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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2004

OR

For the transition period from                     to                    

Commission file number 1-13395

SONIC AUTOMOTIVE, INC.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)

(704) 566-2400

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

SECURITIES REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(b) OF THE ACT:

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.    x  Yes    ¨  No

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.  ¨

Indicate by checkmark whether the registrant is an accelerated filer (as defined in Exchange Act Rule 12b-2).    Yes  x    No  ¨

The aggregate market value of the voting common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant was approximately $647,426,293 based upon the closing sales price of the registrant’s Class A common stock on June 30, 2004 of $22.15 per share. As of March 1, 2005 there were 29,573,681 shares of Class A common stock, par value $.01 per share, and 12,029,375 shares of Class B common stock, par value $.01 per share, outstanding.

Documents incorporated by reference. Portions of the registrant’s Proxy Statement for the Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held April 21, 2005 are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Form 10-K.

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FORM 10-K TABLE OF CONTENTS

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This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains numerous “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Litigation Securities Reform Act of 1995. These forward looking statements address our future objectives, plans and goals, as well as our intent, beliefs and current expectations regarding future operating performance, and can generally be identified by words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “foresee” and other similar words or phrases. Specific events addressed by these forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to:

These forward-looking statements are based on our current estimates and assumptions and involve various risks and uncertainties. As a result, you are cautioned that these forward looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and that actual results could differ materially from those projected in these forward looking statements. Factors which may cause actual results to differ materially from our projections include those risks described in Exhibit 99.1 of this Form 10-K and elsewhere in this report, as well as:

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PART I

Sonic Automotive, Inc. was incorporated in Delaware in 1997. We are one of the largest automotive retailers in the United States. As of March 1, 2005, we operated 192 dealership franchises at 159 dealership locations, representing 38 different brands of cars and light trucks, and 40 collision repair centers in 15 states. Each of our dealerships provides comprehensive services including (1) sales of both new and used cars and light trucks, (2) sales of replacement parts and performance of vehicle maintenance, warranty, paint and repair services and (3) arrangement of extended service contracts, financing, insurance, vehicle protection products and other aftermarket products (collectively, “F&I”) for our automotive customers.

The following charts depict the diversity of our sources of revenue and gross profit for the year ended December 31, 2004:

BUSINESS STRATEGY

Further Develop Strategic Markets and Brands.    Our growth strategy is focused on metropolitan markets, predominantly in the Southeast, Southwest, Midwest and California, that on average are experiencing population growth that exceeds the national average. Where practicable, we also seek to acquire franchises that we believe have above average sales prospects. A majority of our dealerships are either luxury or mid-line import brands. For the year ended December 31, 2004, 73% of our total revenue was generated by import/luxury dealerships. We expect this trend toward more import/luxury dealerships to continue in the near future. Our dealership network is geographically organized into divisional and regional dealership groups. As of December 31, 2004, we operated dealerships in the following geographic areas:

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During 2004, we acquired 11 dealerships, representing 13 franchises, disposed of 4 dealerships, representing 4 franchises, and terminated 3 franchises. Our 2004 acquisitions were limited to acquisitions that were in the negotiation stage at the end of 2003. We expect to continue to limit our acquisition activity to approximately 10% of annual revenues each year. This will allow us to continue to reduce our leverage and maintain liquidity for our dividend and share repurchase activities and also allow our management infrastructure to focus on improving operating performance and integrating acquired dealerships. For additional discussion regarding our reduced growth pace and the anticipated resulting effect on our liquidity, see “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources.”

We generally seek to acquire larger, well-managed dealerships or multiple franchise dealership groups located in metropolitan or high growth suburban markets (“hub” acquisitions). We also look to acquire single franchise dealerships that will allow us to capitalize upon professional management practices and provide greater breadth of products and services in our existing markets (“spoke” acquisitions). We also intend to acquire dealerships that have under performed the industry average but represent attractive franchises or have attractive locations that would immediately benefit from our professional management practices.

The automotive retailing industry remains highly fragmented and we believe that further consolidation is likely. We believe that attractive acquisition opportunities continue to exist for dealership groups with the capital and experience to identify, acquire and professionally manage dealerships.

Increase Sales of Higher Margin Products and Services.    We continue to pursue opportunities to increase our sales of higher-margin products and services by expanding the following:

Finance, Insurance and Other Aftermarket Products:    Each sale of a new or used vehicle provides us with an opportunity to earn financing fees, insurance commissions and to sell extended service contracts, vehicle protection products and other aftermarket products. We currently offer a wide range of nonrecourse financing, leasing, vehicle protection products, other aftermarket products, service contracts and insurance products to our customers. We believe there are opportunities at acquired dealerships to increase earnings from the sale of finance, vehicle protection products, other aftermarket products, insurance and service contracts. We are continuing to emphasize menu-selling techniques and other best practices to increase our sales of extended service contracts.

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Rate spread is another term for the commission earned by our dealerships for arranging vehicle financing for customers. The amount of the commission could be zero, a flat fee or an actual spread between the interest rate charged to the customer and the interest rate provided by the direct financing source (bank, credit union or manufacturers’ captive finance company). In 2004, we estimate that our average rate spread on finance contracts was 1.2%. In 2004, including credit unions, over 23% of our financings were for no fee or a flat dollar fee to our dealerships. In 2002, we established caps on the amount of potential rate spread our dealerships could earn with all finance sources. We believe the rate spread we earn for arranging financing represents value to the customer because of the following:

Parts, Service & Repair (“Fixed Operations”):    Each of our dealerships offers a fully integrated service and parts department. Manufacturers permit warranty work to be performed only at franchised dealerships. As a result, franchised dealerships are uniquely qualified to perform work covered by manufacturer warranties on increasingly complex vehicles. We believe we can continue to grow our profitable parts and service business by using our access to capital to increase service capacity, investing in sophisticated equipment and well trained technicians, using variable rate pricing structures, focusing on customer service and efficiently managing our parts inventory. In addition, we believe our emphasis on selling extended service contracts will drive further service and parts business in our dealerships as we increase the potential to retain a current parts and service customer beyond the term of the standard manufacturer warranty period.

We operated collision repair centers at 40 locations at March 1, 2005. We believe we can improve these operations by capitalizing on the synergies between our franchised dealerships and our collision repair centers. These synergies include access to customer networks, ready access to parts and the ability to share employees.

Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles.    Various manufacturers provide franchised dealers the opportunity to sell certified pre-owned (“CPO”) vehicles. This certification process extends the standard manufacturer warranty on the particular vehicle. We typically earn higher revenues and gross margins on CPO vehicles compared to non-certified vehicles. We also believe the extended manufacturer warranty increases our potential to retain the pre-owned purchaser as a future parts and service customer. Since CPO warranty work can only be performed at franchised dealerships, we believe the used vehicle business will become more clearly segmented and CPO sales and similar products will become a larger share of used vehicle sales.

Emphasize Expense Control.    We continually focus on controlling expenses and expanding margins at the dealerships we acquire and integrate into our organization. We manage these costs, such as advertising and variable compensation expenses, so that they are generally related to vehicle sales and can be adjusted in response to changes in vehicle sales volume. Salespersons, sales managers, service managers, parts managers, service advisors, service technicians and the majority of other non-clerical dealership personnel are paid either a commission or a modest salary plus commissions. In addition, dealership management compensation is tied to individual dealership profitability. We believe we can further manage these types of costs through best practices, standardization of compensation plans, controlled oversight and accountability and centralized processing systems.

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Train, Develop and Motivate Qualified Management.    We believe that our well-trained dealership personnel are key to our long-term prospects. We require all of our employees, from service technicians to regional vice presidents, to participate in our in-house training programs each year. Our Sonic Dealer Academy includes training modules not only for our dealer operators but also for general sales managers and Fixed Operations managers. Our training programs repeatedly emphasize our company’s core philosophy of “Take The High Road,” stressing the importance of complying with applicable laws and regulations and our company’s code of business conduct and ethics. We believe that this training and organizational structure provides high-level supervision over the dealerships, accurate financial reporting and the ability to maintain effective controls as we expand. In order to motivate management, we employ an incentive-based compensation program for each officer, vice president and dealer operator, with additional incentives based on the performance of individual profit centers. We believe that this organizational structure, together with the opportunity for promotion within our large organization, serves as a strong motivation for our employees.

Achieve High Levels of Customer Satisfaction.    We focus on maintaining high levels of customer satisfaction. Our personalized sales process is designed to satisfy customers by providing high-quality vehicles in a positive, “consumer friendly” buying environment. Several manufacturers offer specific financial incentives on a per vehicle basis if certain Customer Satisfaction Index (“CSI”) levels (which vary by manufacturer) are achieved by a dealer. In addition, all manufacturers consider CSI scores in approving acquisitions. In order to keep management focused on customer satisfaction, we include CSI results as a component of our incentive-based compensation programs. Based on data from our manufacturers, for the year ended December 31, 2004, 70.4% and 71.1% of our dealerships exceeded the national average for customer satisfaction in sales and service, respectively.

Relationships with Manufacturers

Each of our dealerships operates under a separate franchise or dealer agreement that governs the relationship between the dealership and the manufacturer. In general, each dealer agreement specifies the location of the dealership for the sale of vehicles and for the performance of certain approved services in a specified market area. The designation of such areas generally does not guarantee exclusivity within a specified territory. In addition, most manufacturers allocate vehicles on a “turn and earn” basis that rewards high volume. A dealer agreement requires the dealer to meet specified standards regarding showrooms, the facilities and equipment for servicing vehicles, inventories, minimum net working capital, personnel training and other aspects of the business. The dealer agreement with each dealership also gives the related manufacturer the right to approve the dealership’s general manager and any material change in management or ownership of the dealership. Each manufacturer may terminate a dealer agreement under certain circumstances, such as a change in control of the dealership without manufacturer approval, the impairment of the reputation or financial condition of the dealership, the death, removal or withdrawal of the dealer operator, the conviction of the dealership or the dealership’s owner or dealer operator of certain crimes, the failure to adequately operate the dealership or maintain wholesale financing arrangements, insolvency or bankruptcy of the dealership or a material breach of other provisions of the dealer agreement.

Many automobile manufacturers have developed policies regarding public ownership of dealerships, and we also have entered into framework agreements with most major vehicle manufacturers. To the extent that new or amended manufacturer policies or our framework agreements with manufacturers restrict the number of dealerships which may be owned by us, or the transferability of our common stock, such policies could have a material adverse effect on us. We believe that we will be able to renew at expiration substantially all of our existing franchise and dealer agreements. Policies implemented by manufacturers, either unilaterally or composed within framework agreements that we have entered into with many major vehicle manufacturers, include the following restrictions:

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Many states have placed limitations upon manufacturers’ and distributors’ ability to sell new motor vehicles directly to customers in their respective states in an effort to protect dealers from practices they believe constitute unfair competition. In general, these statutes make it unlawful for a manufacturer or distributor to compete with a new motor vehicle dealer in the same brand operating under an agreement or franchise from the manufacturer or distributor in the relevant market area. Certain states, such as Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia, limit the amount of time that a manufacturer may temporarily operate a dealership.

In addition, all of the states in which our dealerships currently do business require manufacturers to show “good cause” for terminating or failing to renew a dealer’s franchise agreement. Further, each of the states provides some method for dealers to challenge manufacturers’ attempts to establish dealerships of the same line-make in their relevant market area.

Competition

The retail automotive industry is highly competitive. Depending on the geographic market, we compete both with dealers offering the same brands and product lines as ours and dealers offering other manufacturers’ vehicles. We also compete for vehicle sales with auto brokers and leasing companies, and with internet companies that provide customer referrals to other dealerships or who broker vehicle sales between customers and other dealerships. We compete with small, local dealerships and with large multi-franchise auto dealerships.

We believe that the principal competitive factors in vehicle sales are the marketing campaigns conducted by manufacturers, the ability of dealerships to offer a wide selection of the most popular vehicles, the location of dealerships, pricing (including manufacturer rebates and other special offers) and the quality of customer service. Other competitive factors include customer preference for makes of automobiles and manufacturer warranties.

In addition to competition for vehicle sales, we also compete with other auto dealers, service stores, auto parts retailers and independent mechanics in providing parts and service. We believe that the principal competitive factors in parts and service sales are price, the use of factory-approved replacement parts, factory-trained technicians, the familiarity with a dealer’s makes and models and the quality of customer service. A number of regional and national chains offer selected parts and service at prices that may be lower than our prices.

In arranging or providing financing for our customers’ vehicle purchases, we compete with a broad range of financial institutions. In addition, financial institutions are now offering F&I products through the Internet, which may reduce our profits on these items. We believe that the principal competitive factors in providing financing are convenience, interest rates and contract terms.

