General Motors, and Chevrolet specifically, has often prided itself on offering a car for every segment. Soon, Chevy will exit the sub-compact market, however.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that the Chevrolet Sonic will exit production as early as this year. Sonic sales have dwindled from a high in 2014 when Chevrolet sold around 100,000 units. Current sales are a fraction of the 2014 figure as the market shifts to crossovers, SUVs and trucks.
What the news means for the Orion assembly plant is unclear. The plant currently builds the Sonic and Chevrolet Bolt EV. Orion once built the Buick Verano, which also exited production. The plant also builds the Opel Ampera-e which will soon exit production following the sale of Opel to PSA Groupe.
Prior to the report, it was understood that plans for a next-generation Sonic had been pushed back to early next decade. However, the market’s shift to utility vehicles likely killed the Sonic for good.
The report also claims, according to sources close to the matter, that the full-size Chevrolet Impala is next on the chopping block.
Comments
I won’t weep at the departure of this specific car — but I am concerned that losing an affordable ‘first car’ isn’t wise for Chevy. The Spark seems a little too small unless their numbers indicate otherwise.
Great- I have a 2017. There goes the trade in value 🙁
Its a low priced compact car from a domestic make in a market that is rapidly turning away from compact cars.
Its resale value all ready hovered between used Huggies and 2nd hand toothbrushes……..
Give it the 1.0 three cylinder turbo and see what happens. It is a solid little car. Just needs an update.
Put the Cruze 1.4 turbo on the Sonic. This car is more better looking that Toyota Yaris and Nissan Versa. Dont kill it GM, fix it.
I think if they were to put the 1.6L diesel in it, the MPG’s would be amazing.
As someone with a design background, I can’t help but feel the mid-cycle enhancement of the Sonic has done the car no favors. It used to have a unique personality with its individual round lights…but the homogenization to the Chevrolet design theme that put it more in line with the rest of the line up robbed it of this uniqueness. A more powerful engine, exterior and interior color changes, and a much more mild exterior redesign that embraced the unique individual headlights would have kept the Sonic off of the chopping block.
As for the Impala, SHAME on GM (mis)management for letting the most beautiful Chevrolet sedan design in decades whither on the vine!
I like the new Sonic front end more, but liked the older models motorcycle gauge cluster way better.
In regards to the Impala, first, if its “the most beautiful Chevrolet sedan in decades” then why would they need to change anything on it? Why would it wither? Its either beautiful or it needs improvements, it can’t be both.
2nd, Chevrolet can only do so much, if people want Equinoxes and Traverses, Chevy can’t instruct dealers to force people to buy Impalas at gun point.
The car is gorgeous.. All it really needed was an AWD option, an interior upgrade with an optional higher end package and perhaps some chrome trim around the tail lamps.
Chevrolet makes nothing but rental Impala’s (and Malibu’s) forever and tarnishes their nameplates by doing so. Finally they turn around and make a car worthy of the nameplate again yet they decide to shortchange it (for the sake of protecting Buick) and now may kill it altogether. It’s really sad what continues to happen to Chevy.
protecting Buick is such a bad move.
Barely anyone shops the GM Hierarchy any more.
If the Malibu or Impala is not offered in AWD, barely any consumers go look at a Regal or Lacrosse AWD, they go shop for a Ford or Subaru.
Buick’s image in North America is not good.
When you find this mystery AWD ONLY cabal, please let me know, because not offering AWD has done nothing to slow Camry or Accord sales and having AWD has really done Jack Squat for Fusion and Taurus sales as they are both looking at the gallows pole as well……but go on believing what you’d like to believe.
Mr. R
That is true Camry and Accord don’t have AWD but still sell well.
I agree. The Sonic stood apart design wise and I have no interest in the newer redesign. Shame GM also killed off the Z-Spec performance packages that offered some nice upgrades.
