Sonic Automotive is a Fortune 500 company based in Charlotte, North Carolina, and is the fifth largest automotive retailer in the United States as measured by total revenues. The company was founded by O Bruton Smith and completed its initial public offering on the NYSE in 1997.

Sonic Automotive operates in 24 states with more than 100 dealerships representing over 25 different brands of automobiles. The dealerships market new and used cars, replacement parts and vehicle maintenance, as well as collision repair services.

Sonic Automotive was launched as a public company in November 1997 by O Bruton Smith. At the time, the company had 20 stores, representing 15 brands and several hundred employees. The Smith family holds over 30% of the total shares outstanding but has over 80% of the voting power because of a dual-class structure with Super-voting stock.

Sonic ranked 300th on the 2022 Fortune 500 list. The company also is a member of the Russell 2000 Index.

Sonic Automotive owns EchoPark Automotive, a used car dealership chain also based in Charlotte. EchoPark allows customers to look up competitors' prices on mobile devices located throughout the stores.

The first EchoPark location opened in the Thornton area of Denver, Colorado in 2014. A location in Centennial was later opened along with a store in Colorado Springs. In September 2017, EchoPark purchased driversselect, a Dallas area dealership, which is now part of the EchoPark brand. EchoPark Automotive operates in 21 states across the United States with over 40 locations as of September 2021.

EchoPark facilities are constructed with sustainable building technologies and some locations are LEED certified.

In 2001, Sonic made its entrance into the Oklahoma City market with the purchase of Boyd Chevrolet and Steve Bailey Honda.