The New Chevy Sonic at Zeigler Chevrolet Schaumburg

When it comes to helping the country move toward a greener future, building high-quality, high-efficiency new cars like the Chevrolet Sonic and Buick Veranois just part of the battle. At General Motors, how those cars are built is just as important. That’s why when the Sonic and Verano go into production this fall, they’ll be manufactured at a GM assembly plant that gets 40 percent of its energy by burning landfill gas.

And not only will using landfill gas at its Orion Assembly Plant in Lake Orion, Mich., help GM save $1.1 million per year in energy costs, it also will greatly reduce the amount of greenhouse gases, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides released into the air. In addition, it’s just one of the many steps GM is taking to shrink the environmental impact of assembling its new small cars, including:

• Upgrading the Orion facility’s lighting, which each year cuts electricity usage by 5,944 megawatts and reduces CO2 emissions by 3,676 metric tons, while saving GM $430,000 in annual energy costs.
• Implementing waste-reduction programs that have helped plant workers reduce total waste by more than 25 percent in just five years.
• Launching an enhanced paint shop that uses 50 percent less energy per car than the one it replaced, without sacrificing paint quality or appearance.

“With these improvements, we’ll reduce greenhouse gas production by about 80,000 metric tons at a full three-shift capacity,” said Maureen Midgley, GM executive director of Global Manufacturing Engineering. “This is equivalent to the emissions from 14,000 vehicles per year, and the electricity reduction is equal to the output from 3,500 homes.”

Both the turbocharged Chevy Sonic—available in both hatchback and sedan configurations—and the elegant Buick Verano—Buick’s premium compact sedan—will go into production this fall and reach dealerships before the end of the year.

To order your sonic visit your #1 Chevy dealer in Schaumburg http://www.zeiglerchevroletschaumburg.com