Dec 15th, 2010 by Ross Edwards
Chevrolet has announced that the 2012 Chevy Sonic will replace the Aveo as the company’s entry into the small car segment. The Sonic will be a completely new car as Chevy does all it can to distance itself from the Aveo name.
The Chevy Sonic name was chosen because the name “conveys the youth and energy that this vehicle is all about,” said GM Canada VP Marc Comeau, who confirmed that the Chevy Sonic name would be used in North America.
The Wall Street Journal reports that one of the major reasons behind the name change is the difficulty in pronouncing “Aveo.” Apparently a common complaint about the car is that consumers don’t know how to say its name, so Chevrolet will switch to the Sonic name to avoid that problem.
Chevrolet may want to distance itself from the Aveo name for reasons other than pronunciation though. The Aveo has been criticized as having poor quality when compared to its rivals and sales have been unimpressive. The Wall Street Journal claims that just 38,516 Chevy Aveos were sold last year, much less than its competitors, the Hyundai Accent, which sold 68,086, the Honda Fit, which sold 67,315 and the Toyota Yaris, which sold 63,743.
Chevrolet may be changing to the Sonic name to avoid any consumer association between the unpopular Aveo and the newly redesigned compact car.
Image via Chevrolet Canada.
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[…] 2012 Chevy Sonic will be available in both hatchback and sedan bodystyles, and will be available with two different […]