The Hindu Business Line : Will this Chevy provide the Spark for GM?

A cursory glance at the new Chevy Spark may remind one of the Daewoo Matiz, but except for the overall monoform resemblance, there is pretty much nothing that has been carried forward from the Matiz.

SMART, NEW looks but Spartan interior.

For a company that is still the world's biggest automobile manufacturer, with a much larger share in the biggest emerging car market — China — General Motors has a very small presence in India. But GM is not alone here in the market share stakes, after all the other two top carmakers of the world too are faced with a similar situation.

Thinking big

However, GM has drawn up an ambitious target and strategy to be among the top carmakers in India. There is sudden urgency and aggression in GM's approach to the Indian market.

The company has announced and launched a string of investments and new cars that should enable it to boost its presence here, eventually.

And to show how important the Indian market is for it and how much the company is depending on the success of the new Chevrolet Spark, GM flew in its CEO, Mr Rick Wagoner, for the launch of this new small car.

The Chevy Spark is a product of GMDAT (GM Daewoo Auto & Technology), the joint entity that was formed after GM bought Daewoo's assets worldwide, except a few such as the latter's Indian plant at Greater Noida.

After the takeover, GM worked on and redesigned a few of Daewoo's existing cars. After much redesign work, the Daewoo Nubira was relaunched as the Chevrolet Optra. The Matiz has also been redesigned extensively and has now been relaunched as the Chevy Spark.

Striking resemblance

So, it is difficult not to think of the Daewoo Matiz when you look at the new Chevrolet Spark.

It is no surprise that there are similarities between the two because they share the same basic design. It is like the automotive equivalent of the younger clone wearing fashionable new clothes. The resemblances with the older original are inevitable. But at the same time the differences between the two are substantial in other respects.

Giugiaro's Italdesign conceptualised and designed the original Daewoo Matiz in 1998 and it stood out of the crowd with its simple, yet unique monoform shape. Its simple round headlamps and easy flowing body panels must have surely made many a competitor wonder, `why didn't we think of this?'.

GM has taken the primary design lines of the Matiz and made it more contemporary, stylish, more global and more universally acceptable.

A cursory glance at the new Chevy Spark may remind one of the Daewoo Matiz, but except for the overall monoform resemblance, there is pretty much nothing that has been carried forward from the Matiz.

Exterior, in better shape

The Spark's pealed back headlamp design now lends more character and strength to the front of the car compared to the simple, round headlamps the Matiz featured.

This Chevy also doesn't quite sport a bonnet grille, instead there is just a thin gap between the front bumper and the bonnet slab. The beige Chevy bowtie logo is positioned just above this slit. A large airdam and round fog lamps on either side on the bumper complete the front of the Spark. A prominent V-shaped bonnet line merges with the slip lip and ends at either side of the A-pillar.

At the sides, strong shoulder lines and flared wheel arches lend the Spark a better sense of proportion. The stalked outside rear-view mirrors look deceptively similar to the ones on the Matiz, but are all-new. Front quarter-glass and the kink in the front doors are unique features of this new Chevy.

The gradually rising design lines of the Spark means that the glass area in the front is more than at the rear.

So, while the cabin feels airy and well lit, the rear glass on the small hatch door is extremely compact and may seem to compromise rear visibility especially for small-made drivers.

The rear of the Spark has a few novel features. The oval-shaped taillamp combination sticks out at the sides and features the brake lights and turn indicators. Another unique feature is the reversing lights, positioned separately in the oversized rear bumper and look like fog lamps.

Neat interiors

The interior of the Chevy Spark is Spartan, but neat and well laid-out.

The most novel feature of the interior is of course the instrument cluster, which has been positioned on top of the centre console stack, instead of the usual position behind the steering wheel.

The instrument cluster features a speedometer, a fuel gauge and an engine temperature gauge, in addition to a digital odometer.

Circular air-conditioner vents and teardrop-shaped inside door handles are reminiscent of the Daewoo Matiz. The dashboard plastic feels hard, but is non-reflective and the fit and finish of the panels is good.

