The Chevy Aveo is unnecessary for America. At least, that’s the message we bought when Chevy killed off the Aveo in 2011. But after chasing down tacos and clay espresso mugs throughout Mexico City in a 2024 Chevrolet Aveo, I’m reconsidering the notion that the Aveo deserved to die. Because even exterior of a serious metropolis like CDMX, the subcompact is a superb each day and an eminently sensible automotive.
Full Disclosure: General Motors let me drive a brand new Aveo in Mexico City over a three-day weekend whereas I chased down results in enroll on the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Or, at the very least, that’s what I instructed them. I used to be actually largely there for the pan dulce, the tacos al pastor and the Mexican-market vehicles.
Technically, the Chevy Aveo didn’t die after 2011. It was simply offered because the Sonic, which is how the second-generation Aveo was identified within the U.S. Then in 2020, the Aveo/Sonic was killed off for a second time. Was it a scarcity of goodwill amongst U.S. consumers that compelled Chevy to rebadge the Aveo, solely to kill it once more? Maybe.
The first Aveo was an inexpensive subcompact that leaned arduous into the “cheap” half. I’ve a gentle spot for it as a result of a very good pal drove one in highschool. It was nothing to brag about, however the Aveo was low cost sufficient to be viable for youthful drivers. Nowadays, low cost new vehicles are kind of extinct within the U.S. You can blame consumers, or blame sellers or blame auto journalists who panned low cost vehicles just like the first-gen Aveo.
I blame automakers, which concluded there is no such thing as a actual revenue in promoting entry degree vehicles. That applies primarily to the U.S. market, which is admittedly probably the most profitable on this planet. Yet, in China, low cost small vehicles are thriving. Ditto within the markets of South America and Southeast Asia. And Mexico, too.
2024 Chevy Aveo: New Looks, New Engine
The Aveo is in its third era. This newest mannequin was designed by SAIC-GM-Wuling, and it’s presently made in China. SAIC-GM additionally makes the Wuling Mini EV, which is among the best-selling EVs on this planet. I’m now satisfied that General Motors’ three way partnership companions have a knack for churning out low cost vehicles that don’t really feel low cost.
When I drove the brand new Chevy Trax, I got here away with the impression that the Trax is loads of automotive for comparatively little cash. That additionally applies to the brand new Aveo, which begins at $295,400 pesos or $17,500 at present alternate charges. That value makes the brand new Aveo the most cost effective mannequin that Chevy sells in Mexico, which places it in the identical entry-level class because the Trax within the U.S.
The third-generation Aveo has a brand new design that appears nothing just like the outdated. It’s significantly better than earlier than with a wider, flatter entrance finish that now not screams “teen car.” There’s a brand new sedan and a hatchback mannequin. I’d go so far as to say the brand new Aveo’s appears are delicate and complex. It nearly appears German.
It’s humorous simply how totally different level of views might be throughout borders. A pal on the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) remarked, “Órale, what a big car!” when he climbed aboard the Aveo. To somebody who grew up round Mexican-market vehicles, the Aveo appears sizable. To an American, the Aveo is firmly a small automotive; the reality is someplace in between. It matches 4 to 5 adults, relying on how cramped your rear passengers wish to be. Chevy appears to have came upon an iteration that improves the Aveo in each significant means, together with its measurement.
The Aveo’s wheelbase is 100 inches. The sedan is 67 inches large and 177 inches lengthy, which is 4 inches longer than a Kia Rio, and 5 inches shorter than a Nissan Sentra. It sits between a subcompact and compact, nevertheless it’s small both means. On paper, the Kia is a subcompact whereas the Nissan is a compact. But in the actual world, the Sentra is larger than ever because of mannequin bloat. The new Aveo, nevertheless, doesn’t look bloated. It’s excellent. Parking in Mexico City’s tiny garages is a breeze, and so is parallel parking on slender streets.
The glow-up doesn’t finish with the outside. The inside of the brand new automotive is sweet, with a clear structure that’s straightforward to decipher and skim whereas zipping out and in of lanes. There’s a row of bodily buttons for frequently-used capabilities — just like the emergency lights, which Mexican drivers use liberally — and toggles for HVAC controls. There’s wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which comes clearly throughout on the 8-inch infotainment display screen.
Finally, let’s speak energy output: The new Aveo comes with a 1.5-liter inline 4 making 97 horsepower (imperial) and 105 lb-ft of torque. The inline 4 might be mated to both a six-speed guide transmission or CVT. As a lot as I really like rowing gears, I used to be grateful for the CVT whereas caught in Mexico City site visitors.
