2012 Chevrolet Gray Sonic Official Photos and Info

The Chevy Aveo never lied to the American people, but it does have other connections to Richard Nixon. The former president was elected twice; the Aveo was sold for two generations. Nixon promoted American trade with Asia; the Aveo was built in Asia. Nixon sucked; the Aveo . . . well, no need to speak ill of the dead. Finally, Americans likely would have been willing to elect anyone after Nixon was gone, and so it follows that any Aveo replacement will be an improvement. Chevy says the new Sonic, set to debut at the 2011 Detroit auto show, isn’t just better than the Aveo—it’s good in its own right.
Getting Serious About Getting Small
When GM hit the skids a few years ago, one of the familiar cries from critics was that the firm hadn’t focused on small cars. The criticism appears to have been answered. The Sonic is the second of three new small Chevys; above it sits the Cruze, and come late this year, the Spark will sit below.
With this in mind, the company has skinned the new Sonic—which is available as both a five-door hatchback and a four-door sedan—to look like something more than an econobox. The execution is faithful to the Aveo RS concept car. The headlights are said to be motorcycle-inspired, and while we don’t exactly see a Kawasaki Ninja in there, they are attractive to be sure.
Astonishingly, GM has scored a coup in designing the Sonic sedan: Unlike so many other B-segment sedans, it doesn’t look like a high-waisted shopping cart. The hatch has its own noteworthy exterior design touch. Instead of the rear doors’ handles being in their traditional place on, you know, the door, they are integrated into the pillar, à la Alfa Romeo Giulietta and, much less sexily, a number of mid-1990s GM coupes. The effect is definitely helpful for the hatch’s profile, giving it the appearance of a sportier three-door car.
The Sonic’s two-tone interior is clean and, like the bigger Cruze’s, features a high-mounted center audio unit and straightforward HVAC knobs. A stylish steering wheel drives home the point that the Sonic may be a B-segment car, but it’s not anodyne