 Sonic Automotive, Inc. 1 Q3 Earnings Review October 25, 2011 Exhibit 99.2 |
 Sonic Automotive, Inc. 2 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 June 30, 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 . |
 Sonic Automotive, Inc. 3 Sonic Automotive Q3 2011 o Quarter in Review o Financial Results o Operations Recap o Summary and Outlook |
 Sonic Automotive, Inc. 4 Overall Results Grow the base business Revenues up 13% New vehicle revenue up 13%; Volume exceeds industry growth Used revenue up 17% F&I revenue up 20% Fixed Operations revenue up 5% SG&A to Gross declined to 78.8% Income from continuing operations up 39% Q3 2011 diluted EPS from continuing operations was $0.33 per share vs $0.25 in prior year period |
 Sonic Automotive, Inc. Third Quarter Results 5 Q3 2011 B/(W) than Q3 2010 $ % Revenue $ 1,993 $ 223 13% Gross Profit $ 303 $ 21 7% Operating Profit $ 54 $ 7 15% Interest & Other $ 22 $ 2 8% Continuing Ops: Profit (after tax) $ 19 $ 5 39% Diluted EPS $ 0.33 $ 0.08 32% SG&A as % of Gross 78.8% 150 bps (amounts in millions, except per share data) Focus on base business is driving growth Double-digit revenue growth continues J3 increasing vehicle shipments |
 Sonic Automotive, Inc. SG&A 150 bps 6 Continue to drive YOY SG&A to Gross % down Controlling expenses and higher gross generation (amounts in millions) Q3 2011 Q3 2010 $ $ Gross Profit $ 303 $ 282 SG&A : Advertising $ 14 $ 13 Compensation 139 132 Rent & Related 31 32 Other 55 49 SG&A Total $ 239 $ 226 % of Gross % of Gross 4.6% 45.9% 10.1% 18.2% 78.8% 4.5% 46.8% 11.5% 17.5% 80.3% Sonic Automotive, Inc. |
 7 (amounts in millions) YTD Q3 2011 Expected Q4 2011 Estimated 2011 Real Estate Acquisitions All Other Cap Ex Subtotal Less: Mortgage Funding Total Cash Used – Cap Ex $ 80 56 $ 136 (54) $ 11 6 $ 17 (15) $ 91 62 $153 (69) Sonic Automotive, Inc. Capital Spending $ 82 $ 2 $ 84 |
 Sonic Automotive, Inc. New Retail Vehicles 8 8.4% 6.9% (2.9%) Sonic Mix Adjusted Industry SAAR Q3 2011 Q3 2010 B/(W) Volume 27,941 25,780 8.4% Selling Price $ 35,997 $ 34,381 4.7% Gross Margin % 6.6% 6.6% 0 bps GPU $ 2,391 $2,267 $124 Gross Profit $ 67 million $ 58 million 14.3% |
 Sonic Automotive, Inc. Used Retail Vehicles 9 * - Includes: used gross + used reconditioning gross + used F&I gross Q3 2011 Q3 2010 B/(W) Retail Volume Used Related Gross* Used to New Ratio $ 78 million 26,608 .95 to 1 22,987 $ 71 million .89 to 1 $ 7 million 15.8% Q2 2009 Q3 2009 Q4 2009 Q1 2010 Q2 2010 Q3 2010 Q4 2010 Q1 2011 Q2 2011 Q3 2011 12% 24% 18% 26% 20% 14% 17% 17% 11% 16% YOY Unit Volume Change 10 Consecutive Quarters of Double-Digit Volume Growth |
 Fixed Operations 10 Q3 2010 Q4 2010 Q1 2011 Q2 2011 Q3 2011 $284 $285 $292 $300 $298 Q3 2010 Q4 2010 Q1 2011 Q2 2011 Q3 2011 $141 $141 $144 $148 $145 Revenue Gross Profit 3% 5% Increase in wholesale parts activity pressured margin rate Customer pay up 4% Overall gross profit up 3% Sonic Automotive, Inc. |
 Sonic Automotive, Inc. 11 Summary Base business continues to grow New vehicle market share continues to increase Used retail vehicle volume continues to grow at double- digit rate Automotive retail industry continues its steady recovery Forecasting a 12.5 – 12.7 million SAAR Expect Japanese brands to continue improvement in Q4 Increasing continuing operations earnings estimate to $1.33 - $1.37 per share for FY 2011 |