Earnings call presentation materials

Sonic Automotive, Inc.

Forward-Looking Statements

This presentation contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities

Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements relate to future events, are not historical facts and

are based on our current expectations and assumptions regarding our business, the economy and

other future conditions. These statements can generally be identified by lead-in words such as

“believe”, “expect”, “anticipate”, “intend”, “plan”, “foresee”, “may” , “will” and other similar words.

Statements that describe our Company’s objectives, plans or goals are also forward-looking

statements. Examples of such forward-looking information we may be discussing in this presentation

include, without limitation, further implementation of our operational strategies and playbooks, future

debt retirement, capital expenditures, operating margins and revenues, inventory levels and new

vehicle industry sales volume.

You are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance,

involve risks and uncertainties and actual results may differ materially from those projected in the

forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. These risks and uncertainties include,

among other things, (a) economic conditions in the markets in which we operate, (b) the success of

our operational strategies, (c) our relationships with the automobile manufacturers and (d) new and

pre-owned vehicle sales volume. These risks and uncertainties, as well as additional factors that could

affect our forward-looking statements, are described in our Form 10-K for the year ending December

31, 2011 and our Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2012.

These forward-looking statements, risks, uncertainties and additional factors speak only as of the date

of this presentation. We undertake no obligation to update any such statements.

Sonic Automotive, Inc.

Overall Results

Revenue

Growth

–

11.7%

New

retail

vehicle

revenue

20.2%

volume

25.2%

exceeds industry retail volume growth

Pre-owned gross up 7.1%

F&I revenue up 18.0%

Fixed Operations gross up 1.3% on one less selling day

(up 3.3% when adjusted for selling days)

SG&A

77.6%

improvement

bps

versus

Qtr.

Adjusted income from continuing operations of $23.1 million,

up 14.9%

Q3 2012 adjusted diluted EPS from continuing operations was

$0.40

per

vs.

$0.34

prior

year

period

–

18%

* - Adjusted results exclude a pretax charge of $18.5M (after-tax of $11.3M), or $0.19 per diluted share related to debt repurchase activity.

Sonic Automotive, Inc.

B/(W) than Q3 2011

(amounts in millions, except per share data)

Q3 2012

Revenue

$ 2,152

$ 226

12%

Gross Profit

$ 308

$ 14

Operating Profit

$ 58

$ 3

Interest & Other

($ 19)

$ 3

12%

Continuing Ops:

Profit (after tax)

$ 23

$ 3

15%

Diluted EPS

$ 0.40

$ 0.06

18%

SG&A as % of Gross

77.6%

30 bps

Discontinued Ops Profit (after tax)

($1.8)

($1.1)

* - Adjusted results exclude a pretax charge of $18.5M (after-tax of $11.3M), or $0.19 per diluted share related to debt repurchase activity.

Adjusted Results *

Sonic Automotive, Inc.

Share Count Changes

(shares in thousands)

Weighting

Basic

5% Notes

Other

Diluted

Weighted Average

Shares –

6/30/2012

52,593

10,535

378

63,506

Issue 4,075 Shares

67%

2,658

Redeem 5% Notes

(67%)

(7,001)

804 Share Repurchases

30%

(243)

Other

Weighted Average

Shares –

9/30/2012

55,069

3,534

408

59,011

Net Reduction in Dilution of

4.5M Shares

$116M of Share Repurchase

Authorization Remaining at

End of Q3 2012

New Vehicles

Includes

Fleet

(1)

(1) Source: JD Power

25.2%

21.3%

15.1%

Sonic -

Retail

Industry -

Retail

SAAR

Sonic Automotive, Inc.

Q3 2012

Q3 2011

B/(W)

Retail Revenue

$1.2 billion

$1.0 billion

20.2%

Retail Volume

33,737

26,955

25.2%

Selling Price

$ 34,741

$ 36,166

(3.9%)

Gross Margin %

5.7%

6.7%

(100 bps)

GPU

$ 1,987

$ 2,429

($442)

Retail Gross Profit

$ 67 million

$ 65 million

2.4%

Sonic Automotive, Inc.

