enterprise-Rent-A-Car when they could start at our company for a lot more?” Fuccillo pondered during that interview.

His son, who crammed in quite a few marketing, accounting and advertising electives while attending Chapel Hill, made that philosophy part of his business model.
He says his Nissan dealership, which is near Syracuse, has been the automaker’s second-highest U.S. performer for five of the 12 months it has been open. It mainly operates with people who have never been in the car business before
Fuccillo Jr. is applying that same philosophy to his Volkswagen dealership.
“I think that’s really what helped us. We’re no pressure. It’s a fresh feeling. We’re kinda like going into an Apple store, where we want to show you all the cool features. It’s especially important with brands like Volkswagen because it’s a really tech-advanced brand,” says Fuccillo Jr., who commutes often between his stores in Schenectady and Syracuse.

He plans to break ground in the next six months on a 27,000-square-foot Volkswagen showroom that will replace the existing one.
Fuccillo Sr. says he expected nothing less from his son.
“He’s very talented. He’s really very qualified to do this,” he told me in a separate phone interview.
Fuccillo Jr. closed on the Schenectady Volkswagen dealership on July 23, purchasing it from Long Island-based Dibre Auto Group. Dibre had recently bought the franchise from Langan Automotive Group.

Rather than doing TV commercials, which have been the staple of his father’s business, Fuccillo Jr. is investing in radio ads.
“My Dad does a great job on television. Me, I do radio,” he says.
The pair will share one familiar thing: The “H-U-G-E” slogan that is the hallmark of each of Fuccillo Sr.’s commercials.
Says the younger Fuccillo: “It’s recognizable to everyone.”




Reference Link- https://www.bizjournals.com/albany/blog/2013/08/billy-fuccillo-jr-powers-his-own-auto.html

Billy Fuccillo parts ways with general manager Xavier Villarreal

Xavier Villarreal, who helped build Fuccillo Kia in Cape Coral into the world’s bestselling Kia dealership, said he mutually parted ways with owner Billy Fuccillo.
Villarreal, 36 and until July 1 the only general manager at Fuccillo Kia, is three weeks into his search for a new job. The 2000 Fort Myers High School graduate is pursuing multiple car dealership opportunities in Southwest Florida, around the state, and across the country. He was traveling to Los Angeles for job interviews Thursday.
“The hardest part wasn’t leaving Billy,” said Villarreal, who had been in the role since the dealership opened in December 2010 off Pine Island Road. “It was leaving my staff. That really was the hardest part.”
Villarreal said Fuccillo recently had promoted him, but the promotion did not include their agreed-upon pay raise, Villareal said. Fuccillo could not be reached for comment.
Fuccillo Kia announced Carl Rosciti as the new general manager. He declined to comment.
“The bottom line is, he couldn’t afford to pay me anymore,” Villarreal said of Fuccillo. “We had agreed on a certain amount. Unfortunately, that didn’t pan out.
“I’m very grateful for Mr. Fuccillo and the company and the opportunities they have given me. I’ve built a reputation for taking care of my staff and selling a lot of cars. It’s opened up a lot of doors. It was just time. It was time for me to go.”
Villarreal, a high school football standout at Fort Myers, was inducted into the school’s football Hall of Fame in 2015.


Reffernce link : https://www.news-press.com/story/news/2018/07/20/billy-fuccillo-parts-ways-general-manager-xavier-villarreal/800992002/

Billy Fuccillo, known for 'huge' radio spots for his car dealerships, locked in cyberpiracy battle

Car dealership owner Billy Fuccillo is in a “huge” trademark dispute with a competitor.

Fuccillo, known for his advertisements across the Tampa Bay area, is suing Trent Silver in federal court, alleging that he engaged in "cyberpiracy" when Silver registered the domain "billyfuccillo.com" on Go.Daddy.com and used it to redirect customers to the Century Kia website.

Silver's use of the domain name was "willful, deliberate and in bad faith," according to the lawsuit filed last week in U.S. District Court in the Middle District of Florida, Tampa division. Fuccillo, who owns Fuccillo Automotive Group, operates Fuccillo Kia in Wesley Chapel while his rival, Century Kia, is only 10 miles away, the lawsuit said.

In his lawsuit, Fuccillo said the battle has been going on since March 27, when he submitted a complaint to arbitration.

According to the lawsuit, shortly after Fuccillo filed that arbitration claim, Silver "contacted Fuccillo Kia in Wesley Chapel offering to sell the billyfuccillo.com domain name to [Fuccillo] further evidencing his bad faith in having registered it."

A three-member arbitration panel decided in Fuccillo's favor on May 13, ordering Silver to transfer the domain name to Fuccillo. The panel, in its decision, noted that Silver bought the domain name on Aug. 29, 2006.

