Chevy said today that it would end production of the Sonic by the end of this year at its plant in Lake Orion, Michigan. I like to think that this is because someone at Chevy woke up this morning and discovered that Chevy still makes the Sonic.
Chevy sold 13,971 Sonics in America last year, which was down 32.2 percent compared to the year prior.
From Automotive News:
Chevy notified dealers last month of its plans to end Sonic production “due to declining demand,” said spokesman Kevin Kelly.
Chevy began building the Sonic at GM’s Orion Assembly plant in Michigan in 2011.
Automotive News also reports that no jobs will be lost at the plant, which also makes the Bolt and will also make something called the Bolt EUV.
Chevy debuted the Sonic in 2011, back when small cars were a thing. Reading some of the coverage from back then is like entering an alternate timeline, a timeline where automakers actually give a shit about small cars and weren’t all in on selling trucks and SUVs.
I mean, can you imagine any American automaker CEO doing something like the following now? From Auto News in 2011:
DETROIT – General Motors Co. brought out the big guns to unveil its smallest car today at the Detroit auto show.
If there was any question how serious GM is about becoming a major player in the small-car segment, Dan Akerson answered it by capping the first day of his first auto show as GM CEO by personally unveiling the Sonic subcompact.
“Our goal is to make Chevrolet one of the industry’s fuel efficiency leaders,” Akerson told an overflow crowd at the Chevy exhibit tonight.
Anyway, please no one remind Chevy that it still makes the Spark. We have to keep as many small cars around for as long as we can.
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