FORM 3
 UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

INITIAL STATEMENT OF BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP OF SECURITIES

Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940
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(Print or Type Responses)
1. Name and Address of Reporting Person *
  Byrd Heath
 2. Date of Event Requiring Statement (Month/Day/Year)
04/01/2013		 3. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol
SONIC AUTOMOTIVE INC [SAH]
(Last)
(First)
(Middle)
C/O SONIC AUTOMOTIVE, INC., 4401 COLWICK ROAD		 4. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer
(Check all applicable)
_____ Director _____ 10% Owner
__X__ Officer (give title below) _____ Other (specify below)
EVP and CFO
 5. If Amendment, Date Original Filed(Month/Day/Year)
(Street)

CHARLOTTE, NC 28211		 6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing(Check Applicable Line)
_X_ Form filed by One Reporting Person
___ Form filed by More than One Reporting Person
(City)
(State)
(Zip)
Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned
1.Title of Security
(Instr. 4)		 2. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned
(Instr. 4)		 3. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I)
(Instr. 5)		 4. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership
(Instr. 5)
Class A Common Stock 53,763 (1)
D
 

Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly. SEC 1473 (7-02)
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Table II - Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)
1. Title of Derivative Security
(Instr. 4)		 2. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date
(Month/Day/Year)		 3. Title and Amount of Securities Underlying Derivative Security
(Instr. 4)		 4. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security 5. Ownership Form of Derivative Security: Direct (D) or Indirect (I)
(Instr. 5)		 6. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership
(Instr. 5)
Date Exercisable Expiration Date Title Amount or Number of Shares

Reporting Owners

Reporting Owner Name / Address Relationships
Director 10% Owner Officer Other
Byrd Heath
C/O SONIC AUTOMOTIVE, INC.
4401 COLWICK ROAD
CHARLOTTE, NC 28211		       EVP and CFO  

Signatures

/s/ Heath R. Byrd 04/09/2013
**Signature of Reporting Person Date

Explanation of Responses:

* If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 5(b)(v).
** Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations. See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
(1) Includes 42,098 shares of Class A Common Stock issuable upon conversion of restricted stock units granted by the Compensation Committee of Sonic Automotive, Inc. pursuant to the Sonic Automotive, Inc. 2004 Stock Incentive Plan, 1,911 of which are subject to a one year defined earnings per share performance condition and will vest on March 31, 2014 if the performance condition is met and 40,187 of which are subject to forfeiture based on the satisfaction of performance criteria for fiscal year 2013 and, if the performance criteria are met, will vest in three annual installments, with twenty-five percent (25%) of the shares vesting on March 31, 2014, thirty percent (30%) of the shares vesting on March 22, 2015 and forty-five percent (45%) of the shares vesting on March 22, 2016. Restricted stock units may only be settled in shares of Class A Common Stock.

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