Chevrolet Sonic earns top scores in US highway safety test

Chevrolet gained the highest possible rating from the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) safety tests for the 2012 Sonic subcompact. 

Despite receiving just four stars out of a maximum of five for the Sonic's rollover rating, the NHTSA gave the nameplate's four-door and five-door hatchback variants an overall vehicle score of five stars as its rating for both the frontal and side crash tests gave it five stars, respectively, while its rollover risk was at only 12.6 percent, barely four percent higher than the Camaro's 8.7 percent.

"We developed Sonic to exceed customer expectations of subcompacts in terms of segment-leading safety features," said Gay Kent, General Motors' executive director of vehicle safety. "From the largest vehicles in our lineup to the smallest, we are putting overall crashworthiness and state-of-the-art safety technologies at the top of the list of must-haves."

Starting with 2011 models, the NHTSA introduced tougher tests and more rigorous requirements for its five-star ratings that provide more information about safety feature performance and crash-avoidance technologies. These changes included a new side pole test simulating a 20mph (roughly 32kph) side-impact crash into a 10-inch-diameter pole or tree at a 75-degree angle just behind the A-pillar on the driver's side.

Sonic is the American market's name for the Chevrolet Aveo, which the Covenant Car Company (Chevrolet Philippines) hopes to sell in  the Philippine market sometime this year.