The long awaited Chevy Spark was launched by GM India on Tuesday 17th April in presence of it’s global boss Rick Wagoner. With the launch of the Spark, GM has entered the Indian small hatchback market for the first time and is aiming at drawing majority volumes from this model. The Spark is essentially the new avatar of the Daewoo Matiz, and isnt a Chevrolet product by origin. GM’s acquisition of Daewoo globally has given GM India most of the vehicles sold in India including the Optra (Daewoo Nubira), Aveo and now the Spark.

The Spark comes with a 1 litre and will be initialy available in four variants, priced in the Rs 3.09-3.89 lakh range. The Spark would compete with the Hyundai Santro, Maruti Zen Estilo and the Wagon R. The Spark has been cleverly priced at Rs 12,000 cheaper than the Zen Estilo which is the closest competitor. The major pull for the product will be it’s fuel efficiency which is expected to be better than the Zen, Wagon R and the Santro owing to the smaller engine (1 litre Vs 1.1 litre engines)

In terms of styling cues the car is immediately recongnizable as a modified Daewoo Matiz with a new nose and a rear. The nose looks better than the old Matiz but the same cannot be said about the rear which looks rather skittish due to the gems like tail lamps. The interior space is lavish for this segment and the car’s monovolume design generates a lot of space for the occupants. The dashboard is also completely new and has all gauges in a centre console with only the warning lights console directly in front of the driver. The steering feels a tad too big but is nice and meaty to grip. Overall the interior has a quality feel to it.