No, mild-cycle was a hold until a new design and chassis for a new sonic to be build. A new Chevrolet sonic was on it’s way. But these crossover boom came alone, and stop that. Now they can upgraded some more, but how well will it sale? I think even people in these compact/Subcompact car’s are going to crossover’s.
The car was not bad but the segment is not worth investing in. Odds are they could put the money in a much better model that will prove more profitable.
I would argue that earning brand loyalty from entry level buyers, reaps future benefits that are not immediately quantifiable. A genuine performance oriented Sonic could have garnered the cult following that the Cobalt SS once had and kept it alive. Unfortunately, the concept of delayed gratification seems to be lost on current GM management that is hyper-focused on maximizing profits on each sale…beholden to the shareholders I suppose.
Brand loyalty is not much like it used to be. It only will get worse.
If the auto industry was Baskin Robbins they would be down to 32 flavored because they would make more money with less.
The reality is cool cars while cool are not profit centers. Most anymore unless they are sold globally are not profitable and in the end you make less money than if you had not done it.
Feel good cars are just that. Toyota built one of the largest mfg on nothing but pure boredom.
I was a HHR SS owner and know how many SS Cobalts, HHR models they sold. The numbers were small. The Covalt SS sedan was in the hundreds. The honesty is they did not make much money on this and really did not sell more Cobalts or HHR models because of them.
The bottom line is GM is investing in the future and technology’s that will benefit them for years. They will make more profit from them while still tossing in a fun car here and there.
Also note the performance market is in decline. I know because I work in it. It pains me to see this or say this but businesses are run by numbers not by heart.
Prior to GM pulling out of South Africa, NO4, in sales btw, the Sonic was available with a 1.4 turbo engine as the Sonic RS. So that platform can easily accommodate a more powerful engine. We had the 1.4, 1.6, 1.4T and 1.3diesel at one stage. A lot of people feel the pull out was a mistake with Chevy going from new in the market to a srong 4’th just behind Ford in 10 years.
Let’s not forget that maintaining a car in every segment is important, lest we (GM) be caught with our proverbial pants down when (not if) gas prices spike. We Americans have a horrible short term memory and jump into the larger, less fuel efficient vehicles when gas is cheap… only to regret that decision when we have to drop a Benjamin to fill up.
I guess they could sell the other 3, 4 or 5 Chevy small cars with good gas millage? Or maybe even the electric ones? I dunno?
Of course one could take the attitude that —
1. Oil is running out
2. Population is way too hight
3. Plastics are wonderful for only a billion reasons
4. Using less gas saves money
5. — and unties us from people who do 9/11s
6. Our planet is warming up already causing a billion problems
7. — and if you have kids your bigger car is making their futures smaller
This is a very BAD move GM. What happens when gas prices go back up to $4-$5 a gallon. There is no if to that scenario. It is bound to happen again.
Oh no. whatever will they do?
I guess they could sell the Spark? Cruze? 50mpg Cruze? diesel, Malibu? Diesel Malibu? an electric Bolt? a Volt?
Do you even model line up bro?
Its also made in Mexico and South Korea. They really only kept it for the CAFE rules.
No loss then if made in Korea or Mexico.
Nice to see GM focusing on Made in America vehicles again. Great leadership forces this sometimes.
Mexico and Canada are both “American” nations, thus any GM vehicle (including the Sonic) assembled out of the U.S. border in these nations is still “American”.
Sonic is made in Michigan…
https://www.autotrader.com/car-news/chevrolet-sonic-goes-into-production-115490
Nope Harold.
The Sonic is made in Michigan.
…and also in South Korea and Mexico. Probably China and India as well, although I’m not sure about that.
Well Ford has announced they are killing the Taurus and Fiesta and is still considering the Fusion.
Chrysler killed the 20” and is reported to be considering the 300 and Charger.
GM has yet to say they will keep the Impala and the Lacrosse is in danger as the dealers are still trying to sell 2016 models.
These days and time automakers are now functioning differently and more un conventional.
The bottom line is just making money in the face of such high development cost is no longer enough. Today it is about maximizing return on the investment.
