SEC FORM 3

SEC Form 3

FORM 3

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

INITIAL STATEMENT OF BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP OF SECURITIES

Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940

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1. Name and Address of Reporting Person^*

Byrd Heath

(Last)

(First)

(Middle)

C/O SONIC AUTOMOTIVE, INC.

4401 COLWICK ROAD

(Street)

CHARLOTTE

28211

(City)

(State)

(Zip)

2. Date of Event Requiring Statement (Month/Day/Year)
04/01/2013

3. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol
SONIC AUTOMOTIVE INC [ SAH ]

4. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer
(Check all applicable)

	Director	10% Owner
X	Officer (give title below)	Other (specify below)
	EVP and CFO

5. If Amendment, Date of Original Filed (Month/Day/Year)

6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing (Check Applicable Line)

X	Form filed by One Reporting Person
	Form filed by More than One Reporting Person

Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned
1. Title of Security (Instr. 4)	2. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned (Instr. 4)	3. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 5)	4. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5)
Class A Common Stock	53,763⁽¹⁾	D

Table II - Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)
1. Title of Derivative Security (Instr. 4)	2. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date (Month/Day/Year)		3. Title and Amount of Securities Underlying Derivative Security (Instr. 4)		4. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security	5. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 5)	6. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5)
1. Title of Derivative Security (Instr. 4)	Date Exercisable	Expiration Date	Title	Amount or Number of Shares	4. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security	5. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 5)	6. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5)

Explanation of Responses:

1. Includes 42,098 shares of Class A Common Stock issuable upon conversion of restricted stock units granted by the Compensation Committee of Sonic Automotive, Inc. pursuant to the Sonic Automotive, Inc. 2004 Stock Incentive Plan, 1,911 of which are subject to a one year defined earnings per share performance condition and will vest on March 31, 2014 if the performance condition is met and 40,187 of which are subject to forfeiture based on the satisfaction of performance criteria for fiscal year 2013 and, if the performance criteria are met, will vest in three annual installments, with twenty-five percent (25%) of the shares vesting on March 31, 2014, thirty percent (30%) of the shares vesting on March 22, 2015 and forty-five percent (45%) of the shares vesting on March 22, 2016. Restricted stock units may only be settled in shares of Class A Common Stock.

	/s/ Heath R. Byrd	04/09/2013
	** Signature of Reporting Person	Date
Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly.
* If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 5 (b)(v).
** Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
Note: File three copies of this Form, one of which must be manually signed. If space is insufficient, see Instruction 6 for procedure.
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