UCN 6/20/2022
Used Car News Texas Dealer Takes Reins of NIADA Scott Allen, owner and president of Auto Land in Haltom City, Texas, is the incoming president of the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association. He is a Certified Master Dealer and was named National Quality Dealer of the Year in 2011.
IN THIS ISSUE:
• Finance • Alexis Jacobs • Compliance
Used Car News: Tell our readers a little bit about your background and how you got into the car business. Scott Allen: After graduating from college at Texas Tech University, I worked as a stockbroker and NASDAQ trader for a clearing firm from 1985 to 1990. Around the same time my father was retiring from the great stock market of the west known as the Fort Worth Stockyards. My father had an accountant who was also the bookkeeper for several buy-here, pay-here (BHPH) dealerships around town. He invited me into some of these meetings with his accountant and soon after we began setting up meetings at a local BBQ joint to pick the brains of some local totethe-note operators around town. We were intrigued by the possibilities of running our own independent dealership. With our own money on Jan. 2, 1991, we opened the doors to Auto Land, a fully in-house finance auto sales facility in Haltom City. UCN: Tell us about your current dealership and business model? Allen: Today, Auto Land is still a 100% BHPH auto dealership serving the DFW community. We cur-
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rently employ seven people with annual sales of just over $1 million. Auto Land has sold and financed more than 10,000 vehicles with to-
tal revenue exceeding $60 million over a 30-year span. Nothing on our lot retails for more than $9,995
and we have stayed with the same terms of 24 months or less. This is our sweet spot for the customers we serve. UCN: What prompted you to get involved in the NIADA? Allen: My interest in becoming more involved in the association came after my father passed in 2003. I had lost the sounding board for all my crazy ideas, so after being a member of my state and national associations for many years I thought that would be the place for me to get more connected to everything ‘independent auto dealer.’ I began attending my local chapter meetings in Fort Worth and soon was asked if I would like to serve as an officer. I served as president of the Fort Worth Independent Automobile Dealers Association (TIADA) from 2005-2010. And at the same time, I began attending TIADA conventions and developed an interest in the state association. I started on a couple of committees and then was asked to run for a seat on the TIADA board. I served on the board of my state association from 2008-2013 and served as the TIADA president in 20122013. In 2015, I began my journey at the national level as a board member with NIADA. Every step I took prepared me for the next and was instrumental in allowing me to understand the scope of the task of Continued on page 3
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