Chevrolet Aveo LT five-door. All photos from wikipedia.com

Chevrolet’s subcompact Aveo first hit the scene in 2002, and became a favorite with young commuters in large cities. While it carried the Chevrolet name, the Aveo was actually manufactured by the South Korean car company, and GM subsidiary, Daewoo. The Aveo was actually a Daewoo Kalos in its domestic market of South Korea, along with many of the global markets where it was sold.

Under development before Daewoo’s bankruptcy, the Kalos was the company’s first new model introduction following its subsequent takeover by General Motors. Considered a larger supermini car, the Aveo was originally offered with five doors and either a 1.2-liter or 1.4-liter engine. Shortly after the launch, a three-door body style followed.

A Chevy Aveo Eco Logic 3-door.

By the world’s standards, the Chevrolet Aveo was an inexpensive alternative to the European superminis. By 2007 the Aveo sedan was available in the LS and LT models and consumers were looking at the subcompact as offering more for less.

Standard side impact airbags, five-speed manual transmission and a 1.6L 16-valve E-TEC II DOHC that delivered 103 horsepower, air conditioning with rear seat air vents, stainless steel exhaust; and front MacPherson strut suspension with rear semi-independent with torsion beam suspension were all standard features.

The second generation of Aveo showed exactly how popular the subcompact had become. From 2011 to the present, the popular supermini is assembled in the Shanghai GM plant (China), Ramos Arizpe (Mexico), Incheon (Korea), Rayong (Thailand), Michigan (United States), Bogota (Coloumbia), and Nizhny Novgorod (Russia).

The world-wide approval of the Chevrolet Aveo rates a #4 on our top five list of Chevrolet captive imports.