Remember the Chevrolet Sonic? It occupied the lower end of the company’s portfolio starting in 2011, back when hatchbacks were popular enough to justify to an American audience. While it never sold in huge numbers, the Sonic managed to outlast every other domestically branded hatch in the U.S., until it finally exited showrooms in late 2020.
While I can’t in good faith say the Sonic is the best American hatch I’ve driven—that title goes to the Ford Fiesta ST—it was still a fun, lightweight, legitimately smile-inducing machine. The 1.4-liter turbocharged inline-four, which became standard towards the end of the car’s life, was peppy enough, and the available six-speed manual felt pretty good. It’s a car I still recommend to young enthusiasts who want something with a bit of thrill, but not too over the top.
Now, there’s a new Sonic on the way. And it sounds like it’s going to be none of those things. Teased today by Chevrolet of Brazil, the next-generation Sonic will not be a hatchback at all, but instead, a “compact SUV coupe.” Oh, and it’s probably not even coming to America. Get ready to be mad.
Chevy Brazil describes the new Sonic, which is set to go on sale in May, as about to enter the “largest and most competitive segment of automobiles, responsible for almost a quarter of vehicle sales in the country.”
Beyond that, there’s not much to go on aside from a lone image of the car’s nose, which is mostly blacked out save for the right-side headlights and an illuminated Bowtie badge.
Though the glowing bowtie looks the same as every other modern Chevy badge I’ve seen, it’s apparently a new design, according to the brand:
Another important new feature is the debut of the updated Chevrolet logo, with the bowtie slightly more horizontal and black as the predominant color in all versions.
“The change follows the trend of slimmer headlights and grilles due to the evolution of lighting, propulsion and even manufacturing resources. All of this is connected to the brand’s new global identity,” explains Alexandre Ameri, Head of Design at GM South America.
More important is how the rest of the Sonic is shaped. Gone is the standard hatchback bodystyle, replaced by a car that Chevy describes as combining “an impressive design, a package of innovative technologies, and a level of driving experience unprecedented for the category.” I’m not sure I could fit any more buzzwords into a single sentence if I tried.
Those words don’t really describe, well, anything, but Chevy does give one concrete spec: A length of 13.87 feet, putting it at a few inches longer than the Chevrolet Bolt. In other words, while it’s marketed as an SUV, it’ll still be pretty small. So at least there’s that. The car isn’t replacing anything in GM South America’s lineup; it’ll slot between the Onix Activ (a slightly tall hatchback) and the Tracker (a slightly longer crossover that sort of looks like a shrunken version of America’s Trailblazer). Chevy actually just released photos of the Onix last month, but only in drawing form:
A Chevy spokesperson confirmed to me the new Sonic isn’t coming to the U.S, which isn’t incredibly surprising considering the nature of this debut (honestly, a gas-powered car to slot under the Trax would probably sell pretty well). Either way, I don’t especially mind whether or not yet another small crossover reaches our shores.
When the Sonic went out of production in 2020, it was replaced by a new Aveo in other markets. That car was developed by the joint venture between GM and Chinese brand SAIC, and manufactured in China and the Middle East. GM South America is leading the development of this new Sonic, though, claiming it’s using “the most advanced engineering tools in a fully virtual design process, supported by artificial intelligence and machine learning resources.” The AI-designed car is approaching quicker than you think.
GM Brazil goes on to say that while this car will initially launch in South America, it’ll become a global product for Chevy, like the Aveo I just mentioned. That means it’ll have a factory somewhere in South America, but probably also somewhere else, like Asia. You’ll likely catch a glimpse of one or two of these things next time you go on vacation. It also feels like the type of car you might see in Southern California or New Mexico with Mexican plates, driven by someone who’s just visiting the States for the day.
I wanna hear from the Sonic die-hards out there: Are you saddened by this news, or excited by it? Sure, it’s a new Sonic, but it’s also just another small SUV.
Top graphic image: Chevrolet
It will be an Ecosport with a bowtie.
Make of that what you will.
but with the back chopped half off to make it a “coupe”, so much worse.
“Oh, and it’s probably not even coming to America.”
“this car will initially launch in South America“
He should have written ‘Murica if limited to the USA.
