Chevrolet South Africa announced that it intends to introduce its Sonic compact hatchback and saloon in South Africa, probably towards the end of the third quarter of this year.
The Sonic was first shown at the Detroit Motor Show earlier this year and is aimed at the likes of the Ford Fiesta and Mazda2.
Chevrolet did not expand further on its plans for the Sonic but, when the vehicle is launched in Europe and North America later this year, it will be available in both hatchback and saloon variants. Power will be by a 1,8-litre petrol engine as well as a turbocharged 1,4-litre petrol engine. Both manual and automatic gearboxes will be offered. It is unclear if a diesel variant will be available, but we expect that other powertrains may be added to the range at a later stage.
It is also unclear where the Sonic will fit in to the Chevrolet line-up, or where this leaves the current Aveo; we suspect that the Aveo will still be offered as a slightly less glitzy and, subsequently, cheaper alternative.
It is clear that the Sonic will be a premium offering with a neat exterior design and a few exciting interior details such as a sprocket design on the instrumentation and the neat-looking information display.
Pricing and technical details of the local models will only be available at a later stage.