Silver, in a telephone interview, said he did transfer the domain name back to Fuccillo and doesn't understand why he is being sued. The billyfuccillo.com site currently leads to Fuccillo Automotive Group.

Silver said he regrets what happened. He said that he bought the name in the middle of the night. "I bid on it and I won it and then next thing I know I have this domain dispute." He added that Century Kia had nothing to do with the matter, adding: "I really wasn't trying to do anything malicious."
In his lawsuit, Fuccillo has asked the court to permanently block Silver from using the domain name and other similar words or images. He is also asking the court to block Silver from selling or offering the domain name for sale. Fuccillo also asked that the court order Silver's registration of the domain name be forfeited and all rights to it be transferred to the car magnate as well as unspecified monetary damages. He is also demanding that Silver delete the domain name from any computer files and hand over any revenues and profits he may have gotten by using the domain name.

Lawyers for Fuccillo didn't immediately respond to requests for comment on the lawsuit, which includes claims for cyberpiracy and unfair competition under federal trademark law as well as violations of Florida's deceptive and unfair trade practices law and the state's right of publicity law. The lawsuit called the use of Fuccillo's name "wanton, intentional and reckless and with complete disregard to plaintiff Billy Fuccillo's rights in and to his name and persona."

Known for the catchphrase in his commercials that say, "It's gonna be huge," Fuccillo states in his lawsuit that he spends up to $30 million annually on advertising, "virtually all of which prominently features the Fuccillo mark and most of which further associates the auto dealership with Billy Fuccillo." He uses the domain name "fuccillo.com."

Fuccillo, who owns one of the largest auto dealerships in the country, operates 26 retail locations in New York and Florida with annual revenues of nearly $1 billion, according to court papers.


Reference Link:

https://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/news/2018/06/06/billy-fuccillo-known-for-huge-radio-spots-for-his.html

Billy Fuccillo "It's HUGE" Story

Billy Fuccillo, owner of Fuccillo Automotive Group, has been a “HUGE” part of the automotive industry for nearly four decades.

Born and raised in Greenport, Long Island, Billy maintains close ties with his family, including his father Veto, a hair stylist, his mother Joan, and his two siblings, Joan and Gary. A born leader and excellent athlete, Billy served as captain of this high school football, baseball and golf teams. While he loved all sports, Billy excelled on the football field, where he was voted a McDonald’s Football All-American. Billy was recruited by many universities including Notre Dame, Penn State and Temple, before ultimately choosing to attend Syracuse University on a full football scholarship.

After graduating from SU in 1978 with a degree in marketing, Billy got his start in the automotive business as a salesman at a dealership in Fayetteville, New York. He then spent three years in the wholesale business rounding out his automotive education. In 1987, Billy purchased his own used car dealership in Syracuse, New York.

Billy made the most of his opportunity in Syracuse, cutting through the clutter with aggressive advertising and promotions. The formula quickly paid off, as he expanded his reach, first northward into Adams, New York, before stretching it across the state. Today, Fuccillo Automotive Group is the largest automobile dealer in New York State with locations in the Albany, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Water town markets.

Billy was one of 15 dealers nationwide to be welcomed into the Kia President’s Club in 2009 for achieving the highest overall sales volume and outstanding customer satisfaction. He has been accepted into the Kia President’s Club each year since. Over the course of his career, Billy has owned dealerships all over the country, including New York, Florida, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina.

In 2010, Billy brought his “HUGE” auto empire and personality to Florida and opened Fuccillo Kia of Cape Coral. Relying on the same formula that yielded decades of success in New York, Fuccillo Kia of Cape Coral quickly garnered national recognition and was named the “Best New Dealer” by Kia Motors Corp. after just one year of business. In the years since, Fuccillo Kia of Cape Coral has been named the “National Dealer of the Year for Highest Sales Volume” four additional times. 

To further expand his footprint in Florida, Billy soon opened Fuccillo Kia of Wesley Chapel in 2015, and both Fuccillo Kia of Merritt Island and Fuccillo Kia of Port Charlotte in 2016. Fuccillo Kia of Port Charlotte features a two-story, 50,000-square-foot building that sits on 70 acres of property, making it Billy’s largest dealership in Florida to date.

Altogether Fuccillo Automotive Group now comprises 28 dealerships and 33 franchises in New York and Florida, and employs 2,500 people. Billy’s son, Billy Fuccillo Jr., has followed in his father’s footsteps and operates four of his own dealerships.

Known for his “HUGE” monthly promotional events, Billy hosted his first event in May 1996 at his dealership in Adams, New York, where Robbie Knievel, son of Evil Knievel, set a world record with a no-hands jump over 25 new cars. Since then, Billy has held half-court basketball shoot-outs, miniature golf tournaments and enter-to-win contests to give his customers the chance to win not only cars, but houses, a tanker of gas, trips around the world, cruises and cash, and more.

