Local Artist will Incorporate Winning Designs Into Automotive Dealership Exterior Wall Mural

EchoPark Automotive Tampa is pleased to announce the winners of its student mural contest to celebrate cars and the importance they play in our everyday lives. The goal of the contest was for art students at Howard W. Blake High School to develop designs for a mural on the exterior wall of the automotive dealership. EchoPark Tampa is located at 4636 N. Dale Mabry Highway, and the mural will be highly visible to cars passing by on the busy roadway. Eighty-eight students submitted their visual interpretations of cars in today’s culture with a nod to Tampa.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220509005193/en/

Mural Submission by Vittoria Haynes (Graphic: Business Wire)

The designs by the finalists were posted on Instagram for public voting. The artists for the top three designs with the most votes will be awarded a commission, and their designs will be blended into one mural.

The winners are:

Valentina Sarrin - 11^th Grade

Phillip Woodside - 11^th Grade

Vittoria Haynes - 11^th Grade

"The arts enrich our lives, our communities, and connect all of us,” said David Smith, CEO of Sonic Automotive. “It is inspiring to see the creativity, energy, and fresh vision of our industry reflected in the mural submissions, and we are excited to share the winning designs with our guests and the Tampa community.”

The mural will be painted by local artist Carlos Pons, and EchoPark Tampa partnered with Blake High School art teachers Molly Dressel and Linda Galgani to have their students participate in the contest.

“Community involvement is core to our business,” said Todd DeVoogel, EchoPark Tampa General Manager. “We felt that having a mural that was designed and executed by local students and a local artist would be a great project that interjects energy into the community.”

The painting of the mural begins this month and is expected to take 45 days to complete. All of the students who entered the contest will get a chance to participate in a day of painting the mural under the mentorship of Carlos Pons. EchoPark is also making a donation to Blake High School’s Art Department. The school’s curriculum includes a performing and visual arts magnet program in which any student in the Hillsborough County Public School district can audition to attend.

“EchoPark has been a tremendous partner in this project,” said Molly Dressel, Blake High School art teacher. “I’m so pleased that our students got the chance to participate in this creative way to express the intersection of travel (cars) and art.”

Carlos Pons is a painter and multimedia artist currently working in the Tampa Bay area. Born in Guatemala City, he is a self-taught artist whose work reflects the illusion of reality and the human experience. His murals can be seen throughout the Orlando and Tampa Bay areas.

EchoPark Automotive is owned by Sonic Automotive, Inc., a Fortune 500 Company and one of the nation’s largest automotive retailers.

An unveiling event for the EchoPark Tampa mural will be held once the piece is complete.

Photos of the mural contest winners and their winning entries are available upon request.

About EchoPark Automotive

EchoPark Automotive is one of the fastest growing and most comprehensive retailers of nearly new pre-owned vehicles in America today. Our rapid growth plan is expected to bring our unique business model to 90% of the U.S. population by 2025, utilizing one of the most innovative technology-enabled sales strategies in our industry. Our approach provides a personalized and proven guest-centric buying process that consistently delivers award winning guest experiences and superior value to car buyers nationwide, with savings of up to $3,000 versus the competition. We believe EchoPark is on pace to become the #1 retailer in the nearly new pre-owned vehicle market by 2025, and is already making its mark by earning the 2021 Consumer Satisfaction Award from DealerRater, expanding its Owner Experience Centers, developing an all-new digital ecommerce platform and focusing on growing its brand nationwide. EchoPark’s mission is in its name: Every Car deserves a Happy Owner. This drives the car buying experience for guests and differentiates EchoPark from the competition. More information about EchoPark Automotive can be found at www.echopark.com.

About Sonic Automotive

Sonic Automotive, Inc., a Fortune 500 company based in Charlotte, North Carolina, is on a quest to become the most valuable automotive retailer and service brand in America. Our Company culture thrives on creating, innovating, and providing industry-leading guest experiences, driven by strategic investments in technology, teammates, and ideas that ultimately fulfill ownership dreams, enrich lives, and deliver happiness to our guests and teammates. As one of the largest automotive retailers in America, we are committed to delivering on this goal while pursuing expansive growth and taking progressive measures to be the leader in this category. Our new platforms, programs, and people are set to drive the next generation of automotive experiences. More information about Sonic Automotive can be found at www.sonicautomotive.com and ir.sonicautomotive.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Included herein are forward-looking statements, including statements regarding anticipated future U.S. population coverage for EchoPark, anticipated future revenue projections, and anticipated future retail unit sales volume projections. There are many factors that affect management’s views about future events and trends of the Company’s business. These factors involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or trends to differ materially from management’s views, including, without limitation, economic conditions in the markets in which we operate, new and used vehicle industry sales volume, anticipated future growth in our EchoPark Segment, the success of our operational strategies, the rate and timing of overall economic expansion or contraction, the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and related government-imposed restrictions on operations, and the risk factors described in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 and other reports and information filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). The Company does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking information, except as required under federal securities laws and the rules and regulations of the SEC.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220509005193/en/