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16 New Chevy Sonic Units Were Delivered In 2022

The Chevy Sonic, in both sedan and hatchback configuration, was terminated in October 2020 following the 2020 model year. Despite being long since discontinued, GM dealers still managed to sell a few leftover units in the 2022 calendar year.

Collectively, The General recorded 2,273,942 deliveries of new vehicles in the United States during the 2022 calendar year. Of that figure, the Chevy Sonic accounted for 16 units.

These 16 Sonic deliveries are known as “zombie cars,” since they are sold long since the vehicle was officially discontinued. It also means that these vehicles have been on dealer lots for quite some time now.

2020 Chevy Sonic.

As a reminder, the Chevy Sonic was first introduced in the U.S. for the 2012 model year, replacing the Chevy Aveo. At the time of its demise, the 2020 Sonic was available in LS, LT and Premier trim levels for the sedan, and LT and Premier trim levels for the five-door hatchback. A sporty RS appearance package was optional on LT and Premier sedans, as well as standard affair on the hatchback.

Regardless of trim or body style, all 2020 Sonic variants were equipped with the turbocharged 1.4L LUV I4 gasoline engine, which produced 138 horsepower and 148 pound-feet of torque. This output was routed to the front wheels through the GM six-speed automatic transmission.

As previously mentioned, Chevy Sonic production ended at the GM Lake Orion plant in October 2020. The last Sonic ever manufactured was a sedan in LT form. Equipped with the RS package, this unit was painted in Mosaic Black Metallic paint and featured a Jet Black interior colorway.

The then-new Chevy Bolt EUV was introduced around this time and took advantage of the increased production capacity the Sonic’s departure created. Currently, the GM Lake Orion assembly plant produces the Chevy Bolt EV, Chevy Bolt EUV, and Cruise AV vehicles.

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Comments

  1. I’d rather have a Sonic than a Bolt.

    Reply
    1. Boomer59: Have you owned/driven a Sonic? Have you ever driven a Bolt? I owned a 2012 Sonic and it was a very nice car. No complaints. I just picked up a 2023 Bolt. No comparison.

      Although EV’s are not for everyone and maybe you are in that group. But unless you have driven a Bolt, how would you know?

      Reply
  2. I’ll keep my Sonic forever!

    Reply
    1. I still have my mom’s 2004 Aveo LS Sedan that I ordered in January of 2004 and didn’t get until either the end of April or the end of May. It had every factory option. It only has 34,000 miles on it right now. First year model, and only ever had two recalls – one for the daytime running lights I believe the switch your module had to be replaced, and the other was for a crooked backseat seatbelt that had to be straightened. Other than that no factory recalls.

      Reply
  3. I purchased a Sonic Hatchback late in 2019 and owned it until 2021. It was a classy little car and lots of fun to drive. During that time many people asked me what it was and mentioned that they had never seen them advertised. Young men in particular mentioned that they might well have bought one had they known Chevrolet offered such a sporty small car.
    This reminds me of my experiences when I traded it for a Volt EUV. Many have said they were not aware that Chevy produced them or that any EV, let alone an American made one, was available in such a price point. Only after the battery recall fiasco was resolved did did I finally begin to see Bolt commercials on TV.
    Chevy seems to have an unfortunate way of building some good, appealing vehicles but failing to make prospective buyers aware of them.
    re

    Reply
    1. EXACTLY! THAT’S WHY THEY NEED A CHANGE AT THE TOP!!!!!!

      Reply
    2. Not only do they not make you aware, retailers do not want to sell them , They want to move BOF pickups/ SUVs with huge profits and not a small car with low margin levels.
      That is a real problem with GM , they had some competitive small cars , Spark, Sonic , Trax , Cruze etc . they are all gone as most retailers had no interest in selling them,
      Go to a Hyundai lot or Kai, totally different experience, all they sell are smaller cars , so when you are looking there is lots of inventory and the sales people are eager to help. Go to a chevy/ GM lot and you get their attention if buying a Silverado or Tahoe , but ask about a Trailblazer , and the response is more like , who makes those ???
      My wifes’ mom has a 2014 Sonic sedan , LT since new . Its been great. Its an awesome small runabout , great economy , ride, easy to drive and see out of , the seats and driving position are very comfortable. Its a shame GM discontinued it as it was one of their best ever small cars.

      Reply
      1. Blue, fastdriver and kirk: I agree with you all totally.

        Kirk, I’ll give a perspective from the sales side at a dealership. So many dealers just want to stock what is easy for them to sell. They don’t want to work for a sale. They don’t want to advertise something that “they” feel is not going to give them a huge fat pay check. They are lazy (yes, I still work at a dealership) and the sales staff is even lazier. Nobody wants to work and instead just want to take a walk-in customer (an Up) and walk them to the easiest thing to buy. Then they want to take the order and move on to the next one.

        But here’s the problem with that. GM, the dealers and the sales people are cutting off their nose in spite of their face. Where do all these smaller car buyers go? Where do all these mid-sized car buyers go? Where are the larger car buyers going? They are buying (as proof of the more than 2 million sedan/cars sold in 2021 will show). So as these lazy dealers and sales people and GM are ignoring all these buyers, those same buyers are going to Toyota, Honda, Kia, Hyundai, Nissan, BMW, MB, etc. Guess what? Those same people will most likely stay with those brands, refer those brands, sell that brand to the young guys at the drive through window, and have their kids go to those brands. I’ve been talking about this for a long time. Lost sales are a real thing. Getting those customers back is way more expensive and almost never happens. Shame on GM and Ford for abandoning these buyers for the quick sale and buck.

        Reply
  4. I echo Walt’s comment. I took delivery of my New 2012 Sonic Hatchback with the 6-speed manual transmission on 15 December 2011 and I still own it today. Boy, they had some crazy commercials back when it was introduced. I remember the one that I believe was dropped from a C-130 aircraft.
    The Chevy slogan that went through my head at the time was, “…Like-a-Rock!”
    I sure hope that parachute opened.
    Then there was the Bungee Jumping, the Skateboard Flip, and a few others. After a couple of years, the advertising budget for the Sonic all but disappeared.

    Reply
    1. LorbeerTLC: I also recall those. It was nice to see them actually advertising them. In fact, one of those commercials was filmed in down town LA and I happened to drive past when they were filming it. I may be wrong, but I think the car they were using was an orange hatch? I too had a 2012 Sonic 1LT sedan in gray that I purchased new. Never had an issue, but then I don’t keep my cars more than about 2 years normally.

      Reply

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