Reading the centrally mounted instrument cluster is not too difficult, but can be a bit of a distraction in traffic.

Also, the curved roof of the pod that houses the instrument cluster may obstruct slightly the view of the road for small-made drivers, more so since driver's seat height adjustment is not offered even in the top-end variant.

In the usual instrument cluster position, is a simple crescent shaped display that has all the warning lights such as door ajar, battery, turn indicators, low fuel, hand brake, high beam and engine check.

Top variants get a slap-on matt-silver centre console insert.

All the controls, knobs and switches have a sturdy feel to them and are within easy reach of the driver.

Finish and feel of the two-spoke steering wheel is as good as the Palio's — the segment benchmark.

Turn indicator stalk and windscreen wiper controls continue to be offered at the left and right of the steering column respectively (as in other GM vehicles) instead of the other way around.

Light power steering feels nice and easy in city driving conditions, but tends to be a bit edgy on the highway.

Compact, yet roomy

The Chevy Spark looks much more compact than the competition in the small-car segment. But is almost as big as the Suzuki Wagon-R and only about 7 cm smaller (lengthwise) than the Hyundai Santro Xing. The story is similar when dimensions such as the height and wheelbase are considered, with the tallboys scoring in the roof height parameter. In terms of overall width though, the Spark scores over both the Suzuki Wagon-R and the Zen Estilo.

Inside the Spark, the dimensions translate into a similar amount of passenger cabin space being available as in the Hyundai Santro Xing, except of course, the headroom, which is less in the Chevy. Headroom and legroom are adequate for a car in this segment and though the rearseat shoulder room may be a bit of a squeeze for five adult passengers, the car should be able to accommodate four easily.

The seats in the Spark are also well padded and except for a few small ergonomic issues for the backrest, they should be able to provide adequate comfort even on long drives. Speaking about ride comfort, GM has chosen McPherson struts with an anti-roll bar with gas-filled shock absorbers for the front and the usual torsion beam axle with gas shockers for the rear suspension set-up of the Chevy Spark.

Impressive engine

The Chevy Spark is offered with a new one-litre engine, which is more refined and more powerful than the 800cc engine the Daewoo Matiz came with. The new four-cylinder, eight-valve engine in the Spark is a free-revving unit and reminded us of the original Maruti Zen's delightful engine. The Spark's new mill develops a peak power of 63 PS at 5,400 rpm and a maximum torque of 90.3 Nm at a relatively high 4,200 rpm. In comparison, the Hyundai Santro Xing's similarly powered eRLX engine develops a higher 96 Nm of peak torque at a lower 3,000 engine rpm level.

In the Spark, this essentially translates into marginally lower pulling power in city driving conditions. With prudently spaced gear ratios that have been chosen for better driveability and optimum fuel efficiency, the Spark's engine manages to impress, and is boosted also by its overall refinement. The NVH packaging in this Chevy is also good and the cabin noise level is extremely low.

The five-speed manual gearbox in the Spark feels a bit notchy, but is definitely better than both the Marutis in this segment. In terms of smoothness of shift, the Hyundai Santro will still be the segment benchmark. The long throw gearshift stick in the Spark also doesn't suffer from the kind of play that Maruti's stick shifts usually suffer from in this segment.

For safety, the Chevy Spark offers central locking and reardoor child locks as part of standard fitment and anti-lock brakes as an optional addition. Storage options include a sunglass holder, rear parcel shelf in the top-end variants, cup holders, shopping bag hooks, co-driver seat under tray, and bottle holder in the front doors.

GM is offering four trim variants in the Chevy Spark in a bid to cover a larger price range and customer expectations. Prices of the Spark vary from Rs 3.05 lakh for the non-airconditioned, entry 1.0 E variant to Rs 3.95 lakh for the Spark 1.0 LT variant (both ex-showroom). Alloy wheels and ABS brakes are offered as part of the optional package that costs an additional Rs 38,000.

Photos: S. Muralidhar

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