The Laurel store is just down the street from a large CarMax store, Dyke said. CarMax is the top used-vehicle retailer in the country.
The Used Car King and Carbiz acquisitions are expected to generate annual revenue of more than $350 million, Dyke said.
“It just became the perfect opportunity to take EchoPark and to speed it up, to make it grow faster,” Dyke said. “And when you already have the people hired, you already have the facility, and they believe in your culture, it makes it a whole lot easier to do.”
Sonic also opened a new EchoPark store outside Phoenix this month, in Avondale, Ariz. It’s one of 25 locations Sonic plans to open this year; five will be full stores, and 20 will be smaller delivery and buying centers, Dyke said.
Sonic also plans to open EchoPark stores this year in the Atlanta, Las Vegas and Birmingham, Ala., markets, Dyke said. And another store will open in either the Kansas City, Kan., or St. Louis markets.
Last year, EchoPark revenue rose 22 percent to a record $1.4 billion as sales jumped 15 percent to a record 57,161 vehicles. Dyke told analysts last month that he expects EchoPark to sell at least 100,000 vehicles this year.
“EchoPark is just going to have a smashingly good year,” he said.
