For those nearby Kia commercials, Caroline Renfro, better known simply as “Caroline,” has made a comeback to television. Back in 2017, she left her position. Then Billy Fuccillo sponsored a competition to choose Caroline’s replacement, and McKinzie Roth won. Billy claimed Caroline called him and requested to return.
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Who is the brand-new Kia Fuccillo girl?
McKinzie Roth was engaged by Fuccillo Kia to appear in TV commercials alongside Billy and Gloria.
Roth’s experience promoting vehicles, according to Fuccillo, helped distinguish her from the other 1.000 applications they received.
Roth has previous expertise managing Ford and Kia stores. She has previously worked with NBA teams.
The three got along well, according to Fuccillo, when Roth joined the group, but it was her manner with his clients that really won him over.
She approached our clients in the showroom and introduced herself as McKinzie, introduced herself as Billy’s new girlfriend, and thanked them for visiting the dealership, according to Fuccillo.
Billy Fuccillo Sr. died, did he not?
This week in Syracuse, funeral services will be performed for Billy Fuccillo, owner of a car dealership.
William Bruce Fuccillo Sr., who was well-known for his commercials promising “substantial” savings, passed away on Thursday at his home in Sarasota, Florida. Fuccillo’s death, according to CNY Central, came after a protracted illness. He was 65.
On Thursday, there will be calling hours from 3 to 7 p.m. at the Thomas J. Pirro Jr. Funeral Home in North Syracuse. On Friday at 11 a.m., Syracuse’s Our Lady of Pompei/St. Peter Church will host a funeral mass.
The Fuccillo Automotive Group, which was well-known for its ongoing marketing campaign of “massive” discounts, was led by Fuccillo, who also served as president and COO. According to the company’s website, it has 21 dealerships in Florida and New York. The company, based in Syracuse, declined to comment.
Fuccillo is a Long Island native who graduated from Syracuse University and was an All-American football player. After graduating, Fuccillo started selling automobiles and discovered he was really excellent at it, according to an Albany Times-Union article.
According to the newspaper, he acquired his first wholesale auto business in 1981 and his first new store in Adams, which is close to Watertown, in 1989.
According to his obituary, Fuccillo was immensely pleased of selling 500 vehicles in a single day at the Fuccillo AutoMall in Jefferson County and 2020 vehicles in a single month at Fuccillo Hyundai of Syracuse.
Fuccillo, who was a philanthropist as well, was best known for his radio and television advertisements, where he claimed his catchphrase, “It’s going to be huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge.”
Fuccillo was a sports fanatic and racehorse owner who also enjoyed golfing, fine dining, and wine.
Fuccillo received $2.25 million for the sale of his estate in Cape Coral, Florida, last year. Additionally, he recently sold a number of dealerships, including two Fuccillo Kia dealerships in Florida in March and five New York dealerships, including two in Greece, in January. He quit making advertisements last year because his health had gotten worse over the previous 12 months.
His wife Cindy and son Billy Jr., the current head of the Fuccillo Automotive Group, are his only surviving family members. His parents, siblings, and other family members are still alive.
Fuccillo was it sold by Kia?
Billy Fuccillo, a famed car dealer, passed away at the age of 65, ten years after Southwest Florida first felt his imposing presence.
According to CNY Central, the Syracuse Auto Dealers Association informed its members via email on Friday morning of Fuccillo’s passing.
Percy Vaughn, a Kia executive, and many others remember Fuccillo as a legendary vehicle salesman who always thought of others.
“Billy was a trailblazer. He accomplished feats that other auto dealers only imagine. Although he appeared in those advertisements, he was always giving back to the community “says he. “Man, Billy was a legend. Billy won’t ever be replaced.”
His Fuccillo Kia of Cape Coral was sold in March for $13.1 million, bringing an extravagant era that included rock concerts, cruise giveaways, and broken lease agreements to an end.
Fuccillo sold his Cape Coral house to Kevin Ruane’s family trust for $2.25 million last year after realizing that his health had deteriorated over the previous year. Kevin Ruane is a Lee County Commissioner and the former mayor of Sanibel.
He first gained notoriety in Southwest Florida because to his Pine Island Road Kia store and its advertisements that included his characteristic “Huuu-ja!” and pitch partner Caroline Renfro. After a short while, the Korean-owned corporation named his Kia dealership the best-selling in the entire world.
Long before the Pine Island Road boom, when Cape Coral was the focus of the national housing crash, and in a Southwest Florida still reeling from the Great Recession, he gambled on property that housed an abandoned Saturn dealership. He defended the dealership’s practice of catering to consumers with low credit ratings and didn’t hesitate to offer cars to individuals getting over the crisis.
Kia-branded automobiles have quickly climbed into the top 10 of new car sales in Lee County since the Fuccillo Kia car dealership debuted in December 2010.
“How are you going to finance people?” In a 2017 News-Press story, Fuccillo posed the question. “I believe we made a lot of efforts to help the neighborhood turn itself around, and they in turn assisted us. We’re here to sell automobiles, that’s what we do.”
He was the well-known figure in Southwest Florida, the one with the welcoming smile you could just walk up to and strike up a conversation with.
