The Chevrolet Sonic, known in some markets as the Chevrolet Aveo, was a line of subcompact (B-segment) economy cars produced by General Motors from the 2012 thru the 2020 model years. It was offered as a four-door sedan and five-door hatchback throughout the Americas, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and some African countries. The Sonic is technically the second-generation Chevy Aveo, with GM offering it as the Sonic in some markets in order to avoid the negative image associated with the Aveo name.
GM also marketed the Sonic as the Chevrolet Aveo in other markets such as South Korea, China and Europe. While in Australia and New Zealand it was sold as Holden Barina. As such, this vehicle was the first truly global subcompact from Chevrolet and the company.
The Chevy Sonic spanned only a single generation before its discontinuation.
First Generation (T300)
2012 Chevrolet Sonic hatch (left) and sedan (right) revealed at the 2011 North American International Auto Show in Detroit
The first generation Chevrolet Sonic was officially revealed on January 10th, 2011 during the 2011 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. However, the vehicle was shown at the 2010 Paris Motor Show a few months earlier, where it debuted under the Aveo nameplate.
Assigned program code T300, this model was designed and developed GM Korea in South Korea. It debuted the GM Gamma platform for the automaker’s global subcompact cars, which it later shared with the Chevrolet Trax and Buick Encore. For the 2017 model year, the Sonic received a midcycle refresh consisting of cosmetic updates to the front fascia, new LED taillights and updates to the interior.
Refreshed 2016 Chevy Sonic hatchback
The first-gen Chevy Sonic was produced across the following GM facilities:
- GM Lake Orion plant in Orion Township, Michigan, USA (ended production 2020)
- GM Ramos Arizpe plant in Mexico (ended production in 2017)
- GM Rayong plant in Thailand (ended production in 2015)
Notably, at the time of its introduction, the Chevy Sonic became the first and only subcompact-sized passenger car to ever be manufactured in the United States. In fact, it holds this title to this day.
The vehicle was also produced across the following facilities as the second-generation Chevrolet Aveo:
- GM Bupyeong-gu plant, Incheon, South Korea
- SAIC-GM Dongyue Plant, Yantai, Shandong, China
- GM Colmotores plant, Bogotá, Colombia:
- GM-GAZ Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
More Chevrolet Sonic Resources
Follow these links for more Chevrolet Sonic information:
