Sonic Automotive, Inc. (SAH)
Auto dealerships, 11,000 associates. Read October 19, 2026 from the annual report for the period ending December 31, 2025, filed February 23, 2026. Ranked 66 of the 161 Consumer Cyclical companies read so far, by the share within reach now.
Within reach now
21%
End of 2028
28%
Employees, annual report
11,000
Leading staffing pattern
Automobile Dealers
Share of the working time within reach, long-run pace, four times in five
- Now21%
- End of 202726%
- End of 202828%
- End of 203028%
What changes for its people by the end of 2028, by its industries' figures
- Stays with people 72%
- Becomes checking a model's work 18%
- Handed over with lighter checks 10%
Sonic Automotive states approximately 11,000 associates at December 31, 2025, about 200 of them unionized service technicians in northern California, in franchised dealerships, EchoPark used vehicle stores and powersports stores, so one pattern takes the whole workforce at automobile dealers by description (c).
The figures on this page come from the company's own annual report and from BLS staffing patterns for its industries, never from a roster. They are estimates with a stated method. Nothing here says what the company will do: within reach is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
What follows from the reading
Share of working time within reach of AI, on the long-run pace at four in five: 21% now, 26% at the end of 2027, 28% at the end of 2028, 28% at the end of 2030. By the patterns, the work is about 28% desk work, 19% people work and 53% body work. These are the site's industry estimates weighted by the shares below: estimates with a stated method and range, not a forecast of what the company will do. By the same patterns, at the end of 2028 about 72% of the working time stays with people (conversation, in-person and hands-on work), 18% becomes checking a model's work and 10% could be handed over with lighter checks, from the industries' own figures, not the company's roles.
Headcount
11,000 employees as of December 31, 2025 (stated). The filing describes U.S. dealerships; no count by country is stated.
The filing: “Human Capital Resources As of December 31, 2025, we had approximately 11,000 employees, which we refer to as associates or teammates, and with whom we strive to maintain good relationships, which benefit both our Company and our teammates.”
The workforce as industry patterns
| Pattern | Share | Reason, from the filing |
|---|---|---|
| Automobile Dealers | 100% | The filing describes franchised dealerships, EchoPark used vehicle stores and powersports stores selling and servicing vehicles, with no count by kind of work, so one pattern takes the whole workforce at automobile dealers by description (c), as Lithia and AutoNation were read. |
What the filing says about the workforce: Approximately 200 associates, primarily service technicians in northern California, are represented by a labor union (about 2%); the count rose from 10,800 a year earlier.
Companies read with the same leading pattern
Other companies whose largest staffing pattern is also Automobile Dealers, largest first, each read from its own annual report. Within reach now and at the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Lithia Motors, Inc. (LAD, 30,000 employees)21% now, 28% by 2028
- CarMax, Inc. (KMX, 27,796 employees)22% now, 30% by 2028
- Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (PAG, 27,700 employees)22% now, 28% by 2028
- AutoNation, Inc. (AN, 24,800 employees)21% now, 28% by 2028
- Carvana Co. (CVNA, 23,100 employees)21% now, 28% by 2028
- Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (GPI, 20,452 employees)21% now, 28% by 2028
- Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG, 15,000 employees)21% now, 28% by 2028
What the filing says about AI
19 sentences in the filing name AI. The filing's mentions are mostly the Automotive Industries Pension Plan, which it abbreviates AI; no sentence in the excerpt describes artificial intelligence.
- “Three of our dealership subsidiaries in northern California currently make fixed-dollar contributions to the Automotive Industries Pension Plan (the "AI Pension Plan") pursuant to collective bargaining agreements between our subsidiaries and the International Association of Machinists (the "IAM").”
- “The AI Pension Plan is a "multiemployer plan" as defined under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended.”
- “Three of our dealership subsidiaries actively contribute to the AI Pension Plan under collective bargaining agreements with the IAM.”
- “In March 2008, the Board of Trustees of the AI Pension Plan notified participants, participating employers and local unions that the AI Pension Plan's actuary had issued a certification that the AI Pension Plan was in critical status.”
- “In conjunction with the AI Pension Plan's critical status, all participating employers were required to increase employer contributions to the AI Pension Plan for a seven-year period which commenced in 2013.”
