Sonic Automotive was launched as a public company in November 1997 by O Bruton Smith, with 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 Automotive made its entrance into the Oklahoma City market with the purchase of Boyd Chevrolet and Steve Bailey Honda in 2001. The following year, Sonic acquired the sixteen-location Michigan-based Don Massey Dealerships, bringing the company to 134 total locations and making it the second-largest automotive retailer at the time.
In July 2003, Sonic agreed to purchase eighteen dealerships, including the Momentum Automotive Group in Houston, Texas, adding BMW, Jaguar, and Audi brands to the company's portfolio. Sonic halted its acquisition strategy during the Great Recession but returned to acquiring new locations in 2013 to drive growth. In November 2014, Sonic traded one of its Don Massey Cadillac locations in Lone Tree, CO, to the Denver-based John Elway Automotive Group in exchange for the John Elway Chevrolet location and the associated real estate.
Sonic purchased the four AutoMatch USA used car locations in Florida and Georgia in 2016, re-branding them under Sonic's EchoPark brand. In October 2017, Sonic sold its Capitol Chevrolet & Hyundai franchise in Columbia, SC to the Stivers Automotive Group. The following year, Sonic sold its Lone Star Ford franchise in Houston, TX to the Doggett Auto Group.
There is no information available in the corpus regarding the death or retirement of the company's founder, O Bruton Smith.
Sonic Automotive has grown to become one of the largest automotive retailers in the United States, with over 100 dealerships representing over 25 different brands of automobiles. The company has ranked 300th on the 2022 Fortune 500 list and is a member of the Russell 2000 Index.
Sonic Automotive owns EchoPark Automotive, a used car dealership chain also based in Charlotte, which 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.
Sonic Automotive has been recognized as a Fortune 500 company and is a member of the Russell 2000 Index. The company has also been involved in various acquisitions and sales, including the purchase of RFJ Auto Partners, a top 15 dealership group, in December 2021.