The Chevy Aveo sedan and hatchback are about the same length as the Toyota Yaris sedan and hatchback, though almost a foot shorter than the Honda Fit, which is only offered as a hatchback. The re-styling for 2007 and 2009 gave the Aveo a more aerodynamic shape, one of the benefits of which has been to reduce wind noise at highway speeds.

Up front, a thick, bright horizontal grille bar emblazoned with a gold bowtie leaves no doubt that Aveo sedan is a Chevy. The lower fascia is nicely detailed, and the fog lights well integrated. Moving around to the side, a crisp bevel just below the window line and a parallel bulge between the wheel arches combine to camouflage the Aveo's tall, stubby profile, sort of like a person wearing appropriately directed stripes. The sedan's blacked-out window frames look heavy handed, however, especially with bright colors, and the rear of the roof line appears bulbous. Around back, a bright band between fashionably complex tail lamps echoes the theme of the grille.

But like many cars, the Aveo sedan has a look that tries to find wide acceptability by not offending anybody. But in its attempt to be neither too boring nor too radical, it lacks personality.

The Aveo5 shares surprisingly little sheet metal with the sedan, and it has more personality. At just 154.3 inches in overall length, the Aveo5 is a significant 15 inches shorter than the sedan. The grille is much bolder than the sedan's and it dips down all the way to the bottom of the lower fascia. It is flanked by a pair of air intakes that also house the fog lights. The sedan, with its smaller grille, adds a center lower air intake that the hatchback doesn't have. The front fender bulges around the wheels are less crisply defined, and the character line bisects the front doors and dips down on the rear doors. Another character line/wheel bulge picks up midway along the rear doors and extends to the taillights. The car seems to end rather abruptly, just behind the rear wheels. This impression is greatly heightened by a rear-end profile that's more station-wagon vertical than hatchback sleek, and by the almost comically abbreviated quarter windows just behind the rear doors. While the rear end may look a bit odd, the front end is much more attractive than the old hatchback and the current sedan.

While the Aveo5 looks as tall as a bus, it is only 0.1 taller than the sedan. It is also 1.2 inches narrower than the sedan, with 0.8 inches less rear track (the distance between the rear tires).

Interior

The big surprise in the interior of our Chevrolet Aveo 2LT sedan test car was the handsomeness of the Charcoal Deluxe seat fabric, which shames the manufacturers of some more expensive vehicles. The Aveo5 2LT we drove also had an attractive interior with faux wood trim on the dashboard and leatherette trim on the seats. The attractive looks combine with a tidy and sensible layout to minimize Aveo's economy-car status.

The Aveo's basic controls, such as the climate system and stereo, are easy to use and within close reach. The layout is quite simple, so drivers won't be distracted looking for buttons. All radios come with an auxiliary jack for iPods and other MP3 players. The dash is all hard plastic, but that's to be expected in this class. The instrument panel features black-faced gauges with white numbers and watch-like dials. A driver information center is located between the gauges. A digital clock sits on top of the dash at the base of the windshield.

The driver's seat is height adjustable, even in the base model, a nice feature for drivers short and tall. The front seat bottom cushion is a bit short for drivers with long legs, cutting some occupants a little short on thigh support. Visibility all around is unrestricted. Small items storage can be found in trays in front and behind the shifter, a pop-out bin the size of an ashtray in the dash, and in door pockets. A dual cup holder pops out of the center stack.

Rear legroom in the Aveo is better than that in the Honda Fit and Toyota Yaris. We found it's possible to carry four tall adults (6-footers) for a short distance without anybody being traumatized, as long as there's cooperation from the people in the front seats, that is. Despite its slimmer dimensions, the Aveo5 hatchback has about the same rear seat space as the sedan. In fact, it has 0.2 inch more headroom.

The trunk is rated at 12.4 cubic feet for the Aveo sedan. That's competitive in a segment like this, and the back seat folds down if the priority becomes carrying stuff instead of people.

The Aveo5 hatchback has 15.0 cubic feet of cargo space behind the rear seats. It comes standard with a rear cargo cover to hide packages from prying eyes. The rear seat folds flat to open up 37.4 cubic feet of cargo room, less than the 42.0 cubic feet the Aveo5 had before it was reworked for 2009. The rear cargo floor is not flat, though, as there is a step from the rear floor to the folded seats. If you'll be using the cargo compartment more than the back seat, the Aveo5 makes a lot of sense.