The Sonic got some grief because it was small and in the “disposable cheap car” category, but these are some pretty solid vehicles. A friend of mine has one with about 175k miles, and it’s still running strong. She’s maintained it well and replaced things as needed, and I say it’s probably good for another 100k if rust doesn’t eat it first.
The achilles heel on this is the same as the Spark — the cooling system seems like it’s made out of cardboard.
I genuinely forgot the Sonic and Spark were two different cars
RE Logos: I notice the blue paint falls off of all Ford logos nowdays. This didn’t happen when they were actully multi-piece badges with the paint below a polishable Lexan cover. Save the 10 cents and do better!
Had a 2000 bmw that did the same thing….I should have known that was a ‘sign’ of things to come. Very happy when got rid of that car!
My company has a couple of Sparks, which was the replacement for the Avio and they’re pretty good all things considered
The illuminated logo thing needs to stop.
I remember the first time I saw it on a Mercedes years ago, I didn’t like it, but I thought it would be super popular for them (it was) because the logo is at least half the reason for purchase for at least half of their customers. It’s gaudy and pretentious, but it makes sense to people who want to show off their new Mercedes. No one is trying to show off in their Chevy subcompact.
Too bad about the cuv-ification of the Sonic though. It has its faults, but was a fun little hatch to drive.
lighted logos? wankers like it.
I see a lot of illuminated VW badges and I just don’t understand who would be that proud of having spent more to buy the badge engineered version of a Skoda/SEAT/Cupra, but not being able to afford the Audi/Lamborghini version.
“Look at me! I’m doing sort of OK, but making mostly sensible financial decisions!”
I bet most of the owners are actually mortified by the illuminated badge but can’t turn it off.
Never until this very second did I realize that VW is the Mercury of Germany.
Sorry to be the ghost of logos future, but this will be an inexpensive appearance option on nearly every brand within 10 years. I am betting it will follow the popularity curve of RGB computer lighting.
People first get it to show off their luxury brand because that’s all who offer it (5 yrs ago to present). Soon they will choose it not to show off the brand but because it’s an option that used to be gatekept by the upper brands (next 5 yrs). Then you’ve got about 10 more years of it being the go-to option for it to become passé and trend back to a simple aesthetic.
…because the logo is at least half the reason for purchase for at least half of their customers. It’s gaudy and pretentious, but it makes sense to people who want to show off their new Mercedes.
You just reminded me of the passage in Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time series, specificially The Shadow Rising: “A silvery thing in another cabinet, like a three-pointed star inside a circle, was made of no substance she knew; it was softer than metal, scratched and gouged, yet even older than any of the ancient bones. From ten paces she could sense pride and vanity.”
I’ll make this real easy for you, Brian:
We don’t want it.
The first gen Sonic’s motorcycle style gauge cluster was really cool. I wish more cars did fun things with their gauges besides making them flat screen TVs.
I’m excited about actual gagues. One of the writers here made fun of physical gagues and it made me sad.
Me too. I have the same thing for gauges that Torch has for taillights. If you think about it, they’re the thing besides the road that you look at the most while driving, so they’re worthy of being done well.
I’d be fully on board for a gauge centered article set. Terrible ones irk me, and I have honeslty refused to buy cars because I could not bear to look at that instrument cluster daily.
I am right there with you. For example, the first gen Lexus IS was a pretty decent car, but no way could I look at that BS cluster while driving. And I absolutely loath screens with fake gauges. give me simple, straightforward set of round main gauges with black faces and white markings.
YES! The IS is such a choice example. I can still recall the “ooooh it looks like a chronograph watch!” excitement, but all I could think was how hard it would be to read all the tiny, too close faces at speed.
One of the best IMO is the setup on pre-996 Porsche 911s – block white numbers, black background, orange needles, set up in a row.
That bothers me less than no effort gauges – I’m specifically thinking the Chevy Celebrity. God, could a company have put any LESS effort into a gauge pack?
Those were some of the worst – the sheer laziness of putting basically 70s era barge-car gauges into 80s cars that were supposed to be an answer to the imports was astounding.
Oh yeah – lots of that back in the day. Speedo and fuel gauge and idiot lights, and nothing else. And often a horrible strip speedo.