Sue Smith of North Naples, who met Fuccillo at a Ruth’s Chris Steak House happy hour in Estero a few years ago, is one who did exactly that. He was cordial and kind as Smith excitedly approached him to introduce himself. She remarked, “I was so happy to have met him, and I constantly tell people that he was really different in person from how he appeared on television. Smith intends to toast him when he eventually makes it back to the eatery.
Caroline Renfro left Fuccillo Kia for what reasons?
The two made Renfro’s return official on Saturday with an all-day “Welcome Back party” with food and live jazz music that attracted hundreds to the Cape Coral shop.
Before the two showed in, dozens of salespeople in red polo shirts circulated the tables for several hours.
For eight years, Renfro was Fuccillo’s pitch partner, helping to record commercials, sell automobiles, and eventually emerge as one of the brand’s faces. But she left in the latter part of 2017.
The parting was cordial yet a little hasty. Initially, Fuccillo claimed Renfro went for Spain in order to join a nun in Virginia, but subsequently he claimed he was unaware of her reasons for leaving. The reason Renfro departed the country, she claimed on Saturday, was to “go out and kind of go places that I hadn’t been.
While she was away, the two kept in touch by texting each other and speaking once a month, according to Fuccillo. Renfro later returned to the United States where she spent time with her folks hiking in western North Carolina.
I returned to Spain on my own, but once he learned that I had done so, we began to discuss making some advertisements in what I initially took to be lighthearted conversation, Renfro recalled.
But after that, he said, “No, let’s do it.”
Immediately after Renfro had left, Fuccillo conducted a nationwide hunt for the “next Caroline,” a model for his ads. Soon, Portland, Oregon-based model and TV newscaster McKinzie Roth was chosen. Roth will now serve as a sales representative for a Nissan dealership run by Fuccillo’s son in both Tampa and Jacksonville.
The seasoned team wasted no time in beginning the Saturday’s batch of advertising. As soon as they entered the building, a group of about a dozen people flanked them in an effort to gain a live view of the upcoming advertisement.
A fan of the commercials named Kay Rihn traveled from Englewood to Cape Coral to speak with Fuccillo. After Renfro left, Rihn called the dealership incensed more than a year ago.
However, when she discovered Caroline had departed on her own initiative and subsequently learned she would be returning, she made the hour-long drive to apologize to Fuccillo in person.
In Port Charlotte, Fuccillo and Renfro intend to host a similar “Welcome back event” on Sunday. At this event, they will welcome attendees and take additional live advertisements.
“There’s no pretend (with Caroline). You will receive what you see, and receive that which you see. She is able to connect with people, just like I can, Fuccillo remarked. We sort of fit the same mold. We just disagree on one thing: I prefer roses and mints on my pillow at night, whereas she is content to sleep in a tent in the mountains. The only aspect of us that differs is that.
But because we’re just average folks, we can relate to people because we’re so people-oriented.
Fuccillo’s current owner?
COLONIEA
Many of the nearby Fuccillo auto stores are being taken over by a new high-energy car salesman with a slogan.
Many of the Fuccillo stores in the Capital Region and other regions of upstate have been acquired by Walid “Wally” Darwish, a rising auto dealer based in New Jersey.
Since Billy Fuccillo, a former Syracuse football star who built a vehicle marketing empire with his distinctive “yuuuuuuge-jahhh,” or “big,” tagline at the conclusion of ads, passed away in 2021, Fuccillo has been selling off its dealerships.
The son of Billy Fuccillo, who now owns Fuccillo, recently sold Darwish four local dealerships. Although the deal’s terms were not disclosed, county real estate records show that Darwish obtained mortgages for the homes totaling tens of millions of dollars. East Greenbush, Colonie, and Amsterdam shops are among them.
Darwish, who shares Fuccillo’s flamboyant demeanor, has his own catchphrase that is based on his moniker Wally: “Whoo-hoo!”
Although TV stations in other cities run by Fuccillo and a national trade magazine were the first to announce the original transactions, the Albany Business Review was the first local publication to report on the deals.
Darwish could not immediately be reached for comment, but the business announced the acquisition in a post on Facebook on April 29 that appeared on several pages, including the former Fuccillo Ford of East Greenbush page. Now it’s East Greenbush’s Wally’s Ford.
“The next chapter of our tale begins when we team up with a business that shares our enthusiasm for buying, selling, and maintaining cars. Watch this space to see where our innovation and progress take us next “Wayel Algabyali, the general manager, wrote. “Fuccillo has played a huge role in the community we serve for the past 20 years. Despite the name change, the dedication is more steadfast than ever at this moment.”
Kia of Cape Coral’s owner?
LMP Automotive Holdings, a Delaware-based company, signed a contract to purchase the Fuccillo Kia dealerships in Cape Coral and Port Charlotte.
Bill Fuccillo, the owner of Fuccillo Kia, is highly known in the neighborhood, particularly for his involvement with the Harry Chapin food bank.
The Harry Chapin Food Bank’s president is Richard LeBer. He remarked, “We love him and greatly appreciate Billy and Fucillo Auto Group’s assistance. They have long been our supporters and have generously supported many of our friends and neighbors.
Billy Fuccillo and the business were active participants in the annual WINK Feeds Families Hunger Walk, which raises funds to feed neighborhood families.