Most importantly, Billy has made giving back to the communities he serves a top priority. He regularly includes charities in his promotions, with benefactors of Billy’s generosity having included local children’s, disability services, domestic violence, veterans and hunger relief organizations, and schools

Today, after nearly 40 years in the business, Billy remains at the top of his game and Fuccillo Automotive Group is stronger than ever. Whether you’re talking about sales numbers, customer service or commitment to community, there’s really only one way to describe it all – “IT’S HUGE!^TM” 

Reference link - https://www.kiaofportcharlotte.com/billy-fuccillo-its-huge-story

Huge promotion floats customers boats

In December, more than 3,000 customers cruised to Belize, Cozumel and Grand Cayman island aboard the Navigator of the Seas.

Billy Fuccillo doesn't do anything small, including sales promotions. The owner of Fuccillo Automotive Group has raised his own marketing bar with a behemoth of a promotional event: a free, six-day cruise for every customer who buys or leases a Kia from one of his Florida Kia stores during an annual late-winter sales event.

"It's a tremendous customer-loyalty builder," says Fuccillo, a former tight end at Syracuse University who projects a larger-than-life persona that dwarfs even his commanding 6-foot-4-inch, 270-pound presence. "Customers come back every two or three years to buy a new Kia because they want to go on the trip."

To illustrate the effectiveness of the annual Cruise with Huge promotion, Fuccillo recalls a customer who came in last year to trade in a 2016 Optima with only 800 miles for a 2017 Optima. "He told my used-car sales manager that he and his wife had dinner with me on the cruise," he told Automotive News. "He said they had such a good time that they wanted to go on another cruise and party with me again. Now that's not the case for everyone who takes the cruise, but it definitely keeps bringing back a lot of customers.“

‘The whole boat‘

The most recent cruise was Fuccillo Automotive's sixth. In December, some 3,200 customers boarded the Navigator of the Seas for a trip to Belize, Cozumel and Grand Cayman island. "We reserved the whole boat," Fuccillo says.

The price tag? A cool $1.5 million, says Fuccillo, who's well known for his oft-heard (and sometimes parodied) TV commercials in Florida markets, featuring his trademark slogan, "It's H-U-U-U-G-E-J-A!"

Fuccillo Group owns 30 dealerships in upstate New York and Florida. The New York stores sell Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, Ford, Chevrolet, Buick, Mitsubishi, Hyundai, Kia, Genesis, Subaru, Mazda, Lincoln, Volkswagen, Nissan and Toyota brands. In Florida, the group has two Nissan and three Kia dealerships, with a fourth Kia dealership on the way. The Florida Kia dealerships alone sold 13,413 new Kias and 3,234 used vehicles in 2017.

Fuccillo is no stranger to over-the-top, high-visibility promotions. In 1996, Robbie Knievel — the son of the late, world-famous daredevil Evel Knievel — jumped a motorcycle over 19 cars at a Fuccillo dealership in Adams, N.Y., northeast of Rochester. The nationally televised promotion spurred the sale of more than 500 cars, Fucccillo says.

"The whole ship gets transformed into our exclusive boat. And when you check into your room, you get a tote bag filled with [Fuccillo] T-shirts, hats and other items. ... this is no Mickey Mouse deal.“

 Billy Fuccillo, Fuccillo Automotive Group

"I'm everywhere — radio, direct mail, TV," he says, noting that the Florida Kia dealerships spend about $2.5 million a year on marketing. "I'm really heavy on electronic advertising, as in drive-you-nuts heavy. We're really in customers' faces. Our advertising is not your standard car advertising — it's on edge. But whether you like it or you don't like it, you're always going to remember it."

Fuccillo started the Cruise with Huge promotion in 2012. The cruises usually are held in early December. To qualify, customers must purchase a car during the annual sales event in January, February and March, timed to coincide with the influx of retirees who winter in southwestern Florida.

The promotion started out with small cruise ships and gradually moved up to the giant Navigator of the Seas, a Royal Caribbean International vessel that's one of the largest cruise ships in the world, capable of carrying 3,286 passengers.

On board, first-timers who might expect what Fuccillo calls a "dinky-donky boat" are in for a surprise. "They don't always understand that this is the real deal," he says.

Along with providing top-level entertainment, Fuccillo Kia branding is in full force everywhere, from banners hung high to lettering on the bottom of a pool. The Fuccillo name is emblazoned on glassware, slot machines and the felt coverings on the blackjack tables.