Much as I like them, the early Saab 9-5 gauge cluster was pretty bad. Just a flat black plate with all the gauges printed on. Looked fine at night lit up, but like ass during the day. How much could it have possibly cost to have that extra layer of plastic to delineate each gauge?? GM forcing Saab to be GM-like, I am sure. The facelift “Dame Edna” cars got chrome rings around the instruments, and even though I don’t like bling, they look SOOO much better with that added bit of 3-dimension!
The Germans used to be the absolute best at no-nonsense, easy to read instrumentation. They sure have lost the plot today though. Screens screens screens screens screens screens screens screens and can I have optionally even MORE screens?
My favorite cluster of all time was in my A4 gen Jetta. It had red needles against clean b/w dials and a vivid yet relaxing blue backlighting at night. It appealed to me so much more than the red night illumination of BMWs back then. I know, I know… red is better for retention of night vision. That’s academic in this era of tall trucks with insanely bright LED headlights.
This seems more subsonic.
“the Sonic managed to outlast every other domestically branded hatch in the U.S., until it finally exited showrooms in late 2020.”
I think you are somehow forgetting the Bolt as well as the Spark, no?
TBF at least it has proper rear door handles. Yeah I know, but I’m going to keep going on about that so just get used to it.
I thought the original Sonic was a cute little runabout that would have been on my list if I were looking for a subcompact car. Although I might have gone for the sedan if I thought I would need to pack…anything.
That bowtie in the picture is squashed for sure, it seems pretty obvious to me.
Yeah, I was once given a sonic as a rental on a work trip. A full size suitcase literally filled the entire cargo compartment. My backpack had to ride shotgun. Also the rear visibility was horrific. I had to remove the rear headrests before I left the parking garage just to see anything in the mirror.
It was surprisingly fun too drive though.
🙁
Have no fear, yours is better.
Another small crossover that’s defiling the name of a dead hatchback? I’m much happier without it here.
A good thing about the Chevy Sonic was that you could drive your Sonic through the drive-thru at Sonic and then go get gas at Delta Sonic. Bonus points for it being Sonic the Hedgehog blue.
Ha ha! I love their blue raspberry creamslushes
What happens if you were listening to a song by Semisonic at the time?
A couple of years ago we stopped at Sonic for lunch. Imagine our surprise, and the workers, when we walked into the kitchen. So that’s why their ads always show people in their cars!
I wasn’t a fan of the sonic its place in the line up generally confused me. It was slightly bigger then a spark slightly smaller then a Cruze. Ford had the fiesta and the focus it made more sense. The rental car companies used to love the trick of renting you a focus or like and giving you a sonic. When a Cruze was more comparable to a focus.
Now there’s a Brazilian AI designed sonic SUV that probably using Chinese components. My guess it will look Chinese be basically Chinese. Just testing in a market that has less options and is highly protective against imports.
The Focus and Cruze were compacts, the Fiesta and Sonic were subcompacts, the Spark was a city car, the size class below subcompact. Traditionally popular in much of the world, but which has historically been largely unknown in the US except for a brief period there where we got a few of them – Chevy Spark, Fiat 500, Scion iQ, Smart ForTwo
That makes sense I guess. Ford ka being the ford equivalent to a spark. The idiot rental manager have no idea about them. My only experience with sonics were rentals fighting with rental managers about it probably muddy the water in my mind a bit. There are still a few rental companies I refuse to use because of sonics.
Rental car sizes tend to be one size down from actual size – “midsize – Corolla or similar”, “full-size – Camry or similar”
Yep calling a sonic a midsize is just wrong. Focus, cruise, or corolla sure why not. But they tried to alot. On the other hand SUVs have sort of fallen in line with there definitions. A full size for them was a Sorrento or explorer now most people consider them a full size suv.
Cars have been growing in size almost every generation. I’m not one for vanity sizing for pants or cars. Follow the link below and you will see the EPA class size certifications based on interior volume.
iQ ………. Minicompact ……<85 cu ft
Spark …. Subcompact …….. 85 – 99
Sonic …. Compact …………. 100 – 109
Cruze …. Midsize …………… 110 – 119
https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/Find.do?action=sbs&id=34891&id=35214&id=35012&id=35537
Meanwhile, a Volare/Aspen was considered a compact car back when it came out.
In an era before any official measurement based classes and everything was vanity sizing.
