<SEC-DOCUMENT>0001193125-11-215330.txt : 20111025
<SEC-HEADER>0001193125-11-215330.hdr.sgml : 20111025
<ACCEPTANCE-DATETIME>20110809075511
<PRIVATE-TO-PUBLIC>
ACCESSION NUMBER:		0001193125-11-215330
CONFORMED SUBMISSION TYPE:	CORRESP
PUBLIC DOCUMENT COUNT:		1
FILED AS OF DATE:		20110809

FILER:

	COMPANY DATA:	
		COMPANY CONFORMED NAME:			SONIC AUTOMOTIVE INC
		CENTRAL INDEX KEY:			0001043509
		STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION:	RETAIL-AUTO DEALERS & GASOLINE STATIONS [5500]
		IRS NUMBER:				562010790
		STATE OF INCORPORATION:			DE
		FISCAL YEAR END:			0207

	FILING VALUES:
		FORM TYPE:		CORRESP

	BUSINESS ADDRESS:	
		STREET 1:		4401 COLWICK ROAD
		CITY:			CHARLOTTE
		STATE:			NC
		ZIP:			28211
		BUSINESS PHONE:		704-566-2400

	MAIL ADDRESS:	
		STREET 1:		4401 COLWICK ROAD
		CITY:			CHARLOTTE
		STATE:			NC
		ZIP:			28211
</SEC-HEADER>
<DOCUMENT>
<TYPE>CORRESP
<SEQUENCE>1
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<TITLE>Correspondence</TITLE>
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 <P STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">August&nbsp;9, 2011 </FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:12px;margin-bottom:0px"><FONT
STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">Mr.&nbsp;Andrew Mew </FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">United States Securities and Exchange Commission </FONT></P>
<P STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">Division of Corporation Finance </FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">100 F. Street,
NE </FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">Washington, D.C. 20549 </FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:12px;margin-bottom:0px"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">Re:
Sonic Automotive, Inc. &#150; Comment Letter dated August&nbsp;2, 2011 </FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:12px;margin-bottom:0px"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">Dear Mr.&nbsp;Mew: </FONT></P>
<P STYLE="margin-top:12px;margin-bottom:0px"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">Sonic Automotive, Inc. is submitting the following responses to comments received from the Staff of the Division of Corporation Finance in its letter
dated August&nbsp;2, 2011. For your convenience, the Staff&#146;s comments have been reproduced in bold-faced type before each response in this letter. </FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:18px;margin-bottom:0px"><FONT
STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2"><B><U>Item&nbsp;7. Management&#146;s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Conditions and Results of Operations, page 30 </U></B></FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:0px"><FONT
STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2"><B><U>Results of Operations, page 36 </U></B></FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:0px"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2"><B><U>Adjusted Results of Operations, page 51
</U></B></FONT></P> <P STYLE="font-size:6px;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px">&nbsp;</P>
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<TD WIDTH="4%"><FONT SIZE="1">&nbsp;</FONT></TD>
<TD WIDTH="4%" VALIGN="top" ALIGN="left"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2"><B>1.</B></FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2"><B>We note your response to prior comment one and reiterate our comment. Generally we believe it is not appropriate to present full non-GAAP income statements. Please
remove the non-GAAP income statements or alternatively, you may present each measure separately in accordance with Regulation SK 10(e). </B></FONT></TD></TR></TABLE> <P STYLE="margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:8%"><FONT
STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">We understand your position related to the presentation of full non-GAAP income statements and will not present full non-GAAP income statements in future filings. If we amended our 2010 Form 10-K, we
would file an amended Item&nbsp;7: Management&#146;s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations without the paragraph entitled Adjusted Results from Operations and the associated table. We would not reconcile each of
the &#147;as adjusted&#148; amounts separately because we believe doing so would create undue confusion for the reader. However, we believe amending our 2010 Form 10-K is not necessary due to the following: </FONT></P>
<P STYLE="font-size:6px;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px">&nbsp;</P>
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<TD WIDTH="8%"><FONT SIZE="1">&nbsp;</FONT></TD>
<TD WIDTH="1%" VALIGN="top" ALIGN="left"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">&#149;</FONT></TD>
<TD WIDTH="1%" VALIGN="top"><FONT SIZE="1">&nbsp;</FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> <P ALIGN="left"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">None of the amounts disclosed in the tables are incorrect and only the form of the presentation is in question (and prospectively we will not continue
this form of presentation). We could have chosen to present an individual reconciliation of each line in the table, but believed this type of disclosure would have been confusing to the reader. </FONT></P></TD></TR></TABLE>
<P STYLE="font-size:6px;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px">&nbsp;</P>
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<TR>
<TD WIDTH="8%"><FONT SIZE="1">&nbsp;</FONT></TD>
<TD WIDTH="1%" VALIGN="top" ALIGN="left"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">&#149;</FONT></TD>
<TD WIDTH="1%" VALIGN="top"><FONT SIZE="1">&nbsp;</FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> <P ALIGN="left"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">A Form 10-K/A would not contain any new information. Instead, the Form 10-K/A would contain an explanatory note as to the reason the Form 10-K/A is
being filed and an amended Item&nbsp;7 without the disclosure in question. As a result, we believe it would draw additional attention to the disclosure the Staff prefers to be eliminated because the reader would have to go back to our original 2010
Form 10-K to determine exactly what disclosure was eliminated. </FONT></P></TD></TR></TABLE> <P STYLE="font-size:6px;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px">&nbsp;</P>
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<TR>
<TD WIDTH="8%"><FONT SIZE="1">&nbsp;</FONT></TD>
<TD WIDTH="1%" VALIGN="top" ALIGN="left"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">&#149;</FONT></TD>
<TD WIDTH="1%" VALIGN="top"><FONT SIZE="1">&nbsp;</FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> <P ALIGN="left"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">We believe the Staff&#146;s position on full non-GAAP income statements is reasonable, particularly in situations where non-GAAP income statements are
solely presented where the reader may misinterpret the income statements as being compliant with GAAP. However, based on our disclosure and presentation within the table provided, we believe it is unlikely a reader will confuse the GAAP income
statements with the non-GAAP income statements as they are presented side-by-side. </FONT></P></TD></TR></TABLE>
 <p STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"><FONT SIZE="1">&nbsp;</FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px" ALIGN="center"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">1 </FONT></P>


