Bo Scott was born in Orlando, Florida. At the time, Orlando was a small community surrounded by orange groves, swamps and farms where beef cattle were raised. The small community was shocked when a large, unnamed corporation started buying up millions of dollars of farmland in the Orlando area. Speculation grew as to who needed so much land and what they might do with it. Then, on Nov. 15, 1965, Walt Disney himself arrived in town and announced his plans to build the world’s most magnificent theme park. Soon after, Charlie Scott, Bo’s dad, sought out a new opportunity selling cars with Key Buick in Jacksonville.
Charlie was good at his job, and the company moved him to a number of locations and states over the years. By the time Bo was 15, the family had moved 13 times. Through all of the moving and change, Charlie made sure that Bo understood the value of family and a hard day’s work. “I recently found a copy of the first paycheck I earned. I picked up cigarette butts all day from the car lot with a 5-gallon bucket. That was quite a job, and I earned $3.00, which was a lot of money for a kid in the 70s,” said Bo.
Then in 1980, Charlie had the opportunity to open a Datsun store in Roswell, Georgia. Bo helped out by putting tags on cars as they rolled off the back of the truck, pulling weeds and anything else that needed to be done around the dealership.
Once Bo graduated high school, he headed off to the University of Georgia. “College just wasn’t for me, so I joined the Marine Corps,” said Bo. After serving four years with the Marines, in 1990, Charlie asked Bo to come home and help with the store.
“My dad put me through the ‘School of Hard Knocks,’” Bo recalled. “He had me work in every department — everything from porter, new car make-ready and parts driver to sales, used car sales manager, F&I manager, general sales manager and executive manager. I pretty much have done everything in a dealership except for collision.” The lessons he learned served him well, and today, Bo is a second-generation dealer at Regal Nissan (formerly Regal Datsun).
Bo’s son, Holden, joined the family business as well and serves as the executive manager. “That has freed me up to pursue being more involved with GADA and NADA as well as pursuing new opportunities with Regal Ineos Grenadier, our new dealership, and serving on their dealer council” said Bo.
On July 1, 2024, Bo started his term as GADA chairman. We recently had a chance to talk with Bo and learn more about his thoughts on the industry and his goals as chairman. The following are excerpts of our conversation.
What are the biggest issues facing the auto industry?
I think a couple of the biggest issues are the threats from direct sales that we see in a lot of states from new manufacturers. I think that’s something we need to be cognizant of and stay on the alert for. Legacy OEMs may be tempted to follow this pattern of direct sales. A lot of times, people don’t know the value of having a new car or a new vehicle representative in their community until it’s gone. By then, they’re dealing with a monolith, and that certainly changes that dynamic.
I’m concerned about EVs, not that they’re bad, but with the speed at which the government has accelerated the transition timeline. They haven’t thought through all the unintended consequences and have pushed manufacturers and retailers alike into doing things that may not necessarily be what the consumer wants or that the business is ready for.
From an infrastructure standpoint, I don’t think we’re ready to be all EV by 2030 and certainly not ready for overland trucking or any of the other solutions that the government is pushing. We need to take a deep breath and realize the benefits of an internal combustion engine. I certainly understand being a caretaker and a steward of our environment, but I think there are some environmental impacts of EVs that we haven’t thought through.
Why is the franchise system still the best way to sell cars?
As far as cash flow goes, from a manufacturer standpoint, they don’t have to wait to retail the car to get their money; they get their money from us dealers, and then we retail the automobile. From a consumer standpoint, it’s best because they have a broad selection of cars they can choose from. They don’t have to order from a catalog and take delivery of the vehicle in six weeks. It’s a good system all around.
The franchise system gives widespread coverage in a state like Georgia. For instance, if we allowed just direct sales and with a few outlets, a client may be dealing with a nameless, faceless entity that has no representation in their community. They would not have anybody to address problems or help them in any way. In many communities across our state, the local dealerships are the largest employers and drivers of local economies.
It also affords consumers the opportunity to make the best deal. Whether dealers compete on price, trade-in or financing, it’s just a better way to sell or service cars. The consumer has choices, and it definitely is a benefit to them.
How do you think the industry will change in the next 3-5 years?
I think we’ll continue to see a consolidation — there may be a few more outlets, but they’ll be owned by fewer dealers. I am concerned about that. There are dealers that are aging and reaching retirement that may not have a second or third generation to take over, and mega dealers who own 40 and 50 different dealerships are buying up these dealerships.