Our success depends, in part, on national and regional automobile-buying trends, local and regional economic factors and other regional competitive pressures. Conditions and competitive pressures affecting the markets in which we operate, such as price-cutting by dealers in these areas, or in any new markets we enter, could adversely affect us, although the retail automobile industry as a whole might not be affected.

Governmental Regulations and Environmental Matters

Numerous federal and state regulations govern our business of marketing, selling, financing and servicing automobiles. We are also subject to laws and regulations relating to business corporations generally.

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Under the laws of the states in which we currently operate as well as the laws of other states into which we may expand, we must obtain a license in order to establish, operate or relocate a dealership or operate an automotive repair service. These laws also regulate our conduct of business, including our sales, operating, advertising, financing and employment practices. These laws also include federal and state wage-hour, anti-discrimination and other employment practices laws.

Our financing activities with customers are subject to federal truth-in-lending, consumer privacy, consumer leasing and equal credit opportunity laws and regulations as well as state and local motor vehicle finance laws, installment finance laws, usury laws and other installment sales laws. Some states regulate finance fees and charges that may be paid as a result of vehicle sales.

Federal, state and local environmental regulations, including regulations governing air and water quality, the clean-up of contaminated property and the use, storage, handling, recycling and disposal of gasoline, oil and other materials, also apply to us and our dealership properties.

We believe that we comply in all material respects with the laws affecting our business. However, claims arising out of actual or alleged violations of laws may be asserted against us or our dealerships by individuals or governmental entities, and may expose us to significant damages or other penalties, including possible suspension or revocation of our licenses to conduct dealership operations and fines.

As with automobile dealerships generally, and service, parts and body shop operations in particular, our business involves the use, storage, handling and contracting for recycling or disposal of hazardous or toxic substances or wastes and other environmentally sensitive materials. Our business also involves the past and current operation and/or removal of above ground and underground storage tanks containing such substances or wastes. Accordingly, we are subject to regulation by federal, state and local authorities that establish health and environmental quality standards, provide for liability related to those standards, and in certain circumstances provide penalties for violations of those standards. We are also subject to laws, ordinances and regulations governing remediation of contamination at facilities we own or operate or to which we send hazardous or toxic substances or wastes for treatment, recycling or disposal.

We do not have any known material environmental liabilities and we believe that compliance with environmental laws and regulations will not, individually or in the aggregate, have a material adverse effect on our results of operations or financial condition. However, soil and groundwater contamination is known to exist at certain properties used by us. Further, environmental laws and regulations are complex and subject to frequent change. In addition, in connection with our acquisitions, it is possible that we will assume or become subject to new or unforeseen environmental costs or liabilities, some of which may be material. We cannot assure you that compliance with current or amended, or new or more stringent, laws or regulations, stricter interpretations of existing laws or the future discovery of environmental conditions will not require additional expenditures by us, or that such expenditures will not be material.

Executive Officers of the Registrant

The executive officers are elected annually by, and serve at the discretion of, our Board of Directors. Our executive officers as of the date of this Form 10-K, are as follows:

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O. Bruton Smith, 78, is our Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and a director and has served as such since our organization in January 1997, and he currently is a director and executive officer of many of our subsidiaries. Mr. Smith has worked in the retail automobile industry since 1966. Mr. Smith is also the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, a director and controlling stockholder of Speedway Motorsports, Inc. (“SMI”). SMI is a public company traded on the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”). Among other things, SMI owns and operates the following NASCAR racetracks: Atlanta Motor Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, Lowe’s Motor Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Infineon Raceway and Texas Motor Speedway. He is also an executive officer or a director of most of SMI’s operating subsidiaries.

B. Scott Smith, 37, is our Vice Chairman and Chief Strategic Officer. Prior to his appointment as Vice Chairman and Chief Strategic Officer in October 2002, Mr. Smith was President and Chief Operating Officer from April 1997 until October 2002. Mr. Smith has been a director of our company since our organization in January 1997. Mr. Smith also serves as a director and executive officer of many of our subsidiaries. Mr. Smith, who is the son of O. Bruton Smith, has been an executive officer of Town & Country Ford since 1993, and was a minority owner of both Town & Country Ford and Fort Mill Ford before our acquisition of these dealerships in 1997. Mr. Smith became the General Manager of Town & Country Ford in November 1992 where he remained until his appointment as President and Chief Operating Officer in April 1997. Mr. Smith has over eighteen years experience in the automobile dealership industry.

Jeffrey C. Rachor, 43, is our President and Chief Operating Officer. Prior to his promotion to President in April 2004, Mr. Rachor served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, a position he had held with our company since October 2002. In May 1999, Mr. Rachor was appointed a director of our company and in November 1999 promoted to executive officer status as Executive Vice President of Retail Operations. He originally joined us as the Regional Vice President—Mid-South Region upon our 1997 acquisition of dealerships in Chattanooga, Tennessee and was subsequently promoted to Vice President of Retail Operations in September 1998 and again promoted to Executive Vice President – Retail Operations in November 1999. Mr. Rachor has over nineteen years of experience in automobile retailing and was the Chief Operating Officer of the Chattanooga dealerships from 1989 until their acquisition by us in 1997.

E. Lee Wyatt, Jr., 52, is our Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer. In April 2004, Mr. Wyatt was promoted to the position of Executive Vice President adding to his responsibility of Chief Financial Officer. Prior to joining us in March 2003, he served for four and one-half years as Vice President of Administration and Chief Financial Officer for Sealy, Inc., a $1.2 billion, privately-owned company with public reporting requirements. Sealy, Inc. is a market leader in the bedding industry with global manufacturing and licensing operations. He served as a member of Sealy, Inc.’s senior management team, and was responsible for all aspects of company finances as well as investor relations, information technology, and purchasing. Prior to Sealy, Inc., Mr. Wyatt was Senior Vice President of Finance and Administration for the wholesale and distribution division of Brown Shoe Company.

Mark J. Iuppenlatz, 45, is our Executive Vice President of Corporate Development. In April 2004, Mr. Iuppenlatz was promoted to Executive Vice President from Senior Vice President, a position which he had held since May 2002. Prior to May 2002, he served as our Vice President of Corporate Development from August 1999. Before joining us, Mr. Iuppenlatz served as the Executive Vice President — Acquisitions and Chief Operating Officer of Mar Mar Realty Trust (“MMRT”), a real estate investment trust specializing in sale/leaseback financing of automotive-related real estate, from September 1998 to August 1999. From 1996 to September 1998, Mr. Iuppenlatz was employed by Brookdale Living Communities, Inc., a company that owns, operates, develops and manages luxury senior housing communities, where he was responsible for the company’s development operations. From 1994 to 1996, he served as Vice President of Schlotzky’s, Inc., a publicly traded restaurant chain. From 1991 to 1994, Mr. Iuppenlatz served in Spain as the director of marketing and the assistant director of development for Kepro S.A., a real estate development company.