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 <P STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">In connection with submitting these responses, the Company acknowledges the following: </FONT></P>
<P STYLE="font-size:6px;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px">&nbsp;</P>
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<TR>
<TD WIDTH="4%"><FONT SIZE="1">&nbsp;</FONT></TD>
<TD WIDTH="1%" VALIGN="top" ALIGN="left"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">&#149;</FONT></TD>
<TD WIDTH="1%" VALIGN="top"><FONT SIZE="1">&nbsp;</FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> <P ALIGN="left"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">It is responsible for the adequacy and accuracy of the disclosure in the filing; </FONT></P></TD></TR></TABLE>
<P STYLE="font-size:6px;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px">&nbsp;</P>
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<TR>
<TD WIDTH="4%"><FONT SIZE="1">&nbsp;</FONT></TD>
<TD WIDTH="1%" VALIGN="top" ALIGN="left"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">&#149;</FONT></TD>
<TD WIDTH="1%" VALIGN="top"><FONT SIZE="1">&nbsp;</FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> <P ALIGN="left"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">Staff comments or changes to disclosure in response to Staff comments do not foreclose the Commission from taking any action with respect to the
filing; and </FONT></P></TD></TR></TABLE> <P STYLE="font-size:6px;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px">&nbsp;</P>
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<TR>
<TD WIDTH="4%"><FONT SIZE="1">&nbsp;</FONT></TD>
<TD WIDTH="1%" VALIGN="top" ALIGN="left"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">&#149;</FONT></TD>
<TD WIDTH="1%" VALIGN="top"><FONT SIZE="1">&nbsp;</FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> <P ALIGN="left"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">The Company may not assert Staff comments as a defense in any proceeding initiated by the Commission or any person under the federal securities laws of
the United States. </FONT></P></TD></TR></TABLE> <P STYLE="margin-top:12px;margin-bottom:0px"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">Please feel free to call Greg Young, the Company&#146;s Vice President of Finance, with any questions at
704-566-2489. </FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:12px;margin-bottom:0px"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">Yours truly, </FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:12px;margin-bottom:0px"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">SONIC
AUTOMOTIVE, INC. </FONT></P> <P STYLE="font-size:12px;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px">&nbsp;</P>
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<TD VALIGN="bottom"> <P STYLE="margin-left:1.00em; text-indent:-1.00em"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">/s/ David P. Cosper</FONT></P></TD></TR>
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<TD HEIGHT="16"></TD></TR>
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<TD VALIGN="bottom"> <P STYLE="margin-left:1.00em; text-indent:-1.00em"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">David P. Cosper</FONT></P></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD VALIGN="bottom"> <P STYLE="margin-left:1.00em; text-indent:-1.00em"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer</FONT></P></TD></TR>
</TABLE> <P STYLE="font-size:12px;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px">&nbsp;</P>
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<TD WIDTH="4%" VALIGN="top" ALIGN="left"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">cc:</FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">Stephen K. Coss </FONT></TD></TR></TABLE> <P STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:4%"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">Greg D. Young
</FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:4%"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">Thomas H. O&#146;Donnell, Jr. </FONT></P>
 <p STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"><FONT SIZE="1">&nbsp;</FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px" ALIGN="center"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">2 </FONT></P>

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