•

Grow the Base Business

Developing

Predictable

Repeatable

Sustainable

Business

Model

•

Playbooks -

Uniform Best Practices

•

People -

Culture of Customer-Centric Organization

•

Systems -

Stable, Flexible and Secure Delivery Systems

•

Data -

Use to Drive Business Decisions Throughout the Organization

Grow Through Knowledge in Core Competencies

•

Own Our Properties

Create Value on the Balance Sheet

Lower Cost Option

•

Improve Capital Structure

Buy Back Stock Opportunistically

Manage Debt Levels

Offer Dividend to Reward Shareholders

Predictable

Repeatable

Sustainable

Predictable

Repeatable

Sustainable

Strategic Focus

Summary and Outlook

Double-digit overall revenue growth

Anticipate Q4 retail GPU to improve from Q3 levels

Luxury mix of stores contributes to higher Q4 performance

Automotive retail industry outlook continues to remain

positive

Full year 2012 adjusted continuing operations diluted

earnings per share guidance of $1.65 -

$1.70 (1).

(1) -

Excluded from this range are costs associated with retiring outstanding 5.0% Convertible Senior Notes due 2029 (“5% Notes”) and tax benefits

related to the settlement of certain tax matters in the second and third quarters of 2012 which total a net charge of $0.16 per diluted share.

Sonic Automotive, Inc.

Sonic Automotive, Inc.

Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Information

Three Months Ended September 30,

Adjusted 2012 B/(W)

2012

2011

than Adjusted 2011

($ in millions, shares in

thousands, except per share data)

Reported

Adjustments

Adjusted

Reported

Adjustments

Adjusted

Revenues

2,152.2

1,926.1

226.1

11.7%

Gross profit

307.7

293.4

14.3

4.9%

Gross margin

14.3%

15.2%

0 bps

SG&A

(238.7)

(228.6)

(10.1)

4.4%

SG&A as % of gross profit

77.6%

77.9%

0 bps

Impairment charges

(0.1)

0.1

(100.0%)

Depreciation and amortization

(11.4)

(10.1)

(1.2)

12.2%

Operating income

57.6

54.6

3.0

5.5%

Operating margin

2.7%

2.8%

0 bps

Interest expense, floor plan

(4.9)

(4.2)

(0.7)

16.7%

Interest expense, other, net

(15.7)

1.2

(1)

(14.5)

(16.9)

2.4

(14.2%)

Other income (expense), net

(17.3)

17.3

(2)

0.0

(0.8)

0.9

(105.5%)

Income (loss) from continuing operations

11.8

11.3

23.1

20.1

3.0

14.9%

Income (loss) from discontinued operations

(1.8)

(0.7)

(1.1)

153.2%

Net income (loss)

10.0

11.3

21.3

19.4

1.9

9.9%

Diluted earnings (loss) per common share:

Earnings (loss) per share

from continuing operations

0.21

0.19

0.40

0.34

0.06

17.6%

Earnings (loss) per share from

discontinued operations

(0.03)

(0.01)

(0.02)

200.0%

Earnings (loss) per common share

0.18

0.19

0.37

0.33

0.04

12.1%

Weighted average shares outstanding

59,011

65,517

(1) Represents double-carry interest in July 2012.

(2) Represents debt extinguishment charges related to the 5% Convertible Notes.

Sonic Automotive, Inc.

Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Information

Three Months Ended September 30, 2012

Continuing Operations

Discontinued Operations

Total Operations

($ in millions, shares in

thousands, except per share data)

Net Income

(Loss):

Numerator

Count:

Denominator

Diluted

EPS

Net Income

(Loss):

Numerator

Count:

Denominator

Diluted

EPS

Net Income

(Loss):

Numerator

Count:

Denominator

Diluted

EPS

Reported basic

11.8

55,069

(1.8)

55,069

10.0

55,069

Effect of dilutive securities:

Two class method

(0.2)

Contingently convertible debt

0.6

3,534

0.6

3,534

Stock compensation plans

408

Reported diluted

12.2

59,011

0.21

(1.8)

59,011

(0.03)

10.4

59,011

0.18

Adjustments (tax-effected):

Double-carry interest

0.7

Debt extinguishment charges

10.6

Subtotal

23.5

59,011

0.40

(1.8)

59,011

(0.03)

21.7

59,011

0.37

Effect of dilutive securities:

Two class method

(0.1)

Adjusted diluted

23.4

59,011

0.40

(1.8)

59,011

(0.03)

21.6

59,011

0.37