Chevrolet Malaysia has posed a question on its Facebook page, asking us if the Sonic will be one of the hottest new cars by the end of 2012. This is the first hint that Chevy’s new B-segment contender will be heading our way. The Sonic was launched in Thailand late last month.
The Sonic receives the Vios/City fighter baton from Chevy’s old Aveo. Like the Aveo, the Sonic is available in both five-door hatch and four-door sedan form. Like big brother Cruze, the Sonic is a global model for GM – the car made its world debut at last year’s Detroit show.
The American company’s Rayong plant in Thailand rolled out its first Sonic last month, the fifth GM facility in the world to do so. If the Sonic is coming, it will be from Thailand.
In the Land of Smiles, the Sonic is available as a basic LS (sedan only), LT and top spec LTZ. There’s only one engine, though – a 1.4 litre Ecotec four-cylinder with 100 hp and 130 Nm at 4,000 rpm.
This DOHC 16v motor can be paired to either a five-speed manual or six-speed automatic gearbox. The latter is class leading in terms of forward ratios, but manual override is via toggle switch, a layout that we didn’t quite like in the new Ford Focus.
Size wise, the Sonic sedan has a slightly larger footprint than the Vios (99 mm longer, 35 mm wider), but its 2,525 mm wheelbase is 25 mm shorter than the Vios’. Boot volume stands at 466 litres for the sedan and 253 litres for the hatchback.
The highlight of the Sonic’s cabin is the motorcycle-style instrument cluster, which combines an analogue rev counter with a digital speedometer. The dashboard is otherwise conventionally styled, and there are many elements that Cruze owners will be familar with. The Sonic also has a two-tone dashboard.
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What’s the target pricing on this?
aiya ask bot price first kah? let c the review 1st la..
Well, the article asks if the Sonic would be one of the hottest cars by the end of the year and we all know this segment is particularly price/value sensitive. I suspect the distributor will target the Sonic deep into the new Almera’s pricing (maybe even lower). In the US, the Sonic’s been off to a good start (well traditional fleet sales have helped). There were some quality guffaws (chief of which was when the factory forgot to install brake pads on a batch). But overall, folks who’ve bought one seem to like them. Pricing is neck to neck with the USDM Nissan Versa.
if the sonic is the Aveo replacement. it should be about RM70k – RM80k price range.
Let’s see how NAZA deal it.
This price range easily low sales for NAZA Cheverolet in Malaysia. The Wheelbase is real short, believed to have very small interior like fiesta.
OMG…simply nicer than the N.Almera.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0tk7sJSD6Q
The size of the car seems relatively big compared to that reviewer.
Forte 1.6 CVVT is already at RM76k!
This little baby who is much smaller, yet 1.4, and a similar dashboard. I believe the full specs auto version wont go above RM72k.
Good bet price range is: RM63k to RM72k!
Head on collision with PReve price range!
Shit! This car is really narrow.. From the Dashboard, is sticking towards the Steering.
Form the Video, you can see the driver shoulder sticking towards the front passenger side.
it’s a hot small car, since it’s small car, wouldnt be expensive. RM65k maximum.
Looks good. Hopefully can test drive it here soon.
much better looking than the almera i would say…
agree… Almera look like ah beng!! hehe
A lot of rich ah bengs out there. Unfortunately for Nissan, all of them driving Vios already :)
Wallaweh… Confirm there will be some bolt-on-turbo-guys gonna hook up this car with some serious booze!!!
Loving it oledi!
A better alternatives for the nissan almari. Love the interior. I expect the price shud be around 65 to 70k.
A better alternative for nissan almari. Price shud be around 65 to 70k.
This car is known as the Holden Barina here. It is pretty much stacked against other small hatch and sedans. But the driving impression from it is pretty poor let down by an engine that is coarse and not particularly frugal which is a death kneel in this segment. The motorcycle cluster is fun at first but grow tiresome over time. This is reflected that other marques sold more cars compared to Holden.
Damn nice, when is the launch date in M’sia? Who’s know the price?
wow. nice looking car! range of prices?
Cute… the meters looks yummy :D
aisehhh why didn’t they bring in the ecotec 1.4turbo??
Nice designed car with aggressive face and sporty. Hei Preve designer would you open your minded and share with us will this model able to complete your so pround preve in term of designing only? thanks. Finally end up here with your famous slogan DARE TO CHANGE or equivalent to SATU MALAYSIA that you always shout it very laud at the time.
Actually they wanted to make the fabulous looking TUAH,but don’t know for what ever reason had to make do with the PREVE.
we wanttt Chevy Volt!!!
i like it!
Please bring both manual and automatic transmissions as with its bigger brother, Colorado.
the dark sedan seem nice……….
interesting, now getting more competitive in B segment.
