Chevrolet has announced that the 2014 Sonic subcompact will be available in two limited-edition colors: Deep Magenta Metallic and Cool Blue.
Announced and pictured here today is a chromatic plum Deep Magenta Metallic. It’s the first in the series and will be available August through October. It will be followed by the grayish, dirty blue called Cool Blue from November until March. Then in the first quarter of 2014, Dragon Green will arrive as a permanent addition to the Sonic color palate.
“We know that about one-third of our Sonic buyers note exterior color as an ‘extremely important’ factor in their purchase process – a higher percentage than other small car buyers,” said lead creative designer in General Motors’ color and trim studio and exterior paint expert for Chevrolet Michelle Killen.
Given that the Inferno Orange hue will be discontinued on the 2014 Sonic, the design team realized that pink was a lasting trend followed the success of the Spark’s Techno Pink. So the brand created Deep Magenta Metallic after “extensive research into fashion runways, consumer products, and high-end furniture galleries.” According to Chevy, the magenta tone results in color shifts, showing the Sonic’s form vocabulary (the shape of the car) as it drives down the road.
The limited-edition colors will be applied using the “three-wet” paint process at GM’s Orion Assembly Plant, with the technique ensuring high quality while reducing environmental impact and minimizing the plant’s paint shop footprint by 10 percent. In fact, GM was the first automaker to implement the process, which calls for three layers of paint to be applied one after another without drying — thus requiring only a single trip through the oven.
The limited-edition colors, according to Chevy, continue the brand’s effort of attracting what it calls the “individualist” consumer. Last year, Chevy announced plans to produce the Sonic Dusk — a special edition package of the Sonic that it first showed as a concept at SEMA.
For reference, a Chevy vehicle has 10 to 12 color options throughout its lifecycle on average — according to General Motors.
Comments
New paint doesn’t quite cover up the ugly.
I hope that GM considers some appearance options besides color to dress it up — even if these are optional (maybe standard on RS) — or even available through a third party. I would like to see LEDs in the headlamps — even if it’s a string of them to be the DRLs — gives an updated appearance — plus specific tail lamps that are much more fashionable.
Has anyone told GM that there is a fast food chain called Sonic that precedes this car by quite a few years? Will the buyers get commission for advertising cheeseburgers and fries or at least get a discount on their next purchase of junk food?
I’ve been waiting for the Sonic Dusk. Any idea when this might be released?
Still no center armrest console. Door armrest is hard plastic. The LTZ should have real leather like the Fiesta, not smelly vinyl. Lumbar controls would be nice. 4 wheel discs in LT models and above as well.
GM-sweat the small stuff.
Some night …. at dusk