Sonic Automotive 401(k) and retirement plans

Sonic Automotive, Inc., Charlotte, NC. EIN 56-2010790. Annual reports 2009–2025.

Sonic Automotive, Inc. has 2 active retirement plans on file. The largest is the Sonic Automotive, Inc. 401(k) Plan, with 10,332 participants and $631 million in assets in 2025. Principal has been its recordkeeper since 2020. No traditional pension plan appears in Sonic Automotive's filings since 2009.

Active plans: 2
Participants: 10,932
Plan assets: $667 million
401(k) recordkeeper: Principal
Plans on file: 2
Industry: Retail

All 2 plans

Active plans first

Sonic Automotive, Inc. 401(k) Plan

401(k)Active

Active. The plan filed its annual report for the 2025 plan year.

Plan number: 001Employer EIN 56-2010790
Participants (2025): 10,332
Net assets (2025): $631 million
Recordkeeper: PrincipalEarlier: Wells Fargo (2010–2019), Wachovia Bank (2009)
Plan administrator: Sonic Automotive, Inc.
4401 Colwick Road
Charlotte, NC 28211
(704) 566-2470As filed for 2025
In effect since: October 1, 1994

Plans merged into this one: RFJ Auto Partners, Inc. 401K Plan (2021).

Earlier plan names: Sonic Automotive, Inc. 401(k) Plan and Trust; Sonic Automotive, Inc. 401(k) Plan & Trust.

Year by year, 2009 to 2025

Plan year	Participants	Net assets	Recordkeeper
2025	10,332	$631 million	Principal
2024	9,986	$548 million	Principal
2023	9,948	$491 million	Principal
2022	9,656	$424 million	Principal
2021	8,657	$454 million	Principal
2020	8,708	$396 million	Principal
2019	9,822	$360 million	Wells Fargo
2018	10,607	$299 million	Wells Fargo
2017	11,146	$315 million	Wells Fargo
2016	11,043	$271 million	Wells Fargo
2015	11,110	$242 million	Wells Fargo
2014	10,640	$242 million	Wells Fargo
2013	9,929	$225 million	Wells Fargo
2012	10,834	$184 million	Wells Fargo
2011	10,437	$163 million	Wells Fargo
2010	10,194	$162 million	Wells Fargo
2009	13,904	$151 million	Wachovia Bank

Sonic Automotive, Inc. Northern California Ula 401(k) Plan

401(k)Active

Active. The plan filed its annual report for the 2025 plan year.

Plan number: 002Employer EIN 56-2010790
Participants (2025): 600
Net assets (2025): $36.6 million
Recordkeeper: PrincipalEarlier: Wells Fargo (2010–2019), Wachovia Bank (2009)
Plan administrator: Sonic Automotive, Inc.
4401 Colwick Road
Charlotte, NC 28211
(704) 566-2470As filed for 2025
In effect since: April 1, 2001

Earlier plan names: Sonic Automotive, Inc. Northern California Ula 401(k) Plan & Trust.

Year by year, 2009 to 2025

Plan year	Participants	Net assets	Recordkeeper
2025	600	$36.6 million	Principal
2024	605	$35.4 million	Principal
2023	579	$32.1 million	Principal
2022	562	$29.4 million	Principal
2021	546	$36.3 million	Principal
2020	634	$33.4 million	Principal
2019	900	$29.1 million	Wells Fargo
2018	872	$24.0 million	Wells Fargo
2017	899	$26.4 million	Wells Fargo
2016	826	$22.8 million	Wells Fargo
2015	614	$21.2 million	Wells Fargo
2014	610	$21.0 million	Wells Fargo
2013	681	$21.4 million	Wells Fargo
2012	674	$17.2 million	Wells Fargo
2011	676	$15.7 million	Wells Fargo
2010	693	$15.9 million	Wells Fargo
2009	732	$15.1 million	Wachovia Bank

If you had money in one of these plans

Call Principal (principal.com), which runs the Sonic Automotive, Inc. 401(k) Plan. With your Social Security number and the plan name, it can tell you whether you still have a balance and, if not, where it went.
Or call the plan administrator listed on the plan below ((704) 566-2470). That number was filed for 2025; ask for the benefits or retirement plan office.
Still stuck? The Department of Labor's benefits advisers help for free: askebsa.dol.gov or 1-866-444-3272. Never pay anyone to find your own money.

What these numbers are

They come from the Form 5500 annual reports each plan files with the Department of Labor, as the plan filed them. A plan year is usually a calendar year.
Participants counts everyone in the plan at year end: current employees, former employees who still have a balance or a pension coming, and retirees or beneficiaries being paid.
The recordkeeper is the service provider whose Schedule C entry says it keeps the plan's records. Small plans do not file Schedule C, so some plans show none.
We cannot see anyone's account. Only the plan or its recordkeeper can tell you your balance.

Sources: U.S. Department of Labor, Form 5500 datasets and PBGC trusteed plans. How we read them.

All 2 plans

Sonic Automotive, Inc. 401(k) Plan

Sonic Automotive, Inc. Northern California Ula 401(k) Plan

If you had money in one of these plans

What these numbers are

Other retail employers in NC