Montebelluna says goodbye to a piece of local trade history: the Auto Rugolo dealership has definitively closed its doors after more than a century of activity. The founder Umberto Rugolo opened the first workshop (for bicycles and later motorbikes) in the historic center in the second half of the nineteenth century. A Fiat partner since 1964, the dealership was founded in Corso Mazzini before moving near the Boccacavalla flyover and finally to the factory in Via Montello.
As reported by “La Tribuna di Treviso”, among the reasons for the closure would be the spaces too large to manage and the increase in online car sales. In fact, many car manufacturers, such as Hyundai which recently signed an agreement with Amazon, are investing more and more in e-commerce: the customer can choose the car he wants from home with all the necessary accessories, receiving it directly at home and avoiding the trip to the dealership. In the 1980s there were more than 800 Fiat dealers, today less than 300. For many car manufacturers the sales network has become too expensive, hence the closure of the sales points. Auto Rugolo inevitably paid the consequences: the Belluno Treviso Agricultural Consortium will now find space in the dealership’s spaces, ready to open a new headquarters in the Montebellunese area. For the employees and many customers of Auto Rugolo, however, the closure of the dealership marks the end of an era.
