Sonic Automotive is a

Fortune 500 The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune (magazine), Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States Joint-stock company#Closely held corporations and publicly traded corporations, corporations by ...

company based in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

, and is the fifth largest automotive retailer in the United States as measured by total revenues. The company was founded by O Bruton Smith and completed its initial public offering on the NYSE in 1997. Sonic Automotive operates in 24 states with more than 100 dealerships representing over 25 different brands of

automobiles A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...

. The dealerships market new and used cars, replacement parts and vehicle maintenance, as well as collision repair services.

History

Sonic Automotive was launched as a public company in November 1997 by O Bruton Smith. At the time, the company had 20 stores, representing 15 brands and several hundred employees. The Smith family holds over 30% of the total shares outstanding but has over 80% of the voting power because of a dual-class structure with Super-voting stock. Sonic ranked 300th on the 2022

list. The company also is a member of the Russell 2000 Index.

EchoPark Automotive

Sonic Automotive owns EchoPark Automotive, a

used car A used car, a pre-owned vehicle, or a secondhand car, is a vehicle that has previously had one or more retailing, retail owners. Used cars are sold through a variety of outlets, including franchise and independent car dealership, car dealers, ...

dealership chain also based in Charlotte. EchoPark allows customers to look up competitors' prices on mobile devices located throughout the stores. The first EchoPark location opened in the Thornton area of

Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

in 2014. A location in

Centennial A centennial, or centenary in British English, is a 100th anniversary or otherwise relates to a century. Notable events Notable centennial events at a national or world-level include: * Centennial Exhibition, 1876, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...

was later opened along with a store in

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010. Colorado Springs is the second-most populous c ...

. In September 2017, EchoPark purchased driversselect, a

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

area dealership, which is now part of the EchoPark brand. EchoPark Automotive operates in 21 states across the United States with over 40 locations as of September 2021. EchoPark facilities are constructed with sustainable building technologies and some locations are LEED certified.

Sales and acquisitions

In 2001, Sonic made its entrance into the

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

market with the purchase of Boyd

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ) is an American automobile division of the manufacturer General Motors (GM). In North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Due to the promi ...

and Steve Bailey

Honda commonly known as just Honda, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate automotive manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in October 1946 by Soichiro Honda, Honda has bee ...

. In 2002, Sonic acquired the sixteen-location Michigan-based Don Massey Dealerships. This brought the company to 134 total locations, making it the second-largest automotive retailer at the time. The acquisition also brought Sonic to 23 total

Cadillac Cadillac Motor Car Division, or simply Cadillac (), is the luxury vehicle division (business), division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Its major markets are the United States, Canada and China; Cadillac models are ...

dealerships, representing between 5-7% of the brand's total revenue. In July 2003, Sonic agreed to purchase eighteen dealerships, including the Momentum Automotive Group in Houston, Texas. Sonic's presence in the Houston area had traditionally been with domestic brands, but the acquisition of Momentum added

BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...

Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large felidae, cat species and the only extant taxon, living member of the genus ''Panthera'' that is native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the biggest cat spe ...

, and

Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. A subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. The origins of the compa ...

brands to the companies portfolio. This sale also represented the first direct acquisition of a

Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant, with an average radius of about 9 times that of Earth. It has an eighth the average density of Earth, but is over 95 tim ...

franchise by a retail automotive group, with the purchase of two

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose. The Association of Bay Area Governments ...

Saturn stores. Sonic purchased two dealerships from PPE Houston in January 2007. The acquisition of the

Land Rover Land Rover is a brand of predominantly four-wheel drive, off-road capable vehicles, owned by British multinational car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), since 2008 a subsidiary of India's Tata Motors. JLR builds Land Rovers in Brazil ...

and Jaguar stores brought Sonic to 173 franchises and 37 collision repair centers. Sonic halted its acquisition strategy during the

Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009.

but returned to acquiring new locations in order to drive growth in 2013. In November 2014, Sonic traded one of its Don Massey Cadillac locations in Lone Tree, CO, to the

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

-based John Elway Automotive Group in exchange for the John Elway

location and the associated real estate. The trade came about as a way for the brand to acquire a strong-performing Chevrolet franchise, as well as a plot of land beside the dealership on which the new Murray Imports

location could be built. Sonic purchased the four AutoMatch USA used car locations in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

in 2016. These locations were re-branded under Sonic's EchoPark brand. In October 2017, Sonic sold its Capitol

& Hyundai franchise in Columbia, SC to the Stivers Automotive Group. In May 2018, Sonic sold its Lone Star Ford franchise in Houston, TX to the Doggett Auto Group. The store was renamed Doggett Ford and moved into a new facility alongside Doggett's John Deere equipment dealership. Sonic sold two dealerships to Graham Holdings in February 2019. The

Lexus is the luxury vehicle division of the Japanese automaker Toyota, Toyota Motor Corporation. The Lexus brand is marketed in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide and is Japan's largest-selling make of premium cars. It has ranked amon ...

of Rockville store was renamed Ourisman Lexus of Rockville, as Graham has partnered with Chris Ourisman, president of the Ourisman Auto Group, to manage the locations. The Honda location in

Vienna, Virginia Vienna () is a town in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Vienna has a population of 16,473. Significantly more people live in ZIP codes with the Vienna postal addresses (22180, 22181, ...

, has been renamed Ourisman Honda of Tysons Corner. In December 2021, Sonic acquired RFJ Auto Partners, a top 15 dealership group with approximately $3.2 billion in total annual revenues, adding 33 locations in six states to the Sonic Automotive portfolio. Sonic acquired two franchises throughout 2022, the first being Sun Chevrolet in Chittenango, New York coming in January, and the second, Audi

Owings Mills Owings Mills is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. It is a suburb of Baltimore. Per the 2020 census, the population was 35,674. Owings Mills is home to the northern terminus o ...

coming aboard in August. In February 2023, Sonic Automotive acquired the Black Hills

Harley-Davidson Harley-Davidson, Inc. (H-D, or simply Harley) is an American motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded in 1903, it is one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depression along with i ...

franchise in

Rapid City, South Dakota Rapid City is the county seat of Pennington County, South Dakota, United States. It is located on the eastern slope of the Black Hills in western South Dakota and was named after Rapid Creek (South Dakota), Rapid Creek, where the settlement deve ...

, home of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. The Audi of New Orleans dealership was added to the Sonic portfolio in December of 2024.https://ir.sonicautomotive.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/324/sonic-automotive-announces-acquisition-of-audi-new-orleans

References

External links

Sonic AutomotiveEchoPark Automotive
{{Authority control Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange Retail companies established in 1997 Auto dealerships of the United States Companies based in Charlotte, North Carolina Automotive websites