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Employees

As of March 1, 2005, we employed approximately 11,600 people. We believe that many dealerships in the retail automobile industry have difficulty in attracting and retaining qualified personnel for a number of reasons, including the historical inability of dealerships to provide employees with a liquid freely-tradeable equity interest in the profitability of the dealership. We provide certain executive officers, managers and other employees with stock options and all employees with a stock purchase plan. We believe this type of freely-tradeable equity incentive is attractive to our existing and prospective employees.

We believe that our relationships with our employees are good. Approximately 234 of our employees, primarily service technicians in our Northern California markets, are represented by a labor union. Because of our dependence on the manufacturers, however, we may be affected by labor strikes, work slowdowns and walkouts at the manufacturer’s manufacturing facilities.

Company Information

Our website is located at www.sonicautomotive.com. Our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and all amendments to those reports, as well as proxy statements and other information we file with, or furnish to, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) are available free of charge on our website. We make these documents available as soon as reasonably practicable after we file them with, or furnish them to, the SEC. Except as otherwise stated in these documents, the information contained on our website or available by hyperlink from our website is not incorporated into this Annual Report on Form 10-K or other documents we file with, or furnish to, the SEC.

Our principal executive offices are located at 6415 Idlewild Road, Suite 109, Charlotte, North Carolina 28212, and our telephone number is (704) 566-2400.

Our dealerships are generally located along major U.S. or interstate highways. One of the principal factors we consider in evaluating an acquisition candidate is its location. We prefer to acquire dealerships located along major thoroughfares, which can be easily visited by prospective customers.

We lease substantially all of the properties utilized by our dealership operations from affiliates of Capital Automotive REIT (“CARS”) and other individuals and entities. We believe that our facilities are adequate for our current needs.

Under the terms of our franchise agreements, each of our dealerships must maintain an appropriate appearance and design of its dealership facility and is restricted in its ability to relocate.

We are involved, and expect to continue to be involved, in numerous legal proceedings arising in the ordinary course of our business, including litigation with customers, employment related lawsuits, contractual disputes, class actions, purported class actions and actions brought by governmental authorities.

Several of our Texas dealership subsidiaries have been named in three class action lawsuits against the Texas Automobile Dealers Association (“TADA”) and new vehicle dealerships in Texas that are members of the TADA. Approximately 630 Texas dealerships are named as defendants in two of the actions, and approximately 700 dealerships are named as defendants in the other action. The three actions allege that since 1994, Texas automobile dealerships have deceived customers with respect to a vehicle inventory tax and violated federal antitrust and other laws. In April 2002, in two of these actions, the Texas state courts each certified a class of consumers on whose behalf the actions would proceed. The Texas Court of Appeals has affirmed the trial court’s

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order of class certification in the state actions, and the Texas Supreme Court issued an order for the second time in September 2004 stating that it would not hear the merits of the defendants’ appeal on class certification. The federal trial court conditionally certified a class of consumers in the federal antitrust case, but on appeal by the defendant dealerships, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed the certification of the plaintiff class in October 2004 and remanded the case back to the federal trial court for further proceedings not inconsistent with the Fifth Circuit’s ruling. The plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit are seeking to have the U.S. Supreme Court hear an appeal of the Fifth Circuit’s ruling that reversed the federal trial court’s class certification order.

If the TADA matters are not settled, we and our defendant dealership subsidiaries intend to vigorously defend ourselves and assert available defenses. In addition, we may have rights of indemnification with respect to certain aspects of the TADA matters. However, an adverse resolution of the TADA matters may result in the payment of significant costs and damages, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows and prospects.

In addition to the TADA matters described above, we are also involved in numerous other legal proceedings arising out of the conduct of our business. We do not believe that the ultimate resolution of these legal proceedings will have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows or prospects. However, the results of these legal proceedings cannot be predicted with certainty, and an unfavorable resolution of one or more of these legal proceedings could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows and prospects.

Not applicable.

PART II

Our Class A common stock is currently traded on the NYSE under the symbol “SAH.” Our Class B Common Stock is not traded on a public market.

As of March 1, 2005, there were 29,573,681 shares of Sonic’s Class A common stock and 12,029,375 shares of our Class B common stock outstanding. As of March 1, 2005, there were 94 record holders of the Class A common stock and three record holders of the Class B common stock. As of March 1, 2005, the closing stock price for the Class A common stock was $22.49.

Our Board of Directors approved four quarterly cash dividends totaling $0.44 per share during 2004. During 2003, our Board of Directors approved two quarterly dividends totaling $0.20 per share. Our Board of Directors has also approved a dividend of $0.12 per share for shareholders of record on March 15, 2005 which will be paid on April 15, 2005.

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The following table sets forth the high and low closing sales prices for Sonic’s Class A common stock for each calendar quarter during the periods indicated as reported by the NYSE Composite Tape.

During 2004, all sales of our equity securities were registered under the Securities Act.

Issuer Repurchases of Equity Securities

We did not repurchase any shares of our Class A Common Stock during the quarter ended December 31, 2004. We currently have approximately $32.8 million of authorization remaining under the publicly announced repurchase authorizations adopted by our Board of Directors. These repurchase authorizations occurred as follows:

This selected consolidated financial data should be read in conjunction with “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and the consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this Form 10-K.

We have accounted for all of our dealership acquisitions using the purchase method of accounting and, as a result, we do not include in our consolidated financial statements the results of operations of these dealerships prior to the date we acquired them. Our selected consolidated financial data reflect the results of operations and financial positions of each of our dealerships acquired prior to December 31, 2004. As a result of the effects of our acquisitions and other potential factors in the future, the historical consolidated financial information described in selected consolidated financial data is not necessarily indicative of the results of our operations and financial position in the future or the results of operations and financial position that would have resulted had such acquisitions occurred at the beginning of the periods presented in the selected consolidated financial data.

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The following discussion and analysis of the results of operations and financial condition should be read in conjunction with the Sonic Automotive, Inc. and Subsidiaries Consolidated Financial Statements and the related notes thereto appearing elsewhere in this report on Form 10-K.

