EchoPark Automotive operates stores that sell 1-to-4-year-old vehicles, and in May expanded its lineup by adding 5-to-8-year-old vehicles. At the same time, the company launched an e-commerce platform allowing consumers to buy a car online and have it shipped to their home no matter the location, and in March EchoPark named Stephen Carvelli as its first ever chief technology officer.
Sonic operates 50 EchoPark locations nationwide. That includes 11 Northwest Motorsports used-only stores in Washington, Idaho and Montana that were acquired as part of Sonic’s December 2021 purchase of RFJ Auto Partners Holdings.
“We are at the perfect point in our growth,” said Dino Bernacchi, EchoPark’s chief marketing officer, adding that “it’s time that as we expand our footprint and our reach that we have to now expand our marketing and need to actually build the brand.”
Shifting gears
Bernacchi, who was once Mazda North American Operations’ chief marketing officer, started working at EchoPark in October and said that’s “when the company really decided to shift gears on the trajectory of growth and start building more than just an infrastructure of locations.”
Earlier this year, EchoPark opened a delivery center in Columbus, Ga., and two new retail hubs in Raleigh, N.C., and St. Louis. During its second-quarter financial report released last month, Sonic estimated that EchoPark will reach 90 percent of the U.S. buying population by 2025. EchoPark’s second-quarter revenue rose 12 percent to $665.6 million, a quarterly record for the brand.
Sonic’s net income declined 17 percent despite a 9 percent rise in total revenue.
“You have to invest to grow and I think a lot of people in this category understand that it cost a lot to grow,” Bernacchi said.
Late last month, Sonic, citing timing and market conditions, said it ended a strategic review of EchoPark without taking further actions. The review had been seen as a possible precursor to an EchoPark spinoff.
Sonic also said it is backing off 2025 revenue and other goals for EchoPark amid current conditions. The retailer previously had projected that EchoPark locations would account for the sale of 575,000 used vehicles and $14 billion in revenue annually by the end of 2025.
Measured media spending for EchoPark was $2.7 million in 2021, up substantially from $238,000 in 2020 and $121,000 in 2019, according to Kantar.