I am genuinely excited bout the sonic launching here.. as my mom owns an aveo, although its pretty much rubbish, the thing has such a charm that i very much respect. Therefore, im really lookin 4ward 4 its replacement. It looks great, but highly doubt they’ll bring in the turbo 1.4 engine into our market. Its probably gonna be the puny NA 1.4L engine that they’ll be giving us. But still, hope DRB Hicom retains its class leading safety features, n bring in a generous amounts of kit. The 6speed auto is nice, dont skim on airbags, slap on nice bodykit on it, n maybe it could a serious contender in our market. Pls DRB Hicom, dont mess this up..
Naza is the distributor now not drb.
Oh yeah, i forgot.. my bad..
Nice meter dashboard. But I think it is a very small car, because the meter dashboard is so near to the center console.
Buy this car at rm 68000. But the third year 2nd hand value less than rm20k. That’s chevrolet. And by the third year Naza is gonna dump these Chevrolet just like Cergazam and DRB did. Place your booking today.
OMG….this car not launch yet here, u already know the resale value…salute.
nice!.More and more choice on B-segment car.
Real car is looking nice. i saw one in the mall during my holiday in Italy
look small but TOUGH…can steal some piece of vios pie portion
Another Vios-alternative, yes! Price wise I believe it’s more expensive then Nissan Almera. At the mean time, I’ve very upset with UMW behavior that upgrade the car only when the sales turn bad. It’s publicly known that in M’sia, Toyota is milking his long establishing brand on sales. The new generations will study more on technology & other options unlike elder generation, and won buy Toyota base on their past performance. Another very irritating fact is, Toyota is matured in technology but keep it in the sleeve awaiting to be release only when competition come. It sounds logic in economy but save that on saying they’re customer-centric in publicity. You’re not.
might be cheaper than Almera. From how NAZA Cheverolet pricing done on CRUZE, C-Segment. which is 2.0L yet relatively cheaper than Slyphy 2.0L.
We may expect it within the range of Almera or even lower. Latest Aveo price range is within RM70k to RM80k.
The Cruze is 1.8
Another aveo in the making. crap.
The Korean sourced and engineered Aveo was a lazy stop-gap measure at best but the new Sonic should be a different animal altogether. GM spent more R&D effort and money on this one.
hopefully Malaysia wont get the 2-tone dashboard.. it’s ugly.. just make it black like the one in the photo gallery..
Maybe I live in East Malaysia, purchasing a Optra 1.6L is a real nightmare for me. Spare parts have to wait 2 months+.. and most mechanic don’t dare to do the repair work for me. Luckily after 3 year I owned the car, Chevrolet come in to Kuching.. To my suprise, they DO NOT HAVE ANY SPARE PARTS for Optra. Only those very basic parts.. Chevrolet my arse! Selling at 25k took me like 1 year, it still sleeping in my car porch. Engine vibration is worst than my old wira. Every morning, when engage to R gear, the engine will goes dead, so must wait engine to warm up before you can reverse the car..
i love my aveo very much but had to sell it after the loan settled. living in ampang what a nitemare! no mechanic could repair any of the problems to my satisfaction.and worst i got only rm14k selling it.
I live in Damansara. There are few problems with my Aveo. It’s not the best car out there but I think it’s good car overall. There are few workshops that can fix the problems
I used to owned Optra for 7 years. It was a good car to me. Unfortunately, accident and total lost.
You can solve the engine vibration by changing the engine mounting, less than RM400.
Naza should bring this to our shores for more variety. Currently there are only 3 (3Cs) models – Cruze, Colorado and Captiva offered here.
Love it lah, nice design lah, wanna put turbo lah.When come msia, cant even find one on the road
Worst resale value, worst service centers, worst reliability. Goodluck in enjoying your vios,almera alternative. Betcha at the end of the day, most of you will end up with a vios/almera/city
True. Chevrolet has one the worst resale value I can think of. A 2002 aveo is valued appprox below rm7 k , worst than a 1991 sunny
now we have a hedgehog on the road besides a dugong if this becomes a reality. Hopefully when the hedgehog collides with the dugong, the hedgehog won’t drop all his collected ‘rings’ hehehe…
P.S: It’s a reference to Sonic The Hedgehog if you haven’t got a clue.
From the photo, the meter cluster looks interesting and cool at first, but after starring at it for a while, it appears to be a little cheap to me…
It may be at Saga price at Q4… Right?
Bring in the LTZ model !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zJ3IkfZL9s&feature=g-crec Fun subcompact for fun modification, leave it to your imagination. Hopefully Chevrolet Malaysia will bring in the RS and turbo version.
sonic is a nice car but resale value truly bad!
sonic seem a nice car but resale value truly bad!
the chevrolet sonic 1.8 turbo when come to malaysia? hv this be happen?