A rental car company renting a Focus and substituting a Sonic is being straight with you. They are both compact cars and a 2015 Sonic has 1 cu ft more passenger volume / 1 cu ft less cargo volume than a 2015 Focus
The Cruze is larger and a midsize but on the small end of the class. The Malibu was also midsize but on the high end of the class.
https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/Find.do?action=sbs&id=35211&id=35961&id=35011&id=35014
I don’t buy your flannel any more then the polyester wearing people.
2011 focus sedan is 175 in, pax 93.4 cu ft, trunk 13.8 cuft
Cruze 181 in, pax 94.6 cuft , truck 15.4 cuft
Sonic 159.8 in, pax 90.3 cuft, trunk 14.9 cuft
Corrolla 178.7 in, pax 92.1 cuft, trunk 12.3 cuft
Elantra 178.3 in, pax 95.6 cuft, trunk 14.8 cuft
Civic 177.3 in, pax 102.9 cuft, trunk 12 cuft
Jetta 182 in, pax 94.1 cuft, trunk 15.5 cuft
One sticks out with the rest of the us spec compact cars. Sonic is a subcompact not a compact. They are not in the same class.
You can see this us spec sub compact car of the same year. It’s even short for that and has fairly significant less passenger volume.
2011 Kia Rio 167 in, pax 104 cuft , trunk 12 cuft
Accent 168.5 in, pax 104.6 cuft, trunk 12.8 cuft
Fiesta 173.6 in, pax 97.9cuft, trunk 12.8 cuft
Sonic 159.8 in, pax 90.3 cuft, trunk 14.9 cuft
Where are you getting your interior volumes? I ask because I use FuelEconomy gov but they only list volumes for passenger cars.
You used a different generation than I did. Both the Chevy and Ford are different cars in 2011 vs 2015.
There is no 2011 Sonic (at least in the USA). In 2011 we had the Aveo – which got renamed as the Sonic in 2012 with the redesign
For the Focus – 2011 was the 2nd gen, the USA didn’t get the 3rd gen until 2012.
In the USA cars are classified by interior volume rounded to the nearest cu ft. Passenger + Luggage.
Subcompact = 85 to 99 cu ft
Compact = 100 – 109 cu ft
Midsize = 110 – 119 cu ft.
2011 Aveo: 91 + 12 = 103 cu ft = Compact
2011 Focus: 93 + 14 = 107 cu ft = Compact
2015 Sonic: 91 + 12 = 103 cu ft = Compact
2015 Focus: 90 +14 = 104 cu ft = Compact
(All sedans)
Here is a link to fueleconomy gov for the 4 cars. Click on the spec tab and you will see the official class certification for the USA. They are all compacts.
https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/Find.do?action=sbs&id=35211&id=35961&id=30314&id=30312
Also some of your list of compact cars are actually midsize. Automaker’s marketing teams like vanity sizing. I go by actual measurements and certifications.
From the manufacturers, EPA does their own measurement using their car volume index them throws a class on it for cert. Knowing people at the EPA I wouldn’t trust their data as far as I could throw them. They didn’t even know about Veolia. When it was their job to. Almost every material in existence on the sonic labels it a sub compact. But let’s everyone use the EPA standard they use to decide how much emissions can be emitted because you know that’s a what shoppers do. It’s all Flannel. Now if you go European standard it’s a b segment aka sub compact one above a city car( a segment).
Where does one find manufacturer interior volumes on the internet? This isn’t a dimension that most list in their spec sheets these days.
EPA does not do their own measurements for car classifications. Automakers take the measurements using the EPA procedure (which is done by stacking blocks of a certain size) and then submit that data to EPA. Same as emission testing – we do it ourselves in our own labs.
The value in EPA class sizes is that they have not changed for 50 years. They are consistent and based on physical measurements not vibes. The marketing classes that you seem to prefer have no meaning as they have no agreed basis. No different than vanity sizing in closes where every manufacturer’s 34 inch pants have a different waist measurement. Honda still calls the Civic a compact car even though it is larger than a 90’s Accord.
Congrats on the use of Flannel though. Most people aren’t going to reach back to the 1800’s for their insults.
I worked rental years ago and we took so many liberties with the classifications. Many a 4-door Cavalier went out as a midsize…..
Yawn.
Wait, new SUV Sonic? Eh, it’ll be perfectly cromulent.
An uncreative spirit embiggens the smallest hatchback.
