Auto dealer Billy Fuccillo dies

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William “Billy” Fuccillo, president and CEO of the Fuccillo Automotive Group, died last week at his home in Sarasota, Fla., following a long illness. He was 65.

Born and raised in Greenport on Long Island, Mr. Fuccillo got his start in the automotive industry in 1978, after attending Syracuse University on a football scholarship and graduating with a degree in marketing. He was broke and could not pay his rent, so he went to work as a sales representative for a Chevrolet dealership in the Syracuse suburb of Fayetteville, Onondaga County.

“The only reason I ended up in the automobile business was I was dead broke. I didn’t know the difference between a battery and an alternator, but one thing I knew was I had to pay the bills and I had to pay rent,” Mr. Fuccillo told the RBJ in an interview in 2008, adding he tended bar at night to supplement his income.

In 1980 Fuccillo went into the auto wholesale business at Fred Rainier Auto Sales in DeWitt, Onondaga County. Two years later he branched out on his own, selling vehicles wholesale for roughly seven years.

In 1989 Fuccillo purchased a Dodge store out of bankruptcy in Adams, Jefferson County. It was his first foray into the new car market. Shortly thereafter he purchased a nearby Chevrolet store, followed by a Ford store. Eventually, Fuccillo built an auto mall and the company’s headquarters in the town of roughly 5,000 residents.

Mr. Fuccillo’s auto empire eventually became the largest privately held automotive retailer in New York state and the largest Kia dealer in the world. Mr. Fuccillo held the record for both Hyundais and Kias sold in one month. He sold his two Greece dealerships to a Broome County dealership in January 2021.

Well known for his “huuuuuge” tagline, Mr. Fuccillo told the RBJ that it came about accidentally.

“One day after I got my first dealership and I was doing a commercial with Tom Park, a radio spot, I said, ‘It’s huge, Tom, it’s huge.’ And all the radio stations caught on to it,” Mr. Fuccillo explained. “About two or three weeks later they started accepting calls and doing promotions and giving people trips who could imitate me the best. It really caught on fast.”

Mr. Fuccillo contributed to a number of charitable organizations including domestic violence organizations, Harry Chapin Food Bank, the Salvation Army, Assumption Food Pantry, the Center for Disability Services and others.

He enjoyed golfing, was a thoroughbred owner and was fond of good food and wine.

But his passion, he told the RBJ in 2008, was his son, William Fuccillo Jr., who now serves as president of the Fuccillo Automotive Group.

“The most important thing in my life and the thing I’m proudest of is my son,” he said at the time.

Mr. Fuccillo told the RBJ he gained valuable insights from his father through the years, but he never had a business mentor.

“That song ‘My Way’ might be very fitting to me,” Mr. Fuccillo said. “I kind of did it my own way. I believe in what I believe and that’s it.”

Mr. Fuccillo is survived by his wife, Cynthia, his son, William Fuccillo Jr., his parents, a sister, nieces and his pet, Rudy.

A funeral mass in celebration of his life will be conducted June 25 at Our Lady of Pompei/St. Peter Church in Syracuse.

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