Overview

We are one of the largest automotive retailers in the United States. As of March 1, 2005 we operated 192 dealership franchises, representing 38 different brands of cars and light trucks, at 159 locations and 40 collision repair centers in 15 states. Our dealerships provide comprehensive services including sales of both new and used cars and light trucks, sales of replacement parts, performance of vehicle maintenance, manufacturer warranty repairs, paint and collision repair services, and arrangement of extended service contracts, financing, insurance, vehicle protection products and other aftermarket products for our customers. In addition, although vehicle sales are cyclical and are affected by many factors, including general economic conditions, consumer confidence, levels of discretionary personal income, interest rates and available credit, our parts, service and collision repair services are not closely tied to vehicle sales and are not as dependent upon near-term sales volume. As a result, we believe the diversity of these products and services reduces the risk of periodic economic downturns.

The automobile industry’s total amount of new vehicles sold increased by 1.5% to 16.9 million vehicles in 2004 from 16.6 million vehicles in 2003. This was the first annual increase in industry sales since 2000. Many

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factors such as brand and geographic concentrations have caused our past results to differ from the industry’s total amount of new vehicles sold. In 2004, our import stores performance fell short of the industry’s 5.6% import unit sales growth and our domestic stores underperformed the industry’s domestic sales contraction of 1.2%.

The following table depicts the breakdown of our new vehicle revenues by brand for each of the past three years:

We sell similar products and services that exhibit similar economic characteristics, use similar processes in selling our products and services and sell our products and services to similar classes of customers. As a result of this and the way we manage our business, we have aggregated our operating segments into a single segment for purposes of reporting financial condition and results of operations.

In the ordinary course of business we evaluate our dealership franchises for possible disposition based on various performance criteria. During the year ended December 31, 2004, we sold 4 franchises, terminated 3 franchises, and had approved, but not completed, the disposition of 24 additional franchises. These franchises are generally franchises with unprofitable operations. We believe the disposition of these dealerships will allow us to focus our management attention on those remaining stores with the highest potential return on investment.

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Use of Estimates and Critical Accounting Policies

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Critical accounting policies are those that are both most important to the portrayal of our financial position and results of operations and require the most subjective and complex judgments. The following is a discussion of what we believe are our critical accounting policies and estimates. See Note 1 to our consolidated financial statements for additional discussion regarding our accounting policies.

Finance, Insurance and Service Contracts—We arrange financing for customers through various financial institutions and receive a commission from the lender either in a flat fee amount or in an amount equal to the difference between the actual interest rates charged to customers and the predetermined base rates set by the financing institution. We also receive commissions from the sale of various insurance contracts and non-recourse third party extended service contracts to customers. Under these contracts, the applicable manufacturer or third party warranty company is directly liable for all warranties provided within the contract.

In the event a customer terminates a financing, insurance or extended service contract prior to the original termination date, we may be required to return a portion of the commission revenue originally recorded to the third party provider (“chargebacks”). The commission revenue for the sale of these products and services is recorded net of estimated chargebacks at the time of sale. Our estimate of future chargebacks is established based on our historical chargeback rates, termination provisions of the applicable contracts and industry data. While chargeback rates vary depending on the type of contract sold, a 100 basis point change in the estimated chargeback rates used in determining our estimates of future chargebacks would have changed our estimated reserve for chargebacks at December 31, 2004 by $2.7 million. Our estimate of chargebacks ($17.8 million as of December 31, 2004) is influenced by early contract termination events such as vehicle repossessions, refinancings and early pay-off. If these factors change, the resulting impact is a change in our estimate for chargebacks. During the fourth quarter of 2004, we recorded a charge of $3.8 million relating to finance, insurance and extended service contracts as a result of a change in estimates for chargeback rates.

Goodwill—Goodwill is tested for impairment at least annually, or more frequently when events or circumstances indicate that impairment might have occurred. Based on criteria established by the applicable accounting pronouncements, we allocate the carrying value of goodwill and test it for impairment based on our geographic divisions. The $1,065.2 million of goodwill on our balance sheet, including approximately $8.3 million classified in assets held for sale, at December 31, 2004 is allocated to the following geographic divisions (dollars in millions):

In evaluating goodwill for impairment, we compare the carrying value of the goodwill allocated to each division to the fair value of the underlying dealerships in each division. This represents the first step of the impairment test. If the fair value of a division is less than the carrying value of the goodwill allocated to that division, we are then required to proceed to the second step of the impairment test. The second step involves allocating the calculated fair value to all of the assets of the respective division as if the calculated fair value was the purchase price of the business combination. This allocation would include assigning value to any previously unrecognized identifiable assets which means the fair value that would be allocated to goodwill is significantly reduced. (See discussion regarding franchise agreements acquired prior to July 1, 2001 in Note 1 to our

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consolidated financial statements). We then compare the value of the goodwill resulting from this allocation process to the carrying value of the goodwill in the respective division with the difference representing the amount of impairment.

We use several assumptions and various fair value approaches in estimating the fair value of the goodwill in each division. These assumptions and approaches include: an earnings multiple for private dealership valuations (as determined by the historical multiple paid for dealerships we have purchased) applied to actual earnings; an earnings multiple for public consolidators in our peer group applied to actual earnings; and a discounted cash flow utilizing estimated future earnings and our weighted average cost of capital. These approaches are blended to arrive at a fair value of goodwill for each division.

At December 31, 2004 (the date of our latest impairment test), the fair value of each of our divisions exceeded the carrying value of the goodwill allocated to them (step one of the impairment test). As a result, we were not required to conduct the second step of the impairment test described above, and we recognized no impairment of the carrying value of our goodwill on our balance sheet at December 31, 2004.

However, if in future periods we determine that the fair value of the goodwill allocated to one or more of our divisions is less than the carrying value of the goodwill allocated to such division(s), we believe that application of the second step of the impairment test would result in a substantial impairment charge to the goodwill allocated to such division(s) and the amount of such impairment charge would likely be materially adverse to our consolidated operating results, financial position and cash flows.

Insurance Reserves—We have various self-insured and high deductible insurance programs which require us to make estimates in determining the ultimate liability we may incur for claims arising under these programs. These insurance reserves are estimated by management using actuarial evaluations based on historical claims experience, claims processing procedures, medical cost trends and, in certain cases, a discount factor. We estimate the ultimate liability under these programs is between $20.6 million and $22.9 million. At December 31, 2004, we had $21.5 million reserved for such programs. We used an experience modification factor in estimating reserves for workers’ compensation claims of 0.58. A change of five basis points in this factor would change the reserve by $0.7 million. We used a discount rate of 3.0% to calculate the present value of our estimated workers’ compensation claims. A change of 100 basis points in the discount rate would change the reserve by $0.3 million. A discount rate of 3.0% was used to calculate the present value of our general liability claim reserves. A change of 100 basis points in the discount rate would have changed the reserve by $0.2 million.

