Chevrolet Kills Entire Sonic Lineup Due to Declining Sales

Another car bites the dust.

Chevrolet recently announced it will be discontinuing the Sonic—all of its three variants: subcompact, sedan, and hatchback.

Introduced for the 2021 model year to target young buyers, the Sonic is the latest model to succumb to the slowing demand for smaller cars in the United States automotive market. It is the third model to get the boot from the Chevrolet lineup, following the Chevy Cruze and the Chevy Volt.

A spokesperson for Chevrolet confirmed the news to online magazine Car and Driver and said the decision is largely based on declining sales due to the growing popularity of SUVs and crossovers among car buyers.

The exit of the Sonic will vacate GM’s Orion Township facility, so the company is looking to channel its efforts towards other models in the lineup. For the coming model year, Chevrolet will ramp up production of the refreshed Bolt EV and Bolt EUV crossover.

So why does the Bolt EV get to stay if small cars are losing momentum in the market? This is considering the fact the Bolt EV sold a total of 16,418 units in 2019, a bit lower than the Sonic’s 13,971.

It’s because the Bolt EV has a place in GM’s electrification bid in the coming years. In quite a number of instances in the past, GM CEO Mary Barra touched on the company’s goal to sell at least one million EVs every year in the near future.

Chevrolet also said that company leaders have already been informed of the decision to kill the Sonic in October. The current Sonic model available in the market retails at $17,595 for the base trim and $21,595 for the Premier variant, just in case there’s still anyone looking to buy one before it leaves for good.