Probably the greatest — Aw, it’s not for you. It’s more of a Shelbyville idea.
Just tell us what it is and we’ll buy it!!
Well…it’s not a Tesla, is it?
I think you put it best when you wrote I don’t especially mind whether or not another small SUV reaches our shores or not.
that’s a Crosstrek.
Ignore the grille, that’s a fucking Crosstrek. Absolutely spitting image.
That was my exact thought when I saw the photo.
Flame on crossover’s are great. ride height is awesome. its just the overall bladness in suspension tuning and lack of stiffness that make “crossovers” so boring. And the extra weight. Theres no reason a “hot crossover” can’t be just as fun as a “hot hatchback” if you build it right.
that being said GM hasn’t really done a “hot crossover” since the saturn Vue redline but who knows anything could happen.
There is a reason that crossovers are the most popular body style in the USA and now Europe.
I’m also in the small camp that actually appreciates the original Sonic, especially the early RS. I don’t care about this new thing.
No, thanks
The Sonic is nice, but it’s no Spark 😛
Yeah, the Spark made it thru 2022, and right up until the end you could get cool colors, a manual transmission, a sunroof, and heated pleather seats 🙂
The earliest Sonic had that cool dash, which they got rid of after a few years. They also came in cool colors.
Too bad we never got the Onix, either. GM should bring more cars from Brazil up here.
That was the sportbike style gauge cluster, right? I loved that GM would put something so cool in an econo car.
Yeah, that was it
I doubt they would meet NITSA required rules.
I doubt it would meet safety requirements. You can shave $15,000 off a car easy if you don’t mind losing them as a returning customer as a result of dying.
I know it’s yelling at the clouds, but every time I hear an automaker describe something 1) with more than 2 doors and 2) with an SUV body, as a “coupe”, it just makes me sigh dejectedly.
And at this point, does coupe mythos still matter to buyers of these anyway?
I’m starting to think LEDs were a mistake.
At first, I was excited, but what we ended up with was blinding glare and designers (are we sure AI hasn’t been secretly designing for years now?) unencumbered by the shape limitations of old, went ahead torturing lighting into all kinds of ghastly shapes so that the front ends of far too many cars more closely resemble ideas for novel facial makeup for the antagonists of a Killer Klowns From Outer Space remake than automobiles. Those headlight units also cost a small fortune to replace when damaged or when portions of them fail, which does not bode well for a sustainable future with likely limited parts availability. Unfortunately, this seems to be the way of tech for about the last decade or so. Not only do they fail to live up to optimistic predictions, but they are often overall worse than what they replace, at best, having some small benefit that can’t hope to balance out the negatives for the great majority of users and other options besides only buying increasingly valuable antiques get rarer by the product cycle.
Am I the only one that can see the buzz, or the flash, of LED lights? It drives me crazy.
I used to see it in older fluorescents, but never noticed it with LED. The harshness of the light bothers me, which they could fix by adjusting the temperature, but that harshness seems to be equated with desirable “modernity” whatever that shit even means anymore. Modernity was a cool concept decades ago when optimistic visions of the future were still probable, but besides the few voluntary slaves who worship techbro idiocy, people for whom The Emperor’s New Clothes went entirely over their heads, do we really want it at this point, from the ever-consolidating outside control all the way down to the very lack of color and organic form? If I thought they were smarter, I’d think they were purposely further removing us from nature as a component of keeping us unmoored in an exploitable state of anxiety. But that would be crazy. They couldn’t possibly be doing that!—they’re far too stupid and self-serving to carry through with a plan that requires the longterm involvement of so many others, right?
LED house lights and flashlights are da bomb, but otherwise, yeah, I’m with you.
I’m bring facetious of course, I have loads of lovely work lights and tools and all my light bulbs are LEDs. But this Rudolph trend, and the 15K lumen lights that blaze all night to illuminate millions of dead acres of parking lot or so bright they literally illuminate an entire valley (like the renovated gas station a mile from my mom’s house that means you can now walk in the yard at night with no additional light), or houses in my neighborhood that illuminate their driveway bright enough to light a 2000sq ft building, or light bars in trucks so bright they leave an afterimage even after seeing them in daylight, that shit bothers me deeply. Including what it does to my sleep when I’m in a place that’s never dark, because it’s so cheap to run 100W of LEDs 24/7.