The fact is companies are not going to lose money or support slow low profit products anymore even if they leave a segment or market.
Cruze/spark,/ Bolt.
My wife is a Sonic sedan owner. I just told her about this, and she is devastated. The Spark is too small and hatchbacky, she feels that the Cruze is too big, and both of us hate crossovers, so the Trax wouldn’t ever be an option. Too tall, and lumpy looking, and lacks a separate private locking trunk. I guess the answer is to find one of the last, and keep it for as long as possible, even though the current one still has plenty of life(?). We just want to be able to replace it on our timetable with an updated version of the same thing, forever, just as I want to do with a larger Impala/Lacrosse sized sedan. Sucks having choices taken away.
If you think that sucks, try spending billions on developing a car and not having people buy it. Try a Cruze, I’m sure she’ll eventually get used to something that “huge”…….
LOL, I wish it was that easy. She still occasionally complains about judging where the corners of the Sonic are after four years of ownership. We tested the Volt, as she loves the concept, but didn’t enjoy the experience from behind the wheel. I still occasionally hear about how awful it was to have to rent a Focus once many years ago before we even met, and how much she hated parking an Accord she got for free back in college (back when Accords were still small).
Civic and corolla grown in size, if sonic was a new version it would be bigger too.
Target to Civic and Corolla is Cruze. Sonic is same size with Honda Fit, Nissan Versa, and Toyota iA those Asian subcompacts.
The Sonic was a good vehicle. Too bad that it didn’t get more attention and marketing from Chevrolet, but it is what it is.
Sonic is made all over the world. Russia, China, Colombia, Mexico and US. It looks like they will only kill US production and sales. This car will live on outside of the country and GM will be able to bring it back here quickly if a need arises.
It sucks, but that’s the nature of the business now. Hopefully that’s the end of the bad news and GM won’t follow Ford’s steps and kill the Impala as well.
The Trax helped kill the Sonic. Same platform, but more room inside, was a no-brainer for most. The EcoSport will do the same to the Fiesta. A shame they didn’t turbocharge the Sonic RS into a hot hatch, but the Fiesta ST wasn’t exactly a huge hit here either.
I believe poor Sonic sales were more the result of limited stocking at dealers and few incentives. Even the largest Chevy exclusive dealers may stock 35 Cruze’s, 25 Malibu’s, and 2 Sonic’s. Apparently the profit margin for a Sonic makes it undesirable inventory for a dealer. Recently I wanted to replace the wife’s 6 year old Sonic with a current one; we like the Sonic, purchased two of them in 2012. When searching for a new one, there were few in stock, and the ones in inventory were ill equipped. Then the incentives arrived with 20% – 23% or more off of MSRP on the Cruze and Malibu; but $500.00 off of a Sonic. We actually wanted to replace a Sonic with another Sonic, but ended up purchasing a Malibu for Sonic money, due to inventory and incentives. The Sonic is the only B segment sub compact built in the USA, and to me that means a lot. It is too bad that GM chose to surrender this market to the competition, but money always dictates GM decisions. GM tends to cherry-pick the segment of vehicles they produce and aren’t necessarily interested in maintaining a full vehicle lineup.
Well, the Sonic is not a real Chevrolet-it actually carries the sins of its Asian parents Suzuki and Daewoo-who never did well in America. The Cruze is not a real Chevrolet for the same logic. The Spark is the same logic too. The Malibu is a real Chevrolet as is the Impala-Ford dumps the Fusion the Malibu might go. Taurus goes, Impala goes. Buick and Cadillac don’t have enough utility vehicles for sale.
I bet the minivan from GM could make a comeback, and they better not screw it up again. Chevrolet revives the Astro, GMC revives the Safari, Buick brings the GL8 from China. All get features the Asian rivals get, even the Pacifica minivan. You see, new model names cost money-it’s why Chrysler brought the Pacifica name back for their Town & Country replacement.
While we’re at it, can Cadillac make a competitor to the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van?