Shanghai December 9 (Gasgoo.com) The next-generation Chevrolet Ave, renamed as "Sonic", has been put into production at General Motors' Chinese joint venture with Shanghai Automotive Industrial Corp (SAIC), and is expected to go on sale in the domestic market after rolling off the assembly line in the third quarter of 2011, bitauto.com reported Thursday.
The new Aveo has been unveiled at the 2010 Paris Auto Show, and is reportedly wider and longer than the current model, which should give it interior and cargo volumes that are among the best in the class. The new car also adopts a "motorcycle-inspired instrument cluster" and extensive blue backlighting, according to GM.
The compact model mixes styling cues from the new Chevrolet Spark city car with the new design direction seen on models like the Cruze or Orlando.
The U.S. automaker hasn't detailed Chinese-specification Aveos, but did say the five and six-speed manual transmissions will be standard, while many markets will receive optional six-speed automatics on 1.4 and 1.6-liter gasoline engines.
Apart from that, safety features like power steering, electronic stability control and ABS brakes will be standard as well to ensure that the compact model does what its driver wants, associatedcontent.com said.
The current Aveo is powered by a fairly antiquated four-cylinder engine and four-speed automatic transmission that get an EPA-estimated 25/34 mpg city/highway, which is the one of the worst fuel economy ratings in the class.
