Chevrolet Spark
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Caught somewhere…
This will make it in the US. And will even be built in Michigan, apparently.
I’m not sure how they will be able to bring the price under the Korean built Aveo. Unless this replaces the Aveo at least in the US.
Good luck…
I can't imagine that is something I'd want to drive. That's going to be a tough sell for GM.
No two ways about it, it's UGLY!!
Just a heads up, this is the replacement for the Spark/Matiz, which is a size smaller than the Aveo.
I bet this is a rebadged Suzuki Splash.
This will not be built in the U.S. This is the vehicle being brought over from China. The Aveo replacement (Chevrolet Viva) is the vehicle that is being built in Orion Township, MI.
Seriously???
With the current Fit (which is a stellar subcompact) and the upcoming Fiesta, who in the hell would buy this ugly piece of trash.
It looks like something Mazda would design…
Anonymous said…
I bet this is a rebadged Suzuki Splash.
July 1, 2009 10:06 AM
No, It rolls out of a factory which has a Daewoo sign above its door.
This car is not competing against the Fit or Fiesta. It is one size smaller. The Spark competes with the Fiat 500, Ford Ka, Smart, and Toyota iQ. The Fit and Fiesta compete against the Aveo/Viva.
No, it rolls out of a GM factory that happens to have a Daewoo sign on the door.
Huge blind spot from fat "C" pillar. Too many cars have lousy rear visibility these days.
Death trap if hit by a REAL car or truck.
Look at the rear of the vehicle and the interior shot of the steering wheel, it has a Daewoo badge on it.
Hmmm.
Shame about the ugly…
The concept was nice but something was lost in translation. It lost its cuteness and looks ordinary and boring. I think the problem is the same thing that ails a lot of cheap asian cars… the wheels are too small and the designers attempt to create a bunch of character lines to compensate for the disproportion. The door handle is way too low, the grille is uninteresting. The roof rails are not good. The Antennae looks like a fiat from ten years ago. Chevy should destroy the mold for this wheel cover and never use these cheap pie tins again. This will only sell on price alone, which is not what Chevy needs right now.
This is about as exciting as a Scion; They should have called it Fizzel.
Just more korean rubbish from GM.
They might as well rename themselves The Great Wall Motor Company.
GM should have kept the deal in place with Toyota and rebadged the Vibe as a Chevy. This ugly thing will only damage their reputation further. It is too close in design to their Daewoo Aveo. So much for trying to change people's perceptions.
I think it looks great; not only a LOT better than the Matiz, but I would even say that it's one of the best looking cars in its segment (Fiat 500 not included, since it's more of a niche car). I realise many Americans are not familiar with this subcompact segment, so here's a list of its direct competitors, in no particular order:
– Toyota Aygo/Citroën C1/Peugeot 107
– Daihatsu Cuore
– Renault Twingo
– Ford Ka
– Kia Picanto
– Hyundai i10
– VW Fox
– Fiat Panda
– Nissan Pixo/Suzuki Alto
– and yeah, the Opel Agila/Suzuki Splash would be somewhere in there too
Q: "who in the hell would buy this ugly piece of trash."
A: The same unfortunate morons who wasted their money on the ridiculous (and horrifically unsafe) Hond Fit.
Honda Fit is an excellent car. The problem is that you'd have to repeal the laws of physics to create a small car that's as safe as a larger and heavier one, all else equal.
Clearly, all else isn't equal when an SUV or truck hits a Honda Fit or other sub-compact no matter how safe the small car might be with its airbags and crash-dissipating structure, etc.
Small cars are safer than they've ever been, but when sharing the roads with monster vehicles, there's added risk.
Bigger is better. Thats the american way. It will take decades upon decades to change that way.
It looks like an Aveo after a high school kid let loose with a can of Bondo.
Why is it that the Fit and Yaris can look so good and well made while this car looks like a toy?
Lots of interesting and angry comments in this thread.
When more fuel efficient models are sold in North America, of all sizes, some customers will be unsatisfied with the power in the larger vehicles and will go smaller to get some fun. Cars like this are not for America, but only more sophisticated models will survive. What eventually rolls out of Orion Township will be a much nicer car.
You have to admit…It is one heck of a good Bondo job.
Americans of means would not be caught dead in cars like this. But then of course they will find ways to make us drive them for our own good….so they think
The new American Green movement will be olot like the diet and exercise movement of the 90s…. this time they force us with financial carrots and big STICKS. Get out your chocolate granola bars
It looks like the instrumentation mounted on the steering column is a nod to affordable right-hand/left-hand drive configurations. A much better solution than those awful center-mounted gauge clusters.
Okay, I'm trying to see the positives in a car I just don't like. That black trapezoidal area around the side mirrors is enough to drive me mad. The tiny rear window viewing area behind large black areas of glass is perhaps worse. And look…there's another phony black triangular area behind the headlights.
Oh well. If GM makes it well and with American labor, I wish it success.
Oh well. If GM makes it well and with American labor, I wish it success.
July 7, 2009 4:52 PM
Forget the american labour bit. It rolls out of a Daewoo factory in korea.
An Aveo from Korea delivered to a Kalifornia high school for mods then delivered to the dealer.
The most sexiest small car I have ever seen in my little 26 years of life. Going to buy two, one for my mom and one for my sister.
Oh well, GM. It was a good run. How you found yourself unable to take the sex-on-wheels that is the Camaro and translate that down throughout the rest of your products escapes me, but this, I'm afraid, is a dreadful, ugly, irrelevant and miserable little vehicle that would best left to taxi service in the Third World. If this is your recovery plan, I want my tax dollars back now.
Anonymous said…
"The most sexiest small car I have ever seen in my little 26 years of life."
You've obviously still got some more growing up to do.
A Gubbmint Motors Trabant retro.