Sonic Automotive, one of the largest car retailers in the U.S., is expanding its existing EchoPark location in Charlotte as demand for previously-owned vehicles continues to grow.
Sonic Automotive purchased four acres of land adjacent to its EchoPark store, located at 3648 East Independence Boulevard near the intersection with North Wendover Road. According to a press release, the land acquisition allows the EchoPark location to add around 400 parking spaces, bringing its total vehicle inventory to 1,000 cars.
“Our continued investment in our Charlotte EchoPark location reflects the increasing customer demand we’re seeing in the metro area and neighboring markets,” Sonic Automotive CEO David Smith said in a statement.
EchoPark, which offers previously owned vehicles that are still under a manufacturer’s warranty, sold 1,500 cars at the Charlotte location during the second quarter, the release noted. The store averages over 500 pre-owned vehicle sales each month.
In addition to retail hubs, Smith noted the company is keen to opening more delivery and buy centers, where buyers can pick up their cars.
“With this type of customer demand and the opening of our first delivery and buy center in Greenville, South Carolina, we knew we had to expand our capacity to support the growing EchoPark brand in the Carolinas. Our Charlotte EchoPark location will supply inventory for sale through our delivery and buy centers in nearby states, which offer our guests a modern e-commerce buying experience at EchoPark.com as part of our growing 140-point nationwide distribution network,” Sonic Automotive’s president Jeff Dyke said in the release.
Sonic Automotive has been expanding the retail footprint of EchoPark, which launched in 2014. This month, the company recently opened its 11th EchoPark location in Houston, Texas with plans to add 25 EchoPark locations each year between 2021 and 2025 to reach its goal of $14 billion in revenue by 2025.
Across its EchoPark locations, the business has posted used vehicle sales volume of 13,207 units in the second quarter and is on track to sell over 61,000 pre-owned cars this year.
Shares of Sonic (SAH) were last trading down 1.59 percent, or 65 cents lower, near $40.27.
