Sonic Automotive (SAH) · Q3 2026

What the report says

North American Vehicle Transaction Signal

Sonic's used-car business is the steadier side. Franchise used sales rose 3.2% across all stores and 0.5% at the stores Sonic owned through both years, while the North American used market fell 3.4%. EchoPark, Sonic's standalone used-car chain, sold about 22% more cars than a year ago in our capture. Counting both, Sonic's used-vehicle revenue in our data rose about 9% to roughly $1.3 billion.

New-vehicle sales fell 2.2% across all stores and 5.4% at the stores Sonic owned through both years, against the market's 3.0% decline; acquired stores held the all-store figure up. The average new car sold for about $60,600 with the final listing price moving closer to sticker price than a year ago.

The risk is the used lot. After setting aside cars listed more than 180 days at the same store as service loaners, used stock rose 15.0%, and the share listed more than 90 days at its selling store rose to 8.2% from 4.8% a year ago. The gap between asking prices and final listed prices widened inside both luxury and mainstream stock, and September used sales fell 5.5% year over year. Gross profit per car, the swing factor for this print, cannot be seen in our data, so we stay neutral.

Full details are in the report.

19 sections · 24 tables · methodology, quality checks and glossary included

Inside