Who Owns EchoPark?

Sonic Automotive announced the EchoPark concept in August 2014 as a standalone pre-owned retail experiment, choosing Denver as the launch market. The first hub store opened in Thornton, Colorado on November 3, 2014, with smaller neighborhood stores planned around the metro area.

The model borrowed from disruptors rather than traditional dealerships: no-haggle fixed pricing, a single salesperson guiding the customer end to end, and inventory concentrated on nearly-new vehicles one to four years old.

Growth came in phases. Sonic spent roughly five years refining the customer experience formula before accelerating expansion, reaching nine locations by early 2020 with plans for 25 or more, concentrated in Sunbelt metros.

The pandemic-era used-car market broke the expansion cadence. Surging wholesale prices and rate-driven affordability pressure pushed the company to pause new store openings and consolidate performance, leaving the count at 18 stores as of December 31, 2025.

FY2025 marked a profitability inflection: segment revenue of $2.1 billion, down 3 percent on 67,636 retail units, but record gross profit of $233.9 million, segment income of $28.1 million up more than 700 percent, and record adjusted EBITDA of $49.2 million. Management announced plans to open two additional locations by the end of 2026, restarting growth.