Some of the consolidation is a result of the pressures that are being placed on dealers, whether that be from government regulation, which is quite a lot, or financial pressures with their manufacturer partners. They just reach a point where it’s an exit strategy, and they’ll sell to a qualified buyer who will take over.
How long have you been a GADA member, and why did you get involved in the association?
Regal Nissan has been a GADA member since the store opened. When my dad passed away in 2014, I went through some unpleasantness with my manufacturing partner. I had Lea, and others, hold my hand through that experience. I would say to her, “Hey, they’re doing this,” and she would say, “Well, they can say that they’re doing that, but they can’t do that.” I realized then the absolute value of GADA and was sold on it.
I decided that I wanted to help other dealers and began serving on the board in 2015. With GADA, dealers have somebody on their side, that was what drove me to really want to serve on the board, and I’ve tried to remain very active and that has resulted in me becoming chairman.
What do you see as the benefit of being a GADA member?
Being a GADA member opens doors and provides opportunities to bounce ideas off of other dealers or gain ideas from them as well. Every meeting I go to, I try to jot down at least one or two ideas that I learned while I was attending the meeting. It could be in a conversation that I had or in a presentation that I sat through so I could implement them down the road.
I remember, years ago, I was at a grassroots meeting for GADA and was with a dealer who shared an idea with me that saved me about $36,000 a year. I said to myself, “I’m going to start attending more of these meetings if I can add $36,000 a year to the bottom line from spending an hour or two.” Attending GADA events and meetings is valuable.
What are your goals as chairman?
My plan as chairman was summed up by the Greek physician Hippocrates when he said, “Do no harm.” In all seriousness, I want to work to continue the work of making the case that GADA is just as valuable today as it was 70 years ago, and it’s probably even more valuable today than it was 70 years ago.
We certainly have a lot of issues facing us, and it is important for us to gather and realize as dealers, we’re not alone. We have other members who may have experienced what we are experiencing — the troubles, tribulations or business pressures — and it’s a way for us to gather our resources and address problems, whether that be on the legislative front, the manufacturer front or in the relationship with our communities.
What help do you need from members to accomplish those goals?
Get involved and state the reason why you’re getting involved. Make sure your managers and fellow employees know why you’re getting involved. Oftentimes, we as leaders think people around us know why we are doing what we are doing. But, if we don’t tell them they can’t possibly know, they might just think GADA is an expense that they’ve got to cover when there’s a lot to it, and their jobs may be actually counting on it. It is especially important to state the case for GADA when another generation of dealers is coming behind them so they, too, can be prepared to be leaders in the industry.
Have you had any mentors? What did you learn from them?
My mentor was my dad. As I’ve tried to bring on a third generation of dealer, I refer to the things my dad did that were good. I remember my dad often saying, “We ride to success or failure on the shoulders of our people.” That is so true. I’ve got people on my staff who are better salesmen than me, who are better at all kinds of things than I am, and in some cases, even smarter than I am. As a dealer and a leader, you’re just a cheerleader and a coordinator. You’re not selling 150 cars; you’re cheering on those who are.
When you mentor others, what advice would you share?
The most important thing in life is family. The car business is not our life. Our lives are at home and consist of those who look up to us and watch us while we shave and wave goodbye when we get to get in the car to go to work. This job is an engine that helps drive the financial needs of our lives and keeping balance in our lives is vital for the people who are at home.
Think about others. We have the opportunity every day to change somebody’s life as we’re dealing with a customer or another employee. We don’t always know what’s going on in their life, and we can turn around a negative circumstance and make things a little bit easier for them by simply doing the right thing.
What career accomplishment are you proudest of?
We have accomplished a lot over the years. We have won the Nissan Award of Excellence a number of times. But what I’m most proud of in my career is during the financial crisis in 2008 and 2009, we didn’t lay anybody off. And then again, when we had the severe disruption due to COVID, we didn’t lay anybody off. We struggled, and it was tough, but our goal was to take care of our people, they are our work family. Their families are counting on them, and we were committed to not letting them down.
Any last thoughts?
There is strength in numbers for GADA, and everybody needs to participate. We have a lot of members, but we need a lot of active members. When members are active and engaged, the more input we have, and that broadens the base. That is where we find success.
Bo and his wife, Kristina, have three amazing adult children: Holden, Clayton and Abbi. They have nine adventurous grandchildren. Bo and Kristina enjoy playing with their grandchildren on Tybee Island and making magical memories with them at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.