Legal Proceedings—We are involved, and will continue to be involved, in numerous legal proceedings arising in the ordinary course of our business, including litigation with customers, employment related lawsuits, contractual disputes, class actions, purported class actions and actions brought by governmental authorities. During 2004 we recorded an additional $2.9 million in legal reserves. Currently, with the exception of the TADA litigation discussed in “Item 3: Legal Proceedings” herein, no legal proceedings are pending against or involve us that, in the opinion of management, could reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. However, the results of legal proceedings cannot be predicted with certainty, and an unfavorable resolution of one or more of these proceedings could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows and prospects.

Classification of Franchises in Continuing and Discontinued Operations—We classify the results from operations of our continuing and discontinued operations in our consolidated statements of income based on the provisions of SFAS No. 144. Many of these provisions involve judgment in determining whether a franchise will be reported as continuing or discontinued operations. Such judgments include whether a franchise will be sold or terminated, the period required to complete the disposition and the likelihood of changes to a plan for sale. If in future periods we determine that a franchise should be either reclassified from continuing operations to discontinued operations or from discontinued operations to continuing operations, previously reported consolidated statements of income may be reclassified in order to reflect the current classification.

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Income Taxes—As a matter of course, we are regularly audited by various taxing authorities and from time to time, these audits result in proposed assessments where the ultimate resolution may result in us owing additional taxes. We believe that our tax positions comply in all material respects with applicable tax law and that we have adequately provided for any reasonably foreseeable outcome related to these matters. Included in other accrued liabilities at December 31, 2003 and 2004 are $2.9 million in reserves that we have provided for these matters.

We have $8.3 million in deferred tax assets related to state net operating loss carryforwards that will expire between 2012 and 2024. Management reviews these carryforward positions, the time remaining until expiration and other opportunities to utilize these carryforwards in making an assessment as to whether it is more likely than not that these carryforwards will be utilized. Based on our judgment, we have not recorded a valuation allowance because it is more likely than not that taxable income for these states will be sufficient to realize the benefits of the associated deferred tax assets. However, the results of future operations, regulatory framework of these taxing authorities and other related matters cannot be predicted with certainty. Therefore, actual utilization of the losses which created these deferred tax assets which differs from the assumptions used in the development of our judgment could result in a charge that will be material to our consolidated operating results, financial position and cash flows.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In September 2004, the EITF reached a consensus on Issue No. 04-8, “Accounting Issues Related to Certain Features of Contingently Convertible Debt and the Effect on Diluted Earnings per Share.” Issue No. 04-8 requires issuers of contingently convertible securities to include the dilutive effect of these securities in the calculation of dilutive weighted average shares outstanding, regardless of whether conversion is likely, starting with periods ending after December 15, 2004. Issue No. 04-8 also requires retroactive application to all prior periods for which contingently convertible securities were outstanding. We have adopted the conclusion of Issue No. 04-8 and have determined the impact on our consolidated diluted earnings per share using the “if-converted method” to be a reduction of $0.04, and $0.03 for diluted net income per share for the years ended December 31, 2002 and 2004, respectively, while there was no impact for the year ended December 31, 2003.

In December 2004, the FASB issued SFAS No. 123R, “Share-Based Payment” which replaces SFAS No. 123, Accounting for Stock-Based Compensation, and supercedes APB 25, Accounting for Stock Issued to Employees. SFAS No. 123R requires a public entity to measure the cost of employee services received in exchange for an award of equity instruments based on the grant-date fair value of the award. That cost will be recognized over the period during which an employee is required to provide service in exchange for the award (usually the vesting period). Tax benefits associated with share-based payments will be recognized as an addition to paid-in capital. Cash retained as a result of these tax benefits will be presented in the statement of cash flows as financing cash inflows. We are currently evaluating the provisions of SFAS No. 123R and have not determined the impact on our consolidated operating results, financial position and cash flows.

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Results of Operations

The following table summarizes the percentages of total revenues represented by certain items reflected in our Consolidated Statements of Income.

During the year ended December 31, 2004, we sold 4 franchises, terminated 3 franchises, and had approved, but not completed, the disposition of 24 additional franchises. The results of operations of these dealerships, including gains or losses on disposition, have been included in discontinued operations on the accompanying Consolidated Statements of Income for all periods presented. In addition to these dispositions, during the years ended December 31, 2003 and 2002, we disposed of 18 and 16 franchises, respectively.

Annual “same store” results of operations represent the aggregate of the same store results for each of the four quarters in that year. Same store results for each quarter include dealerships that were owned and operated for the entire quarter in both periods. Unless otherwise noted, our discussion of the Results of Operations is on a same store basis.

New Vehicles

New vehicle revenues include both the sale and lease of new vehicles, as well as the sale of fleet vehicles. New vehicle revenues are highly dependent on manufacturer incentives, which vary from cash-back incentives to low interest rate financing. New vehicle revenues are also dependent on manufacturers for adequate vehicle allocations to meet customer demands.

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The automobile manufacturing industry is cyclical and historically has experienced periodic downturns characterized by oversupply and weak demand. As an automotive retailer, we seek to mitigate the effects of this cyclicality by maintaining a diverse mix of domestic and import branded dealerships. Our brand diversity allows us to offer a broad range of products at a wide range of prices from lower priced, or economy vehicles, to luxury vehicles. We believe that this diversity reduces the risk of changes in customer preferences, product supply shortages and aging products. For the year ended December 31, 2004, 71.6% of our total new vehicle revenue was generated by import and luxury dealerships compared to 71.1% for 2003. We expect this trend toward more import and domestic luxury dealerships to continue. We believe demographic and other trends favor luxury and near-luxury brands and expect our acquisition activity in the future to concentrate primarily, but not completely, on these brands.

We expect that industry-wide new vehicle sales will continue their overall long-term trend of growing modestly faster than population growth after considering the impact of normal business cycles. We also believe the trend toward ownership of more vehicles per household will continue.