‘Transformed‘

"The whole ship gets transformed into our exclusive boat," he says. "And when you check into your room, you get a tote bag filled with [Fuccillo] T-shirts, hats and other items. We don't fool around ... this is no Mickey Mouse deal.“

Why is the promotion so popular? For starters, Fuccillo points to customer demographics. Southwestern Florida is either a permanent or temporary home for a large contingent of retirees who have the time to take cruises.

Then there's the sheer value of the trip. "They're effectively getting a $4,000 value just by purchasing a new vehicle," he says.

Fuccillo finds the cruises rewarding beyond increased car sales. It dovetails with his belief that selling cars must include a personal touch that extends beyond websites and social media.

"The Internet is cold," he says. "It seems like it's nothing more than a race to the bottom — who has the lowest price. I'm not sold on that kind of marketing.

"Nobody wants to talk to anyone anymore," he continues. "But it's wonderful to mingle with people who buy cars from you. You can't have cocktails and dinner with customers on the Internet. But you can do it on a cruise."

In Fuccillo's eyes, that's, well, huge.

Reference Link: http://www.autonews.com/article/20180416/RETAIL07/180419923/huge-promotion-floats-customers-boats

Fuccillo customer makes half-court shot, wins car

Fuccillo Automotive Group celebrated the conclusion of its statewide, month-long "March Huge-A-Thon 2018" promotion with half-court shot contests held Monday at four dealerships: Fuccillo Kia of Cape Coral, Fuccillo Kia of Port Charlotte, Fuccillo Kia of Wesley Chapel and Fuccillo Nissan of Clearwater.

During the events Billy Fuccillo Sr. and Billy Fuccillo Jr. gave customers the opportunity to take one half-court basketball shot for the chance to win their recently purchased or leased vehicle. Any participant who successfully made his or her half-court shot was given the opportunity to continue shooting to potentially win $1 million.

To be eligible, participants must have purchased or leased a new Kia from Fuccillo Kia of Cape Coral, Fuccillo Kia of Wesley Chapel or Fuccillo Kia of Port Charlotte, or purchased or leased a new Nissan from Fuccillo Nissan of Clearwater between March 1 April 2. Of the approximate 1,200 eligible customers, 400 participated in the half-court shot contests.

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Renest in St. John of Winter Haven, Fla., made his half-court shot at the Fuccillo Kia of Wesley Chapel event and, as a result, will have his previously purchased 2018 Kia Forte paid off by Fuccillo Kia of Wesley Chapel.

St. John did not successfully make the required three consecutive half-court shots to also win $1 million.

Individuals who purchased or leased a new vehicle from the four dealerships between March 1 April 2 also received a cabin aboard "Cruise with Huge 2018" on Royal Caribbean's "Navigator of the Seas." The 6-day, 5-night cruise will depart from Miami, Dec. 2, stopping at Cozumel, Mexico, and Belize City, Belize, before returning to Miami on Dec. 7. If the car that was bought or leased from a Fuccillo Kia dealership was a 2017 Kia Cadenza, the customer received two cabins on the cruise. In addition, any customer who purchased or leased a new Kia between March 30 April 2, 2018 at Fuccillo Kia of Cape Coral received double cabins on "Cruise with Huge 2018" and a complimentary flat-screen TV.

The "March Huge-A-Thon" promotion marked the fourth year that Fuccillo Kia of Cape Coral offered a "HUGE" basketball promotion to customers. It was the third year for Fuccillo Kia of Wesley Chapel, second year for Fuccillo Kia of Port Charlotte and first year for Fuccillo Nissan of Clearwater. Collectively, six local participants had successfully made a half-court shot in similar events in previous years, and as a result, had their previously purchased new car paid off.

A fifth half-court shot event was scheduled for Tuesday, April 3, at Fuccillo Nissan of Orange Park to celebrate the dealership's official grand opening and the conclusion of Fuccillo's March Huge-A-Thon 2018.

For more information about the Fucillo dealerships, visit Fuccillo.com.

Reference Link- http://www.cape-coral-daily-breeze.com/page/content.detail/id/666551/Fuccillo-customer-makes-half-court-shot--wins-car.html

Fuccillo Automotive Group donates over $3,000 to Wiley School

WATERTOWN - The Fuccillo Automotive Group announced in a news release Tuesday that it was donating $3,900 to the H. T. Wiley Intermediate School.
The money is meant to help offset the cost of field trips for the school, which serves fifth- and sixth-graders in the Watertown City School District.
According to the news release, this is the second year in a row that Fuccillo Automotive Group, in coordination with its local dealerships in Jefferson County, has made a donation to the school to help with its transportation costs.
The Adams’ Ford dealership also works with the school during its “Stuff the Bus” donation drive, which “encourages community members to drop off new school supplies at a designated school bus parked on the dealership lot.”

Reference Link - http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/news03/fuccillo-automotive-group-donates-over-3000-to-wiley-school-20180315