 1 Q2 Earnings Review July 26, 2011 Exhibit 99.2 |
 2 Cautionary Notice: 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 used 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, 2010 and our Form 10-Q for period ended March 31, 2011. 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. |
 3 Sonic Automotive Q2 2011 o Quarter in Review o Financial Results o Operations Recap o Summary and Outlook |
 4 Overall Results Grow the base business Revenues up 14% New vehicle revenue up 16.0%; Volume exceeds industry growth Used revenue up 15% F&I revenue up 22% Fixed Operations up 6.0% SG&A to Gross declined to 77.6% Income from continuing operations up 59.1% * Q2 2011 diluted EPS from continuing operations was $0.37 per share, an increase of 54.2% from Q2 2010 * Completed extension of floor plan and revolving credit facilities * Calculated excluding the $7.3M debt extinguishment charge recorded in Q2 2010 |
 (dollars in millions, except per share) B / (W) than Q2 2010 Q2 2011 $ % Revenue 1,968 $ 246 $ 14% Gross Profit 310 27 10% Operating Profit 59 11 23% Non-Floor Plan Interest 18 2 10% Continuing Operations -Profit After Tax 22 $ 13 $ (1) 131% -Diluted EPS 0.37 $ 0.19 $ (1) 106% Discops EPS (0.02) $ - $ Memo: SGA % of Gross 77.6% 230 bps Second Quarter Results (1) Prior year includes an after-tax charge of $4.3 million, or $0.06 per diluted share, from loss on debt repurchases. 5 |
   (dollars in millions) Q1 2010 Q2 2010 Q3 2010 Q4 2010 Q1 2011 Q2 2011 Revenue 1,544 $ 1,722 $ 1,770 $ 1,845 $ 1,839 $ 1,968 $ Gross Profit 266 282 282 285 291 310 SG&A Expense 221 $ 226 $ 226 $ 224 $ 233 $ 240 $ SG&A as % of Gross Profit 83.0% 79.9% 80.3% 78.8% 79.9% 77.6% SG&A Leveraging SG&A Expenses 6 |
 Capital Spending 7 Actual 1st Half 2011 Expected 2nd Half 2011 Expected FY 2011 Facility Improvement 26.6 $ 7.0 $ 33.6 $ Real Estate Acquisitions 75.2 5.0 80.2 Less: Mortgage Funding (54.0) (15.0) (69.0) Net Cash Used - Facility Related 47.8 $ (3.0) $ 44.8 $ IT Capital Spending 3.9 5.8 9.7 Maintenance Cap Ex 7.0 3.0 10.0 Total Cash Used - Cap Ex 58.7 $ 5.8 $ 64.5 $ (amounts in millions) |
 Credit Facility • Extended term: August 15, 2016 maturity (was August 2012) • Increased size: Revolving Credit Facility - $175.0 million ($25.0 million increase) New Vehicle Floorplan Facility - $500.0 million ($179.0 million increase) Used Vehicle Floorplan Facility - $80.0 million ($30.0 million increase) • Improved flexibility to focus on our strategic priorities of reducing non-mortgage debt and owning our property 8 Note: On July 15, 2011, we issued a redemption notice to holders of our 8.625% Notes to redeem $42.9M in aggregate principal of the 8.625% Notes on August 16, 2011. |
 New Retail Vehicles Q2 Q2 (dollars in thousands, except GPU) 2011 2010 B / (W) New Retail Volume 28,367 (1) 24,647 15.1% New Gross Margin 6.8% 6.9% (10) bps New GPU 2,351 $ 2,364 $ (0.6%) New Gross Profit 66,680 $ 58,273 $ F&I Gross Profit - New 34,774 $ 27,913 $ Industry SAAR (millions) 12.1 11.3 7.1% 9 Up 18% Overall: Expect J3 inventory allocations to improve as summer progresses. Incentives: Expect J3 incentives to increase as production resumes. Domestics: Wait and see attitude toward incentives and market share. Demand: Expect SAAR levels to return to pre-disaster levels in late Q3. (1) Sonic new retail volume was 0.9% of U.S. auto unit sales – Source: Bloomberg Financial Markets |
 10 Used Retail Vehicles Q2 Q2 (dollars in thousands, except GPU) 2011 2010 B / (W) % Used Retail Volume 27,141 24,382 11.3% CPO Volume 7,843 8,342 (6.0%) Used GPU 1,458 $ 1,542 $ (5.4%) Used Gross Profit 39,560 $ 37,586 $ 5.3% Used to New Ratio 0.96 0.99 F&I Gross Profit - Used 21,007 $ 17,701 $ 18.7% Total Fixed Ops 147,785 $ 141,804 $ 4.2% All- Time Record |
 Used Volume – Tracking 100 per Store # Stores Averaging 100+ per Month: 9 7 17 21 25 11 |
 Fixed Operations YOY Sales Increase of $15.7M, or 5.5% Gross Margin was 49.3% and Fixed Abs was 88% in Q2 2011 12 $141.8 $140.6 $141.1 $143.9 $147.8 $136 $138 $140 $142 $144 $146 $148 $150 Q2 2010 Q3 2010 Q4 2010 Q1 2011 Q2 2011 Gross $283.8 $283.7 $285.4 $291.8 $299.5 $275 $280 $285 $290 $295 $300 $305 Q2 2010 Q3 2010 Q4 2010 Q1 2011 Q2 2011 Sales All- Time Record All- Time Record |
 13 Summary Base business continues to grow New vehicle market share continues to increase Used retail vehicle volume continues to grow at double-digit rate F&I benefiting from growth in new and used volume Leveraging SG&A as gross profit grows Automotive retail industry continues its steady recovery Still forecasting a 12.5 million SAAR Expect Japanese brands to improve in 2H of Q3 Maintain continuing operations earnings guidance of $1.18 - $1.28 for FY 2011 |