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April 16, 2021

Amid annual lobbying battle with auto dealers, Tesla to plant its flag in E. Hartford 

300 Connecticut Blvd. in East Hartford.
By Matt Pilon

Electric vehicle maker Tesla has won local approval to open a showroom and service center in East Hartford, but the property owner it’s working with is someone you might not expect.

The showroom, which would be Tesla’s first Connecticut facility outside of Fairfield County, will be located at 300 Connecticut Blvd.

The 30,000-square-foot showroom and service area, former home of a recently relocated Volvo dealership, is owned by Gengras Motor Cars chairman Skip Gengras. The family-run chain of auto dealerships has lobbied fiercely in recent years, along with other area auto dealers, against Tesla’s attempts to change Connecticut law to allow direct sales of electric vehicles to consumers in the state, a system that would bypass dealers.

In fact, Gengras President Chip Gengras, son of Skip Gengras, recently joined a number of other dealership owners railing against the latest direct-sales legislation.

Chip Gengras said he’s worried the bill would open up the ability for other companies in the future, not just Tesla, to sell cars without consumer protections provided by dealers.

“What is to prevent anyone from making and selling electric cars directly?” Gengras said this month. “They sell it and if it breaks, they just hit the road and go somewhere else.”

So why is the Gengras family working to bring a Tesla facility to a stretch of road in East Hartford that’s dominated by Gengras and Hoffman dealerships? 

On Friday, Chip Gengras told HBJ that he remains strongly opposed to the direct-sales model sought by Tesla and others, and said that as his company sought potential buyers for the 300 Connecticut Blvd. location, it wasn’t immediately apparent the one that emerged was Tesla.

“During the process of selling a former dealership we knew only that the buyer was a developer from Chicago,” Gengras said. “When we learned it was Tesla, we were under the assumption that it would be a repair center, which we have no objection to, because direct sales are against the law. We are not opposed to Tesla having a service center but will continue to oppose S.B. 127 as forcefully as we can.”

It wasn't immediately clear when the property might change hands. It had not been sold yet as of Friday, according to local land records.

The Connecticut Automotive Retailers Association, where Chip Gengras is a board member, said Friday it was aware that Tesla was planning a showroom at the former Gengras Volvo location.

“We are aware that senior members of the Gengras family applied for this permit and that it would allow for a Tesla repair center,” CARA said in a statement. “If Tesla wants to sell cars directly it needs to go through the dealership model.”

While Tesla is forbidden from selling cars in Connecticut, it has been leasing them from its other showroom, in Milford, since last year. 

It wasn’t immediately clear if Tesla intends to pursue leasing in East Hartford as well. The company didn’t respond to a request for comment Friday morning.

East Hartford Mayor Marcia Leclerc said Friday that any company moving into East Hartford is good news.

“Having a Tesla showroom and repair center in our major auto dealership corridor will be a great value for the region,” she said.

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