Subcompact vehicles are enjoying something of a renaissance in the US, as consumers in droves continue looking for more fuel-efficient options to combat excessivegas prices. Industry experts have widely predicted that this particular area of the marketcould grow by up to 30% during the next four years alone, and it appear Chevrolet has every intention of being well and truly in on the action. Continue reading
Chevrolet improves its lineup substantially with the new-for-2012 Sonic compact sedan and five-door hatchback.
Positioned as Chevy’s entry model below the larger and pricier Chevrolet Cruze, the Sonic is a peppy five-seater promising up to 40 miles per gallon in highway driving with an uplevel turbocharged four cylinder. Continue reading
General Motors is applying a new painting process to the 2012 Chevrolet Sonic, using a water-based “three-wet” paint process and a single trip through the oven. The painting method reduces the paint shop footprint by 10 percent, and reduces manufacturing costs by roughly $40 per vehicle, GM says. Continue reading
Driving from the Montreal airport to downtown when traffic congestion has been building all day doesn’t seem like the ideal way to test a car. But when you only have that period of time to experience a vehicle and you want to write about what people do in traffic jams, it’s actually kind of perfect. Continue reading
Erase all memories of small Chevys past — especially the recent Chevrolet Aveo. The all-new 2012 Chevrolet Sonic is a completely different animal. Unlike the outgoing and mostly unloved Aveo, Chevrolet’s new subcompact sedan and five-door hatch were conceived by a global General Motors team before being fine-tuned for local markets. Here in the U.S., Chevy is pitching the Sonic as the Cruze’s little brother. Continue reading
The soon-to-be released Chevrolet Sonic is expected to receive 40 miles per gallon, according to a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimate. Continue reading
Motorists on the lookout for a new subcompact family car are set to be somewhat spoilt for choice this fall, with recent arrivals such as the Mazda 2, Ford Fiesta, Hyundai Accent, Fiat 500 and several others all upping the standards of functionality, features and fun. Needless to say, the gauntlet has been well and truly thrown down and the small car is no longer seen as just a basic means of transportation. Continue reading
QUEBEC CITY – With the arrival of the new 2012 Chevrolet Sonic, General Motors has taken a big step toward closing the gap with its main competitors in the subcompact field. But complete parity may still remain just out of reach. Continue reading
It isn’t enough to have shiny car paint these days. Apparently, it’s got to be “green” as well — and we’re not talking about the color.
General Motors is touting how its new, U.S.-made Chevrolet Sonic will be painted in an environmentally conscious manner through a process that emits fewer planet-killing fumes as it dries. Continue reading
We weren’t expecting much from our first drive of the 2012 Chevrolet Sonic: a fuel-sipping subcompact about which we’ve heard tentatively good European reviews. We knew Chevy was replacing its Aveo with the Sonic, that it would be all-new and built by Chevy in Detroit instead of by Daewoo in Korea. We knew it was supposed to be competitive in its class, but we weren’t prepared for what we experienced on our drive from hilly, urban San Francisco south to the serpentine, forested roads east of Half Moon Bay. Continue reading