Fuccillo Automotive Group sells three Grand Island dealerships to Maguire
Matt Glynn buffalonews.com Oct 31, 2022
Maguire Auto Group has acquired Fuccillo Automotive Group’s three auto dealerships on Grand Island, representing the exit of a familiar name in area auto sales and the arrival of a new one.
Maguire is based in Ithaca and now has 15 dealerships in upstate New York. Its first dealership opened in 1977 in the village of Trumansburg, in Tompkins County.
“We look forward to being a contributing member of the Grand Island community," said Phil Maguire, the dealer group's president. The three Grand Island dealerships have just over 100 employees.
Fuccillo Automotive Group entered the Buffalo Niagara region in 2000, with the purchase of a Chevrolet dealership on Whitehaven Road. The dealer group later built a $2.5 million home for the Chevy dealership on Alvin Road, making it more visible to highway traffic.
Fuccillo went on to build two more dealerships on Alvin Road: Toyota, which opened in 2004, and Hyundai, in 2007. The dealer group at one point talked about operating six dealerships on Grand Island, but never went beyond the three that were built.
The Fuccillo dealerships were synonymous with the dealer group’s owner, Billy Fuccillo. His catchphrase, “Huge,” was widely used in TV commercials and transit bus ads. Fuccillo died in 2021, and the dealer group, based in Jefferson County, has been selling off its dealerships around New York State.
Automotive News reported Fuccillo sold 10 dealerships to Wally’s Auto Group, led by Wally Darwish, a New Jersey-based dealer. Last summer, Matthews Auto Group, based in Broome County, bought two Capital Region dealerships from Fuccillo. Matthews had bought five other dealerships from Fuccillo in early 2021.
Maguire is the rare example of a new entrant in a franchised new-car market in the Buffalo Niagara region dominated by hometown dealer groups West Herr, Northtown, Towne and Basil.
Lithia Motors in 2018 bought two area Ray Laks dealerships, but later sold one of those locations to West Herr. James Provenzano opened a Mitsubishi dealership in Hamburg in 2018, but that has since closed.