Its annual reports, year by year
Sentences naming AI in each annual report, counted by one rule, beside the median report in the Index that year. Each count links its filing. Every company, by year and sector
- Fiscal 202123median 0
- Fiscal 202223median 0
- Fiscal 202327median 1
- Fiscal 202419median 4
- Fiscal 202519median 10
Headcount by filing year
As reported in each year's annual report, with the filing. A year marked not read had no figure the reading could take from the report's text.
| Period | Employees | Filed | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-12-31 | 11,000 | 2026-02-23 | 10-K |
| 2024-12-31 | 10,800 | 2025-02-19 | 10-K |
| 2023-12-31 | 10,500 | 2024-02-22 | 10-K |
| 2022-12-31 | 10,300 | 2023-02-17 | 10-K |
| 2021-12-31 | 10,200 | 2022-02-25 | 10-K |
| 2020-12-31 | 8,100 | 2021-02-23 | 10-K |
| 2019-12-31 | 9,300 | 2020-02-21 | 10-K |
| 2018-12-31 | 9,700 | 2019-02-21 | 10-K |
| 2017-12-31 | 9,750 | 2018-02-28 | 10-K |
| 2016-12-31 | 9,800 | 2017-02-27 | 10-K |
| 2015-12-31 | 9,800 | 2016-02-26 | 10-K |
| 2014-12-31 | 9,300 | 2015-02-27 | 10-K |
| 2013-12-31 | 9,100 | 2014-03-03 | 10-K |
| 2012-12-31 | 9,300 | 2013-03-26 | 10-K |
| 2011-12-31 | 9,200 | 2012-03-05 | 10-K |
| 2010-12-31 | 9,200 | 2011-02-24 | 10-K |
| 2009-12-31 | 9,200 | 2010-02-24 | 10-K |
| 2008-12-31 | 10,400 | 2009-03-31 | 10-K |
| 2007-12-31 | 11,400 | 2008-02-29 | 10-K |
| 2006-12-31 | 11,200 | 2007-03-16 | 10-K |
| 2005-12-31 | 11,300 | 2006-03-15 | 10-K |
| 2004-12-31 | 11,600 | 2005-03-07 | 10-K |
| 2003-12-31 | 11,300 | 2004-03-09 | 10-K |
| 2002-12-31 | 12,133 | 2003-03-20 | 10-K |
| 2001-12-31 | 10,000 | 2002-03-27 | 10-K405 |
| 2000-12-31 | 9,400 | 2001-04-02 | 10-K |
| 1999-12-31 | 8,300 | 2000-03-30 | 10-K |
| 1998-12-31 | 3,040 | 1999-03-31 | 10-K |
| 1997-12-31 | 1,800 | 1998-03-31 | 10-K |
Limits of this reading
- No count by kind of work: the one pattern is by description (c).
- The U.S. share rests on the filing's description of U.S. dealerships, not a stated count.
Source: the company's annual report on EDGAR, accession 0001628280-26-010570, the filing. Read by Claude Fable 5.1 under rubric version 1, by the method. A company can write to info@stratussc.com to have its reading checked against its filing.
The report on Sonic Automotive, Inc., $29
This page as a document to keep, with what it does not show: the share within reach at every date on three paces and two reliabilities, a typical workforce of this shape at the stated headcount role by role and task by task (the industries' staffing, never the company's roster), where to start, what changes for the people and what they would learn, every sentence in the filing that names AI, the headcount by year, the companies read with the same leading pattern, the method and a citation line. To print or save as a PDF, open again in your browser for a year.
See the report, $29See the sample first: Walmart's report is free
Questions about this company
- How much of Sonic Automotive, Inc.'s working time is within reach of AI?
- An estimated 21% now and 28% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five, from the workforce Sonic Automotive, Inc.'s own annual report describes and BLS staffing patterns for its industries, never from a roster. It is an estimate with a stated method. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings, and it says nothing about what the company will do.
- How many people does Sonic Automotive, Inc. employ?
- 11,000 as of December 31, 2025, as its annual report for the period ending December 31, 2025 states. About 100% in the U.S.
- What kinds of work make up Sonic Automotive, Inc.'s workforce?
- Read from its annual report as a blend of 1 industry staffing pattern, the largest Automobile Dealers; by those patterns the work is about 28% desk work, 19% people work and 53% body work. Each share has a one-sentence reason on this page that can be checked against the filing.
- What does Sonic Automotive, Inc.'s annual report say about AI?
- 19 sentences in the filing name AI. Its annual reports for fiscal 2021 to 2025 name it in 23, 23, 27, 19 and 19 sentences, year by year. They are counted and quoted on this page, never judged: a count says how much a filing talks about AI, not what the company does with it.
- How is this estimated?
- Claude Fable 5.1 read the annual report under the Index's written rubric (version 1) on October 19, 2026: the stated headcount, the share in the U.S. when stated, and the workforce as a blend of industry staffing patterns. The estimates are the site's industry estimates weighted by those shares, from O*NET tasks with estimated lengths and METR's measurements of how long a task AI models can finish. A company can write to info@stratussc.com to have its reading checked against its filing.
Embed these figures on your site
A small card with the share of working time within reach now and at the end of 2027, 2028 and 2030, the date and a link back. Free under CC BY 4.0; the card carries the credit.