Whether General Motors likes it or not, the Sonic story starts in 2004, when GM decided to import a cheap, crummy little econobox from Korea. A product of its newest subsidiary, Daewoo, the Chevrolet Aveo had few charms. But it was useable as a five-door hatchback, one of the few on the market at the time, and its starting sticker price was under $ 10,000. It was enough of a pitch that the car sold – and stuck around.

Some of us actually developed a modicum of tenderness for the little piece of junk. It’s not every new car that you can use and revilement and concern not a whit about. If GM had marketed the Aveo as a disposable product, meant to be driven hard and left for dead, it might have disappointed fewer people. Instead, the Aveo was famously named the “Least Satisfying” vehicle of 2007 in a Consumer Reports survey.

Hundreds of thousands of Aveos have been dumped here over the years, often into rental car fleets where they would have even greater opportunity to reflect poorly on GM. The company sold some 48,000 Aveos in 2010, over 28,000 in 2011, and stragglers on dealer lots continue to find new homes even as you read this. So it’s no wonder the “new” GM doesn’t want us talking around the Sonic as its replacement. But that it is. And thankfully, it’s a good one. We’d even be willing to call it great if GM would work on a few of the details.