Our same store new vehicle unit sales decline in 2004 was driven by import dealerships decreases of 4,539 units, or 5.1%, and domestic dealership decreases of 2,681 units, or 4.6%, as compared to 2003. Our Toyota dealerships declined 2,586 units, or 11.5%, compared to 2003 due to increased competition at several of our locations and extremely high unit volume in 2003 due to a strategic decision in 2003 to increase our market share at several of our key Toyota dealerships. Our Honda dealerships decreased 2,922 units, or 9.8%, which was primarily attributed to turnover in dealership management, increased competition in key markets and high sales volume in 2003. Our top performing import brands for 2004 were BMW, Acura and Hyundai which had a combined increase of 1,363 units, or 8.7%. The majority of the domestic dealership declines were from our Chrysler and Ford dealerships (down 14.3% and 12.7%, respectively). Our Ford dealerships experienced above average market declines and continued to show lower sales volumes during the current year. We believe this decline is in part attributed to stronger competition with GM which is offering attractive incentive packages. Our GM, excluding Cadillac, dealerships increased 1,009 units, or 5.2%, for the year, and was our only domestic brand that had an increase in same store units sold for 2004.

On a geographic basis, our strongest performing regions were North Los Angeles (up 947 units, or 13.4%) and Birmingham/Tennessee (up 874 units, or 12.2%), both of which have a high concentration of import and/or luxury brands. These regions offset some significant decreases in the unit sales of other regions with concentrations of domestic dealerships, the most notable being Ohio (down 1,063, or 16.5%), Dallas (down 1,657, or 10.4%) and Houston (down 885, or 4.7%). Florida had a decline in new units sold of 1,324, or 10.2%, which was partially attributed to four hurricanes that disrupted the region during the third quarter of 2004. However, subsequent to the hurricane disruptions, vehicle sales posted positive increases in the final months of 2004. In addition, San Diego and South Los Angeles experienced decreases of 1,738 units, or 15.5%, as compared to 2003.

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All of our dealerships except Honda and Volvo stores experienced sales price per unit increases during 2004 generally due to increases in the manufacturers’ suggested retail price.

During 2003, total same store new vehicle unit sales remained relatively flat because of offsetting increases in our import dealerships and decreases in our domestic dealerships. Our import dealerships experienced increases of 5,511 units, or 7.2%, as compared to 2002. This is compared to an industry increase in unit sales at import dealerships generally of 3.2%. Our Toyota, Honda and Volvo dealerships experienced combined growth of 4,213 units, or 8.6%. These increases can be primarily attributed to the introduction of new models and new body styles for existing models. On a geographic basis, our strongest performing regions were San Diego/Nevada (up 1,277 units, or 16.1%), Birmingham/Tennessee (up 758 units, or 13.3%) and Northern California (up 1,182 units, or 5.1%), all of which have a high concentration of import and/or luxury brands. Our domestic dealerships experienced unit sales declines of 6,307 units, or 10.5%, during 2003. This was compared to an industry decrease in unit sales at domestic dealerships of 3.4%. Our Ford dealerships were responsible for 68.4% of the domestic decline due primarily to Ford’s continued loss of market share to import brands. Also, the Central Division (which consists of the Dallas, Houston and Oklahoma regions) experienced decreases of 3,547 units, or 8.7%, as compared to 2002, because of a concentration of domestic dealerships and local economic factors such as unusually high unemployment rates compared to the national average. Our GM, excluding Cadillac, and Chrysler dealerships were responsible for the remainder of our domestic decline, experiencing decreases of 1,057 units, or 5.9%, and 908 units, or 14.5%, respectively. All of our dealerships except BMW, Toyota and VW stores experienced sales price per unit increases during 2003. Our Honda, Cadillac, Volvo and Lexus dealerships experienced the most significant price increases due to an increase in truck and sport-utility vehicle sales. However, the average price per unit at our BMW dealerships decreased because of increased competition in the luxury sport-utility vehicle market. The average price per unit at our Toyota dealerships remained relatively flat.

Used Vehicles

Used vehicle revenues are directly affected by the level of manufacturer incentives on new vehicles, the number and quality of trade-ins and lease turn-ins and the availability of consumer credit. In addition, various manufacturers provide franchised dealers the opportunity to “certify” pre-owned vehicles (“CPO vehicles”) based on criteria established by the manufacturer. This certification process extends the standard manufacturer warranty. We believe the used vehicle business will become more clearly segmented and CPO vehicles and similar products will continue to grow as a larger share of dealership used vehicle sales. Our sales of CPO vehicles increased to 23,499 units in 2004 (33.2% of total units) from 21,070 units in 2003 (29.0% of total units), an 11.5% increase.

We continued to experience challenges in the used vehicle market in 2004 due to manufacturer incentives on new vehicles. Since these new vehicle incentives remain attractive to consumers, we expect volume and pricing pressure to continue in the used vehicle market. We have, however, seen pricing begin to stabilize and improve as there are fewer low mileage vehicles coming off of lease than historically experienced.

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The decreases in used units sold occurred primarily in our domestic dealerships. The largest percentage declines in used units sold were in our Colorado and Ohio regions and our San Diego market (down 836 units, or 22.2%, 901 units, or 19.3%, and 463 units, or 17.8%, respectively). Used unit sales in our Florida region declined by 1,014, or 16.3%, due primarily to the hurricanes that disrupted the region during the third quarter. Consistent with new vehicle sales, Florida used vehicle units posted positive increases in the final months of 2004. Our Florida, Colorado and Ohio regions represented 47.2% of the total unit decline in 2004. The remaining decreases were generally evenly distributed throughout our other geographic regions with only one region, Birmingham/Tennessee, which has a high concentration of import and/or luxury brands reporting a relatively strong increase of 8.4%.

Despite the decline in used unit volumes, the average used selling price per unit increased $554 or 3.3% for 2004 compared to the prior year. The average price per unit increase in 2004 was in line with the industry increase of approximately 3.0%. The average increase per unit was attributable to an increase in CPO vehicles sold as a percentage of total used units sold (increasing from 30% in 2003 to 37% in 2004).

During 2003, the used vehicle market faced challenging conditions arising from the continuation of significant manufacturer incentives on new vehicles and a lack of sub-prime credit availability. The Central Division was most adversely affected by these factors due to a greater dependence on used vehicle sales than our other divisions. This division accounted for 69.4% of our total same store used unit decline in 2003. The available credit in the sub-prime category declined due to certain national lenders reducing their exposure in this area and other lenders increasing their credit standards. We reduced the effect of the sub-prime credit market’s tightening by utilizing regional finance sources to replace the national lenders and by increasing the number of units that we financed through our wholly-owned sub-prime lending company, Cornerstone Acceptance. The declines in used unit sales generated in the Central Division were partially offset by increases in unit sales volume in the San Diego/Nevada (up 5.1%), Ohio (up 4.5%), and Mid-Atlantic (up 21.1%) regions.

