Sonic Automotive hands sons of founder Bruton Smith new top titles, filing shows
Charlotte-based Sonic Automotive, one the largest auto dealerships in the U.S., handed new top roles to sons of its late founder and NASCAR mogul Bruton Smith last week, a federal filing shows.
On Friday. the company reported what it called “all-time record quarterly revenues and gross profit driven by strong new vehicle pricing and consumer demand” in the second quarter of 2022.
Sonic reported all-time record quarterly revenues of $3.7 billion, up 9%, and an all-time record quarterly gross profit of $588.8 million, up 15%.
The company’s earnings, however, “fell short of Wall Street expectations,” The Associated Press reported.
Sonic reported $2.45 per share, adjusted for non-recurring costs, according to the AP.
“The average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $2.52 per share,” the AP reported.
On Wednesday, Sonic’s board of directors elected David Bruton Smith, the company’s chief executive officer and a member of the board, to also serve as chairman of the board effective immediately, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The board also elected Bruton Smith’s son Scott, Sonic Automotive co-founder, to the board to fill the vacancy created by his dad’s death on June 22 at age 95. Scott Smith’s appointment also is effective immediately, according to the filing.
Scott Smith was Sonic president and CEO from July 2015 until September 2018, and a director of the company from its organization in January 1997 until September 2018, according to the SEC filing.
Bruton Smith was the billionaire founder and CEO of Speedway Motorsports, a group of race tracks that includes Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord.
Smith was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2016. The previous year, he overcame a case of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, receiving a clean bill of health after surgery during the summer of 2015.
This story was originally published July 31, 2022 at 7:00 AM with the headline "Sonic Automotive hands sons of founder Bruton Smith new top titles, filing shows."