About Us A brief history of Tasca Volvo

In early 1999 members of the Leonard Family, owners of AutoShow Volvo in Seekonk Massachusetts visited Bob Tasca Jr. at his LincolnMercury dealership also located in Seekonk, MA. The reason for the visit was to see if the Tasca Family had any interest in acquiring their Volvo dealership. Although the offer to buy was intriguing the first response was no. Bob Tasca Sr. was so loyal to Ford Motor Company that it was said if he was injured he bled Ford blue!

Later that year Ford Motor Company purchased Volvo Cars in their quest to establish what they envisioned for the future, the Premium AutoGroup. Now that Ford had become Volvo's parent company the main obstacle to the Tasca acquisition of Auto Show Volvo was removed and Tasca Volvo opened in December 2001.

Any history of Tasca Volvo has to go back much further than 1999 because the Tasca organization dates back to the early 1950s when a young man with a burning desire to start a family business first got into the automobile business. As a young boy in the 8th grade, Bob Tasca wrote a term paper entitled," I want to become a Ford Dealer" Why Ford? His uncle Jake worked for a Ford Dealer and young Bob helped his uncle overhaul the Ford in the backyard of his childhood home. As he grew older Bob Tasca became a mechanic then progressed from there to sales then into management and by the time he was 27 years old he realized his childhood dream and opened his first Ford dealership.

With a business model focused on volume and customer satisfaction, the Tasca dealership grew and eventually became one of the highest-volume Ford dealerships in the country. In his advertising, Bob Tasca would proudly state, "One Bigger None Better" Bob and his wife Josephine were proud of his business exploits but were most proud of their growing family of three boys and one girl, Bob Jr., Carl, David, and Tricia.

Bob Tasca's love for the automobile turned into a passion for drag racing and his success at the track turned into more sales at his dealership. Bob learned early in his career that winning on Sunday meant selling on Monday so Tasca racing became a practical addition to his business. Drag racing fast Fords all over the country and winning some of the most prestigious races of the era put Bob Tasca's Ford dealership on the map and his sales volume continued to grow.

The early 1970s were years of turmoil and change for the automobile business. Higher interest rates, higher insurance premiums, and increasing energy costs changed everything. Bob Tasca's sons were graduating from school and now wanted to join the family business. Rather than turning his successful Ford business over to them, Bob decided to accept a challenge from a high-ranking executive at Ford Motor Company and he sold his East Providence Rhode Island-based Ford Dealership and acquired a newly built Lincoln Mercury Dealership in nearby Seekonk, MA. The way he saw things he could put his sons in the driver's seat and he could guide them from the back seat.

During the early years of Tasca Lincoln Mercury Bob and his sons used custom-built and blueprinted vehicles as a way to differentiate a Tasca car from everyone else's and just like Tasca Ford, Tasca Lincoln Mercury's volume experienced steady growth. In 1981 Bob Tasca offered his customers, for the first time, a unique finance plan that he called Pre-Trade®. With Pre-Trade® the Tasca's could offer their customers a shorter finance term, a smaller finance balance, and lower monthly payments. With Pre-Trade® they told their customers that, "when your neighbors are changing their tires you will be changing your car." The shorter-term trade cycles created by Pre-Trade® supercharged Tasca Lincoln Mercury's sales pace and in just 5 years Tasca Lincoln Mercury in Seekonk, MA. had grown to be the highest volume Lincoln Mercury dealership in the world with the highest customer satisfaction scores ever generated by any Ford or Lincoln Mercury dealer worldwide. Now with his volume and customer satisfaction agenda fully realized Bob Tasca Sr. could finally state "None Bigger, None Better."

The Tasca Family continued to grow; third-generation Tasca were beginning to enter into the family business and the need to expand arose. It was here that Tasca Volvo was added to the Tasca group. Bob Tasca said many things and one thing he believed strongly and repeated often was, "Bricks and mortar can't sell or service cars - people do" so he realized one of his business' most important assets is the people that worked for him. When Tasca first added Volvo, Bob addressed the employees who had previously worked for the Leonard Family and he told them that while he respected the Volvo Brand it was the people at Auto Show Volvo that convinced him to acquire it.

Tasca has since consolidated their Volvo Brand at the 1300 Pontiac Ave. Cranston R.I. Tasca Automotive Group flagship location. Many of the people who worked for Tasca Volvo back in 2001 still work for Tasca. Obviously much has changed since 2001 but what has never changed is Tasca's devotion to their people and to their customers. The Tasca Family commitment to its people and especially to its customers is that You Will be Satisfied!