There's something about the smallest of cars that lend
themselves to wild paint jobs.
But purple? And pink? When it comes to its two smallest
models, Sonic and Spark, Chevrolet is plumbing the depths of customer appeal
for colors like, well, plum.
The Chevrolet Sonic is temporarily going to come in a new
color, Deep Magenta Metallic, which is described as a "chromatic
plum" color. It's the kind of hue that car executives are hesitant to call
for what it is: purple.
With the possible exception of old Plymouth Barracudas --
for which purple became somewhat of a signature color -- purple has been the
kind of color that gets a car relegated to the back of sales lots. Never mind
that Bentley showed off its latest Flying Spur model in purple at the New York
Auto Show last spring.
Chevrolet is intent on being bold. About one-third of our
Sonic buyers say a cool paint job is an 'extremely important' factor in their
decision.
Chevy is being just as creative when it comes to its smaller
car, Spark. Out went Inferno Orange and in came Techno Pink. At least it's
called pink.
Chevrolet says it looks everywhere in developing a new color
-- fashion runways, consumer products and high-end furniture galleries. But
even when they appear popular, it's easy to balk at some colors.
Katherine Sirvio, GM senior design manager in charge of
Chevy colors and trim globally, didn't want to include pink as a color when it
launched Spark in South Korea three year ago. "We shied away from pink
because it's kind of a cliché" as a lure for female buyers, she says.
But after surveying personal electronics and home
appliances, changed her mind. Sure enough, nearly one out of four Sparks sold
in South Korea are now pink.
Check out our inventory today.. we have some funky colors too!
