- chevrolet has confirmed that the sonic subcompact sedan and hatchback are being discontinued.
- it's due to a decline in sales and also will let gm's orion township plant ramp up efforts to produce the refreshed bolt ev and the upcoming bolt euv crossover.
- the sonic was introduced for the 2012 model year, and the 2020 model starts at $17,595.
small cars are dropping like flies in the u.s. market. in the chevrolet lineup alone, the chevy cruze and chevy volt have been dropped recently as customers push for crossovers and suvs, and the toyota yaris is the latest to get the ax. now chevrolet is dropping the sonic due to a decline in sales, a chevy spokesman confirmed to car and driver.
chevrolet says that the demise of the sonic will free up efforts at gm's orion township assembly plant so that it can focus on production of the refreshed bolt ev and bolt euv crossover, which will both go into production in 2021. in 2019, chevy sold 16,418 bolt evs in the u.s. compared to 13,971 sonics as gm's push for electric vehicles begins to ramp up. ceo mary barra has said that gm will sell a million evs a year in the near future.
chevrolet said that it notified dealers last month and plans to end production of the sonic in october due to declining interest in the subcompact car. in the first quarter this year, chevy sold 4341 sonics compared to chevy's 71,247 total car sales at the beginning of the year.
the sonic was introduced for the 2012 model year to target younger buyers, and it starred in a super bowl commercial that year doing tricks to the band fun's song "we are young." the 2020 sonic is available as either a sedan or a hatchback, starting at $17,595 and tops out at $21,595 for the premier model.