Wholesale Vehicles

Wholesale vehicle revenues are highly correlated with new and used vehicle retail sales and the associated trade-in volume. Wholesale revenues are also significantly affected by our corporate inventory management policies which are designed to optimize our total used vehicle inventory.

Higher revenues realized in 2004 were driven by higher unit sales prices for both our domestic and import dealerships which increased 8.4% and 7.7%, respectively. Favorable pricing increases followed the increases experienced in used retail sales and were consistent with the industry. These increases were partially offset by a 6.4% decrease in domestic dealership unit volume. Lower vehicle retail sales activity, the principal source of wholesale vehicles via trade-in, contributed to the lower volume.

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During 2003, the decrease in same store wholesale vehicle revenues was due to a decrease in retail units sold in our domestic dealerships. Our domestic dealerships’ total new and used retail units sold decreased 9,829 units, or 10.4%, thus there were fewer vehicles available for trade-ins. Therefore, there were fewer vehicles that required wholesaling. Conversely, our import dealerships’ wholesale unit sales remained flat, while import dealerships’ retail unit sales increased. This was the result of more effective sales practices as compared to our domestic dealerships.

Parts, Service and Collision Repair (“Fixed Operations”)

Parts and service revenue consists of customer requested repairs (“customer pay”), warranty repairs, retail parts, wholesale parts and collision repairs. Same store revenue from these items was as follows (amounts in thousands):

Service revenue is driven by the mix of warranty repairs versus customer pay repairs, available service capacity, vehicle quality and manufacturer warranty programs. During 2004, 19.7% of our service and parts revenue was generated by warranty repairs and 36.7% by customer pay repairs compared to 18.6% by warranty repairs and 36.2% by customer pay repairs in 2003.

We believe that, over time, vehicle quality will improve but that vehicle complexity will offset any revenue lost from improvement in vehicle quality. We also believe we have the ability, through our access to capital, to continue to add service capacity and increase revenues. In addition, manufacturers continue to extend new vehicle warranty periods and have also begun to include regular maintenance items in the warranty coverage. These factors, combined with the extended manufacturer warranties on CPO vehicles (see the discussion in “Business—Business Strategy—Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles” above), should allow continued growth in our service and parts business.

Parts revenue is driven by the mix of warranty repairs versus customer pay repairs as prices for warranty parts are established by the manufacturer. We believe that long-term trends in retail parts sales will be affected by the same trends as discussed above for service (additional capacity, customer satisfaction, etc.).

One of the key metrics we use to analyze the profitability of our fixed operations business is fixed absorption. This metric represents the percentage of a dealership’s fixed costs which are covered by the operating profit of the service, parts, and collision repair departments. Our fixed absorption rate was 82.3% in 2004 compared to 81.1% in 2003. We believe that we substantially exceed the industry’s average fixed absorption rate.

As of December 31, 2004, we operated 40 collision repair centers. Collision revenues are heavily impacted by trends in the automotive insurance industry. Over the last few years collision repair revenues have either declined or remained flat because customers are choosing higher deductible policies, thus choosing not to make minor repairs that were previously covered by lower deductible policies. Also, insurance companies generally are declaring more vehicles “totaled” in recent years; thus, the vehicles do not need to be repaired.

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Same store Fixed Operations revenues increased slightly during 2004, primarily due to the performance of our import dealerships (up 5.1%) outpacing decreases in our domestic dealerships (down 5.3%). Warranty sales at our import dealerships increased $14.8 million, or 14.4%. Our BMW dealerships experienced an increase in revenues of $17.0 million, or 16.2%, compared to 2003 as a result of BMW’s vehicle maintenance programs and strong same store new vehicle sales. These import increases were partially offset by decreases in our domestic dealerships, which declined $3.5 million, or 5.0%, compared to 2003. The overall domestic dealership revenue declines primarily relate to our Ford dealerships which decreased $10.7 million, or 11.8%, compared to 2003. The declines in our Ford dealerships were primarily caused by a decrease in wholesale parts sales of $5.0 million, or 25.9%. Our Ford wholesale parts revenues have continued to decrease during 2004 as competition has increased and the scale of those operations have declined. In addition, consistent with unit declines in new vehicles of 12.7%, warranty sales at our Ford stores experienced declines of $2.1 million, or 15.1%, as compared to 2003. Same store collision revenues were flat when compared to 2003.

Same store Fixed Operations revenues increased during 2003, primarily from the strong performance of our import dealerships. Our Honda and BMW dealerships experienced increases of $8.1 million, or 6.8%, and $6.9 million, or 7.1%, respectively, compared to 2002. Increases in our import dealerships were primarily attributable to warranty work as import manufacturers continue to extend warranty periods and include regular maintenance items as part of their new vehicle manufacturer warranty. Warranty sales at our import dealerships increased $8.4 million, or 9.6%. These import increases were partially offset by decreases in our domestic dealerships, which declined $7.4 million, or 11.0%, compared to 2002. Domestic dealerships’ revenues were largely impacted by our Ford stores which experienced declines of $12.6 million, or 12.2%, compared to 2002. The declines in our Ford dealerships were primarily caused by a decrease in wholesale parts sales of $8.5 million, or 30.8%, because of Ford Motor Company’s decision to open a parts depot in the Houston area in the second half of 2003 near a Sonic wholesale parts operation. Also, warranty sales at our Ford stores experienced declines of $4.6 million, or 24.8%, as compared to 2002. Same store collision revenues increased slightly due to greater capacity and the relocation of an existing collision center to a new stand-alone location.

Finance, Insurance and Other

Finance, insurance and other revenues include commissions for arranging vehicle financing and insurance, sales of third-party extended service contracts for vehicles, vehicle protection products and other aftermarket products. In connection with vehicle financing, service contracts, vehicle protection products, other aftermarket products and insurance contracts, we receive a commission from the provider for originating the contract.

Finance, insurance and other revenues are driven by the level of new and used vehicle sales, manufacturer financing or leasing incentives and our penetration rate. The penetration rate represents the percentage of vehicle sales on which we are able to originate financing or sell extended service contracts, vehicle protection products, other aftermarket products or insurance contracts. Our finance penetration rate increased to 70.9% in 2004 from 70.5% in 2003. Our extended service contract penetration rate increased to 35.4% in 2004 from 34.7% in 2003. We expect our finance and insurance penetration rate to increase over time as we continue to emphasize the sale of extended service contracts and other products.