Success Models

BusinessWest, Feb 4, 2008 by O'Brien, George

Don Pion has been around cars and car dealerships for pretty much all of his 52 years.

He has fond memories of cleaning snow off rows of vehicles at a Chevrolet dealership his father worked at in the mid-'60s, and lasting recollections of those intrigue-filled days each fall when the new models would be rolled out.

"The cars would come covered, and the windows to the dealership would be papered over so people couldn't see inside," he told Business West, adding that car makers would use such tactics to build curiosity and essentially compel people to visit the dealerships.

Today, of course, there is somewhat less fanfare and much less mystery involved with new models - people can see and read all about them on the Internet, for example - but the basic challenge facing dealers is the same today as it was 35 or 75 years ago, when Pion's grandfather was selling Mercuries on Memorial Avenue in West Springfield: simply getting people into the showrooms.

And that's especially true for today's domestic dealers, said Pion, who is one of them, as the name of the venture that still bears his father's name - Bob Pion Pontiac, Buick, GMAC - clearly indicate.. That's because those Detroit-based makers, like others, have lost considerable ground to foreign manufacturers in recent years, in large part because they didn't make cars that could readily capture the attention of increasingly savvy and demanding consumers.

Pion is careful to use the past tense as he makes such comments. Indeed, he believes domestic makers, including Buick and Pontiac, are taking back some of that lost market share through better cars, better warranties, effective marketing, some incentives (0% financing is still available), and especially hard, often fruitful work to simply convince motorists to give domestic nameplates a good look.

Tiger Woods has helped. The sports world's biggest superstar and perhaps its most prolific pitchman has been associated with Buick for nearly a decade, and he's succeeded, said Pion, in making a notice-able dent in the long-held perception that Buick is an older person's car.

"He's having an impact - people come in and say, 'I want to see the car that Tiger's touting, - said Pion, noting quickly that old perceptions die hard, and it's still a challenge to get younger audiences to consider Buick.

Meanwhile, Pontiac has come out with some new nameplates like the Solstice (a roadster) and G6, a convertible, that are helping turn back the clock to the '60s and '70s, said Pion, when the company made some of the sportiest, most unique, and most popular models on the road - like the GTO, Firebird, and Lemans.

"General Motors is trying to give each franchise its own individual flavor," he explained, noting that for too long, domes-tics makers, especially the various lines in the GM stable, mirrored each other's offerings, creating confusion as well as boredom, which prompted many to consider and then purchase foreign options. "If we can get people into our dealership and they try the products we have - then we're in the game."

The task of managing all the change and challenge in auto sales today is now the work of three generations of the Pion family. Bob, now 80, comes to the dealership several days each week. He handles some banking chores, still conducts a sale or two, especially to long-time clients (he recently completed another transaction with a customer he's been serving since the '50s), and he remains the face of the company.

Two of Don's sons (who both call Bob "Gramps") have leadership roles: Rob is general manager, and Tom is Internet manager/used car manager, and works to ensure that the company's Web site is accessible, informative, and effective.

In this issue, Business West looks at how the Ron family name has endured for more than eight decades, and why it will be a fixture for years to come. This glimpse into a successful family venture provides an indepth look into the challenges facing all dealers today, and especially those selling domestic models.

Shifting Gears

As he traced the history of the family's involvement in the auto business - with some help from his father - Don Pion put his memory to the test, recalling the names and locations of many former dealerships, while also tracing family trees and listing a number of makes and models that have vanished from the landscape.

It all started with Bob's father, Francis X. Pion, who was a partner in a venture called Pynchon Motors, which sold Ford, Mercury, and Zepher models. Francis Pion died when Bob was only 10, but the latter had already acquired a taste for the business (he handled a number of chores around the dealership, much as Don did a generation later) and would eventually make it his career.

Starting in the early '50s, he sold a number of nameplates, from Chevrolet to Subaru, from GM to MG. In the late '60s, Pion partnered with Joe Gentile in a venture called Allan Imports in Springfield, which sold MG, Renault, and Subaru. They later sold that venture and eventually opened Hampden Dodge on State Street in Springfield.