Sonic Automotive Selects MenuVantage as Exclusive Menu Selling Software Provider
for immediate RELEASE For additional information contact: Sara West-Callahan Phillip Battista Carter-West Public Relations C.M.O MenuVantage LLC Phone: 949-493-0244 Fax: 949-248-1764 Phone: (908) 222-4020 EXT 206 email: swest@earthlink.net email: philbsp@msn.com Sonic Automotive Selects MenuVantage as Exclusive Menu Selling Software Provider ORLANDO, FLORIDA, MAY 24, 2006 - MenuVantage, a fully customizable, web-based menu selling system that integrates seamlessly with major Dealer Management Systems (DMS), today announced that Sonic Automotive has chosen MenuVantage to be its exclusive Menu Selling software provider for all 174 franchises nationwide. Sonic Automotive, Inc., a Fortune 300 company, is one of the largest automotive retailers in the United States. "Sonic Automotive conducted extensive due diligence for almost a year; researching many software providers. It became clear in our analysis that MenuVantage was the best fit with how Sonic operates its F& I practices," commented Richard O'Connor, Vice President of Finance & Insurance of Sonic Automotive. "Most importantly, we chose MenuVantage as it showed the unique ability to provide our dealerships with compliance and best practices in all areas of F&I, as well as increased profitability," Mr. O'Connor continued. MenuVantage Chief Marketing Officer Phillip Battista added, "MenuVantage is proud to have been selected by Sonic Automotive, one of the premier operators in the automotive industry. We look forward to providing the technology that will enable Sonic's dealerships to take F&I performance to another level." MenuVantage provides dealers with superior F&I tools to ensure compliance and increased per unit profit. The system offers F&I Departments the most advanced technology available on the market including electronic submission of warranty and F&I products to providers, real time service contract rating for over 50 providers, and dynamic printing of documents on regular paper. . MenuVantage has seen a strong increase in market presence and currently processes more than 67,000 deals per month for 2,300 users at automotive dealerships nationwide; the average deal with MenuVantage produces $903 per unit compared to $633 per unit without the system - a 30% increase in revenue. About Sonic Automotive: Sonic Automotive, Inc., a Fortune 300 company based in Charlotte, N.C., is one of the largest automotive retailers in the United States operating 174 franchises and 38 collision repair centers. Sonic can be reached on the Web at http://www.sonicautomotive.com. SOURCE Sonic Automotive, Inc. CONTACT: Jeffrey C. Rachor, President and Chief Operating Officer, +1-704-566-2400, or J. Todd Atenhan, Investor Relations, +1-888-766-4218, both of Sonic Automotive, Inc. About MenuVantage: MenuVantage, based in Orlando, FLA provides a unique approach to presenting and selling additional Finance and Insurance (F&I) products by providing a custom F&I menu with products that better suit each dealership customers' needs. Menus are generated based on the deal parameters entered by an F&I manager at the time of sale. These deal parameters are used to build a menu from templates to provide the best possible package for each dealership customer. The F&I manager then has the opportunity to fine tune the parameters for pricing and term to provide a customized solution, meaning higher possibility of sale. The practice ensures that customers are offered all products and get all required disclosures. Benefits include: Real Time ADP/ R & R interface, electronic warranty look up, OFAC Compliance, an average 22% increase in product sales and Doubled PVR. MenuVantage is a truly customizable web-based menu system featuring bi-directional integration with major dealer management systems (DMS), eliminating any need for double entry. A web-based system also averts the need to back up information on the company server - any computer with Internet ExplorerT can access the system. In addition, the system constantly queries the database to ensure that all taxes, fees and prices are accurate on every deal processed in the MenuVantage system. MenuVantage can be reached on the web at http://www.menuvantage.com CONTACT: Phillip Battista, Chief Marketing Officer (908) 222-4020 EXT 206, email: philbsp@msn.com.