Chevrolet’s new Sonic hatchback has just been launched in South Africa and will take on the likes of Suzuki’s Swift and Ford’s Fiesta.

The local launch proved to be a relaxing affair at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town culminating in a Kings of Leon rock concert. The guys at Chev’s home base in the US however, decided to shake up the traditional vehicle launch format with an awesome stunt – a bungee-jumping Sonic hatchback.

VIRTUAL PUSH

The little hatchback was attached to cables, pushed off a tower of shipping containers and plummeted into a plastic swimming pool before bouncing back skywards.

The stunt took place in Long Beach, California, and was performed as part of the US automaker’s “Let’s do this” marketing campaign. Visitors to the campaigns website were asked to click on a virtual hand and, after receiving 2.5-million clicks, pushed the hapless Sonic off the a platform.VIRTUAL

This “research” prompted the brand to perform its awesome vehicular-bungee stunt though it’s not the first time a Sonic has been launched into space. In September 2011 the guys at Chev launched their new hatchback from of plane to do a free-fall skydive.

Chevrolet UK's MD Mark Terry said: “More and more young people are participating in extreme sports, and a car such as the new Sonic is the perfect fit for their lifestyle - bold, bright, daring.

“That said, despite the car’s five-star Euro NCAP crash-protection rating, we wouldn’t recommend you try this at home. Any damage caused by bungee jumping your car or driving it out of a plane certainly won’t be covered by the warranty."

Check out the video below: Note at 0:31 the Sonic dips its nose into the water.