2024 Chevy Aveo: The Perfect Big City Car
My driving took me all through many components of Mexico City, which is in contrast to any highway setting within the U.S. I drove within the historic metropolis heart, to markets in Roma and Coyoacán and to the positioning of the UNAM, identified to locals as “C.U.,” which roughly interprets to “university city.” I used to be on the lookout for clay bowls and books, in addition to tacos and pan dulce to gas my adventures. I instructed myself I would wish all of the meals I might get my arms on — for the needs of this evaluation, in fact.
Driving within the metropolis is a paroxysm of exercise alternating from stillness to chaos, with site visitors gasping to catch as much as itself. The roads are dense and filled with detours, both from frequent closures or from my getting misplaced, which I’m fairly good at. I received’t blame Apple or Google Maps for all my missed exits, however even with the Aveo’s beneficiant infotainment display screen and dependable CarPlay, I managed to take a unsuitable flip a few times. OK, so it was greater than that, nevertheless it was simply as effectively since I bought to see extra of town from the rollercoaster journey of its roads.
That’s precisely the form of setting a small, spry automotive just like the Aveo was made for. The Aveo isn’t a quick automotive, however that hardly issues within the metropolis the place you’re not driving at speeds over 80 kilometers per hour (49 mph) fairly often. Even when you’re going quick, you’ll coast for a beat or two earlier than merging onto an interchange or slipping right into a tunnel, thus scrubbing most of your velocity.
The metropolis’s twists and turns are relentless, whereas site visitors is a curious mixture of forgiving but demanding drivers. People innately perceive the zipper merge (orderly merging from two lanes one automotive at a time) however you higher be fast. Don’t dawdle or doubt when it’s your flip to fit into the adjoining lane. There are not any half-measures on these cramped roads. You’re both all in or under no circumstances.
It’s enjoyable however it may be exhausting. It’s like nothing in America the place large open expressways encourage boredom and distraction. On U.S. roads, individuals have room to pin the throttle, so vehicles are larger and quicker to fill the empty house. If there have been an automotive equal of lebensraum, then the U.S. has received the warfare to say it however small vehicles had been its greatest casualty. In Mexico City, however, the Aveo putters alongside fortunately merging into the managed chaos.
2024 Chevy Aveo: Unexpected Champ On The Highway
I figured that the Aveo would really feel proper at residence within the metropolis however would undergo on longer drives. I used to be unsuitable. In reality, I used to be was pleasantly shocked to seek out it was simply as snug on the freeway as town, no matter its engine measurement and lack of compelled induction.
During my keep, I headed west alongside the Mexico City-Toluca freeway to a different college in Mexico State. It’s about an hour’s drive to Toluca from the capital, and it entails going additional up the mountains. Mexico City sits at an altitude of seven,350 ft, however Toluca is even increased at almost 9,000 ft above sea degree.
You would anticipate that nice of an altitude to be a slog for a small automotive whose engine is made for getting round cities, not driving on fast-paced mountain corridors. But the Aveo fared simply nice. It took on Highway 15D with none fuss from the inline 4 or the CVT transmission. Passing energy was sufficient, and there was no perceptible lifeless zone within the power-band as I climbed.
The Aveo isn’t precisely what I’d name a light-weight, coming in at about 3,400 kilos, however the engine’s 97 horses hustle the little automotive alongside the freeway effectively sufficient. The suspension does a good job at taming bumpy roads, and it options MacPherson struts up entrance and a torsion beam on the rear.
In Mexico, there are velocity bumps in every single place to gradual drivers down — even on frontage roads. It took getting used to, however the Aveo’s suspension didn’t punish me an excessive amount of. The journey was smoother and quieter than it had any proper to be in a automotive this low cost, which, once more, is made in China. The Aveo is snug on most drives, which is a departure from when the unique mannequin was offered in America.
The 2024 Chevy Aveo is town automotive par excellence, nevertheless it’s a lot extra helpful than the label of metropolis automotive implies. The Aveo is correct at residence alongside Mexico City’s well-known avenues like Reforma or Insurgentes, nevertheless it’s simply as snug on the expressway. This isn’t your highschool buddy’s Aveo: it’s simply as low cost however higher. It seems the Aveo didn’t die; it simply moved overseas to reside its greatest life.
Source: jalopnik.com