2024 Marks 10th Anniversary of Landers Acquisition

Ten years ago, David Luther received a phone call from a broker, Ben Hicks, asking if he would be interested in purchasing dealerships in Little Rock, Arkansas. Hicks, having never met David Luther, researched automotive companies that would be a good fit for his client and found Luther Automotive. David Luther visited Little Rock to see the dealerships and meet the Landers Family, this started their growing relationship. The visit went well, with both parties interested in moving forward. After months of growing the relationship and negotiations, the deal was finalized in July 2014. 

Scott Landers continued to run the Landers dealerships after the merger. David Luther wanted him to stay on because he had invaluable knowledge of the area and had been successfully running it for his family. 

“Scott was a huge asset. He and his team taught me a lot about different ways of doing business, and I think we were able to teach Scott and his team a lot too,” said Andy Gadient. 

The initial acquisition came with two dealerships in Little Rock, Landers Toyota with Chris Chase as General Manager, and Landers Little Rock Chrysler, with Eric Scaife as GM. The remaining seven dealerships, Little Rock Kia, NWA Toyota, Chrysler and Chevrolet of Norman, Chevrolet Cadillac of Joplin, and Mazda of Lee’s Summit and Kansas City were all added in the next eight years. 

The initial reaction to the merger was mixed. Not knowing much about Luther and our values, some were worried about consolidations or job cuts that usually come out of mergers. “It was really important to Scott that his employees were taken care of,” said Jared Neufer. “It was obvious that happened because we still have a lot of tenured employees to this day.” Neufer is currently the Vice President of Operations at Landers but was the General Sales Manager at Little Rock Toyota at the time of the merger. 

“I am proud that so many people remain with us today. It speaks to their commitment to the Landers Team,” said David Luther.

“I could tell that Scott was excited about the opportunities that he hoped would come from the merger. He spoke so very highly of David and the entire Luther Team that it became clear there was great potential in it,” said Oliver Sobik. Sobik was the Executive Assistant to Scott Landers during the merger and is now a Senior Compliance Auditor. 

Luther considered changing the Landers name to Luther but decided against it for a variety of reasons. “The Landers name is very recognizable in Arkansas. They have a deep history in automotive and Luther is non-existent there. They have built a reputation as a place to go to buy a car, and to be taken care of,” said Gadient.

As for continuing to grow the Landers business, Gadient said. “We always want to expand and grow.” Arkansas has a similar market to Minnesota, with multiple large automotive companies having a foothold, making it difficult to find potential dealerships, but not impossible.