GM is Pushing Towards Electric Vehicles as it Discontinues the Chevrolet Sonic

Automaker General Motors announced this week that the production of the Chevrolet Sonic at the company’s Orion Assembly in Detroit will be ending this October.

The car will be replaced by an all-electric new vehicle called the Bolt EUV next year says company spokeswoman Megan Soule.

The new car is a larger version of the Chevrolet Bolt EV, which the plant currently produces alongside
the Sonic.

Soule has said that GM decided to axe the Sonic “due to declining demand.” Since selling nearly 100,000 Sonics in 2014, sales have declined every year. The automaker sold less than 14,000 of the cars last year.

It was in March of 2019 that General Motors Chairman and CEO Mary Barra announced a $300 million investment in the GM Orion Assembly Plant plant for electric and self-driving vehicles at the Orion Assembly Plant.

The plant’s roughly 1,125 employees will not be impacted by the production change, Soule said.

Chevrolet will be left with the Spark and Malibu as its only remaining passenger sedans when the Sonic is discontinued.

GM also announced this week that it will keep the price of its 2021 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray the same as the introductory 2020 model.

The 2021 Corvette, which goes on sale late in the fourth quarter, will start at $59,995, matching this year’s model, which is about a $4,000 increase over the 2019 Corvette.

“Our mission was to develop a new sports car, combining the successful attributes of Corvette with the performance and driving experience of mid-engine supercars,” said Tadge Juechter, Corvette executive chief engineer. “We are thrilled with the enthusiasm the mid-engine Corvette brought following its launch and are keeping it fresh with new content for the 2021 model.”

Disclaimer: We have no position in General Motors Company (NYSE: GM) and have not been compensated for this article.