CHARLOTTE, N.C. -

It was a quarter full of records for Sonic Automotive — an assertion that became clear when company management announced Q3 results on Wednesday.

On top of scoring record Q3 income from continuing operations, new retail sales, fixed ops gross profit and more, the company also sold more used retail units in the quarter than ever before.

Sonic sold 30,467 used vehicles in Q3, which is up 10.6 percent year-over-year. Same-store used retail sales came in at 29,173, which is up 8.4 percent from 2014.

Management also pointed out the company retailed 100 pre-owned units per store per month this past quarter, remaining consistent with Q2 results.

Scott Smith, Sonic's chief executive officer, noted, "The overall increase in retail activity and our dedication to provide our customers with an outstanding buying and servicing experience contributed to record results during the quarter. The automotive retail environment continues to expand and present us with opportunities to strengthen and grow our business." 

The group notched all-time record quarterly pre-owned gross profit, as well, which came in at $41.7 million, up 1.2 percent over the prior quarter. Interestingly, gross-profit per-unit for used retail sales came in at $1,370, which is down 8.5 percent year-over-year.

The company continues to see success with its Echo Park stores — which are part of a new used-sales strategy with rooftops near Denver. In Q2, the Echo Park stores retailed 920 pre-owned units, which is up 4.4 percent from the 881 units sold in Q2.

In light of this success, Sonic intends to expand the Echo Park store lineup shortly.

"We are extremely excited about the development of our EchoPark brand," Smith said. "Our EchoPark stores continue to grow, and we expect two additional stores to open in the Denver market in the first half of 2016.  We are in the process of acquiring property in two additional markets as we look to accelerate the EchoPark rollout in the latter part of 2016 and early 2017."

The company also said its One-Sonic-One Experience (OSOE) initiative, which the company calls a customer-centric sales process that is fast and offers transparent, no-negotiation low pricing, is continuing to see growth. Currently, the OSOE is offered in five Sonic-owned dealerships in and around Charlotte, N.C.

"During the quarter, our One Sonic-One Experience stores experienced year-over-year net new-vehicle market share gains,” said Smith. “Our customers love the speed and ease offered by this buying experience."

Jeff Dyke, Sonic’s executive vice president of operations, added, “We are gaining share across all brands in our One Sonic-One Experience stores in Charlotte and should be ready to begin phase I of our technology rollout in the first quarter of 2016.”

Dyke also pointed out the company’s efforts to ramp up its technician count for service and parts in light of the influx of recent recalls is “paying off.”

The stats illustrate this conclusion, as the company experienced record Q3 fixed operations gross profit of $169.7 million, up 9.3 percent year-over-year.

"We continue to make progress on all fronts of our business,” Dyke said. “Our core business is performing well and steps that we have taken to increase inventory levels in pre-owned and our technician count are beginning to pay off.”  

Other key stats from Sonic’s Q3 performance include:

  • Record third quarter net income from continuing operations of $27.1 million, up $3.1 million, or 12.7 percent year-over-year 
  • All-time record quarterly new retail sales of 36,891 units, up 1.6 percent over the prior year quarter
  • All-time quarterly total gross profit of $360.3 million, up 5.5 percent over the prior year quarter.

In another sign of a successful quarter, Sonic also announced its board of directors approved a quarterly dividend of $0.0375 per share payable in cash for stockholders of record on Dec. 15. The dividend will be payable on Jan. 15.

Smith said, "This 50 percent increase in the dividend demonstrates our commitment to return capital to shareholders and our continued confidence in operations and prospects for growth."

Editor’s Note: Stay tuned to future AR Today newsletters for more pre-owned insight into Sonic’s third-quarter performance.