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02-27-2008, 10:48 AM | #1 |
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Sonic Automotive Conference Call - Strong Results in a Tough Market
After listening to the AutoNation and Lithia Conference Calls earlier this month, I was prepared for a somewhat depressing review/forecast of the Retail Car Market. I was pleasantly surprised - Sonic posted impressive results.
Like their peers, the Sonic Management Team indicated that the New Car Market was soft and they were expecting a difficult start to 2008 with improvement in the second half. They also reported that Gross Margin Percentages on New and Used cars continue to decline. Listed below are some comments from the Conference Call that I thought were interesting:
Overall I was very impressed with the Conference Call. Given that they have dealerships in California and Florida there was very little conversation about the recession impacting their performance. |
02-27-2008, 11:01 AM | #2 |
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Emphasis on Employee Satisfaction
I'd be remiss in reporting about the Sonic Conference Call if I didn't include a statement regarding the amount of time the Management Team spent talking about Employee Satisfaction and Training.
The Management Team indicated that their turn-over rate is at an all-time low, that 75% of their promotions were filled from within the company and that they've implemented a training and career-track program that will include every employee from the lot-porter to the CEO. My favorite comment: They want to be the "Employer of Choice" for talented people in the Retail Car Business. |
02-27-2008, 04:17 PM | #3 |
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Sonic
How can one company (Lithia) preach doom and gloom and their competition (Sonic) be up so much? Makes you wonder, especially in regards to employee satisfaction. Maybe other companies will stand up and take notice of success.
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02-27-2008, 04:29 PM | #4 |
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This is the same tone Lithia took when we were making money too. We had the AMP (Accelerated Management Program) back when we could afford to invest that type of time and money into our employees. I will say Sonic has the advantage with having a majority of their Stores as high end Stores.
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02-27-2008, 05:34 PM | #5 | |
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Quote:
I listened to the call anyway and I couldn't believe how positive the message was. Not only did Sonic post positive results in a tough market, they really seemed confident that they could adapt to the market and prosper. I'll concede SHACOS point that many of their dealerships are High End, but many of those stores are also in California and Florida - markets that AutoNation told us were in a recession. |
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