2025 TDOY Nominee

Mark Pellegrino is one of a select group of 49 dealer nominees from across the country who will be honored at the 108^th annual National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Show in New Orleans, Louisiana, on January 25, 2025.

The TIME Dealer of the Year award is one of the automobile industry’s most prestigious and highly coveted honors. The award recognizes the nation’s most successful auto dealers who also demonstrate a long-standing commitment to community service. Pellegrino was chosen to represent the New Jersey Coalition of Automotive Retailers in the national competition — one of only 49 auto dealers nominated for the 56^th annual award from more than 20,000 nationwide.

“Over the past 27 years, we built a foundation as a family-owned and operated dealership group,” nominee Pellegrino said. “I am grateful and humbled that numerous employees have been with us for so many years and have been an integral part in the growth and success of our organization.”

He is fortunate to work with his daughter, Amanda, who is a recent NADA Academy graduate, and his sister, Stacia, who started with him at Interstate Truck Sales in 1995. Both family members are managers within Pellegrino Auto Group.

Pellegrino earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Villanova University in Villanova, Pennsylvania, in 1988, but his auto career began long before he ever reached college. Growing up, Pellegrino had been familiar with the automotive industry from his father’s success as a used truck dealer specializing in heavy duty trucks. At the age of 16, he and his brother, Matty, sold their first used car out of a gas station parking lot. Shortly after that, they began wholesaling vehicles at local auto auctions, and then they got jobs at a used car lot in Riverton, New Jersey.

“Our father became an invested partner in the used car lot, and we worked there in high school. Our responsibilities ranged from detailing to lot management, to marketing the inventory in local newspapers and auto magazines,” he said. “As we progressed in our roles, we built relationships with local new car dealers to purchase their wholesale trades, which would become our retail inventory. At a young age, we learned the sales process and the importance of the customer experience.”

Their father, Matthew Pellegrino was an integral part of mentoring them in their early years, and he continues to be a great asset to look to for advice.

When Pellegrino was a junior at Villanova, the original owner of the used car lot retired, and he and his brother took over the operation. They relocated to a busier highway location in Palmyra, New Jersey, and renamed the business Interstate Truck Sales, which specialized in pre-owned pickups, vans, SUVs and commercial trucks.

“From 1986 to 1995, we grew to a volume of more than 1,500 vehicles per year between wholesale and retail,” he said. The brothers felt their next step was to expand into the new car business, so they began their search, but unfortunately Matty suddenly passed away in 1995.

Pellegrino was able to fulfill their dream in 1997 when he acquired his first dealership with a partner (Nino Paleologus), which they named Pellegrino Chevrolet. In 2005 Pellegrino bought out his partner, who went on to acquire his own dealership. Pellegrino then purchased a Pontiac Buick GMC dealership in Williamstown, New Jersey, currently known as Pellegrino Buick GMC. In 2007, Pellegrino Auto Group continued to grow after he and a partner (Stan Singer) purchased a Chrysler Jeep dealership, in Woodbury Heights, New Jersey, which they named Pellegrino Chrysler Jeep. Ten years later his original partner (Stan) retired, and today Pellegrino works alongside two managing partners (Russell Abate and Vince Baldino) in Pellegrino Chrysler Jeep.

“Over the years, Pellegrino Auto Group has built its reputation one customer at a time and continues to grow and flourish because of our repeat and referral business,” he said. “Our success is fueled by the dedication of our team of more than 110 hardworking employees. That is why we chose the motto, ‘Our People Make the Difference!’”

Pellegrino continues to honor his brother and the amazing journey they took together. He, his family, and close friends established the Matthew P. Pellegrino II Memorial Foundation, a nonprofit organization that supports charities that help children, which was one of Matty’s greatest passions. Pellegrino serves as vice president and chair of the foundation.

For the last 27 years the foundation has hosted a golf outing each year, and the proceeds are donated to a different children’s organization.

“Thanks to our generous donors through the years, we have raised approximately $1 million, which has been donated to more than 25 local children's organizations,” he said.

Some of the organizations that have received donations include Kids' Chance of Pennsylvania, Mother Child (Center for Family Services), Philadelphia Children's Foundation, the Stern Center for Developmental and Behavioral Health and the Sunshine Foundation, to name a few.

Pellegrino is particularly proud of two initiatives undertaken by the foundation. In 2017, the foundation galvanized more than 100 volunteers and support from vendors and contractors associated with some of their committee members to build an addition to the Bucks County Emergency Homeless Shelter in just one day. This addition was named “Matty’s Home of Hope”, and it houses two family suites so families could remain together when staying at the shelter.

The second project, Matty’s Corner, was another one-day community build of an all-inclusive and accessible playground in Deptford, New Jersey completed in May 2024.

“Committee members, family, friends, dealership employees, people from the local community and a family friend who is a contractor all came out to help us build the playground in honor of Matty for children and families to enjoy for many years to come,” he said.

Pellegrino served as a board member of the Joseph Lacroce Foundation for 10 years, which brings together car enthusiasts to support children’s charities. In addition, Pellegrino has supported dozens of local organizations, schools and charities through the years, but most notably he formed a deep relationship with the Larc School, which is a non-profit special needs school for students with moderate to severe disabilities in Bellmawr, New Jersey. This relationship began when he opened his first dealership back in 1997 and continues today.

Pellegrino was nominated for the TIME Dealer of the Year award by Jim Appleton, president of the New Jersey Coalition of Automotive Retailers. As an active member of the New Jersey Coalition of Automotive Retailers, Pellegrino has served the group in various capacities, most recently as president and vice president of NJ CAR Services.

“I helped manage and direct the Services company, which provides a competitive marketplace for products and services purchased by New Jersey dealers, which in turn helps sustain the association with non-dues revenue,” he said.

Mark is incredibly involved in his community, he is very active as a leader and operator of all three dealerships, and he always has time to spend with his family and friends making memories to last a lifetime. Mark values his relationships with his family, friends, partners, team of employees and customers, and it is quite evident in how he operates his business and lives his life each day.

Pellegrino and his wife, Leslie, have been happily married for over 34 years. Together they have three daughters (Morgan, Amanda and Courtney), three sons-in-law (Dan, Jonathan and Mark), three grandchildren (Ava, Daniel and Roman) and a fourth grandchild expected in November. Although work consumes a lot of time, he always made sure he was present to support his children, and now his grandchildren, at school functions, sporting events, milestone moments, and all family gatherings. He is a true family man through and through, and family has been and always will be the most important thing to him.