Case Study: Sonic Automotive achieves digitized contract management and full realization of sourced pricing with Coupa Software

Sonic Automotive Extends BSM Strategy to Digitize Contract Management

Sonic Automotive, a Charlotte-based Fortune 500 automotive retailer operating 84 franchise dealerships and the fast-growing EchoPark chain, faced scaling pain as contract volume doubled. Although Sourcing and Procure-to-Pay were already digitized (with 78% of spend pre-approved), contracting remained manual—drafted in Word, approved by email and stored on shared drives—leading to delays, poor visibility into agreements and spending, and unrealized sourcing benefits.

Working with a Coupa implementation partner, Sonic added Coupa Contract Lifecycle Management to its existing BSM platform and went live in 12 weeks. The CLM delivered wizard-driven contract creation, a central repository with an automated “prevailing terms” view, digital approvals and signatures, and invoice validation against contracted pricing—resulting in streamlined contracting, clearer contract visibility, and systematic realization of negotiated pricing and terms.

Sonic Automotive

Kevin Hensley

Director of Sourcing