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Once Upon a Time a Car Called Matiz

There used to be a small and charming car called Daewoo Matiz not very long ago. The Parent company, Daewoo, a Korean car manufacturing company went bankrupt and hence Daewoo Matiz subsequently disappeared from the Indian Car market. Later, General Motors bought over Daewoo worldwide and rebranded Daewoo as Chevrolet. A wonderful car as it was, General Motors reignited the Matiz spark by launching the Chevrolet Spark in the Indian market.

The Daewoo Matiz was designed by the famous Italian car designer Giorgetto Giugiaro. This “bug” has gained international acclaim by winning the 'Most Beautiful Automobile' award at the Milan Show and the 'Best Small Car' at UK Motor Show. It entered the Guinness Book of Records for 'The Most Fuel-Efficient Car' at 32.01 km to a litre of petrol. The Matiz has won 12 awards, including nine international awards, the most ever to be won by any single car model.

The Daewoo Matiz debuted in 1998 in South Korea and in many European markets with the code name M100. The car became the best selling Daewoo model in Europe for the next four years after its launch. It set foot on India soil in 1999 and was relaunched as the Chevrolet Spark in 2007 by General Motors India.

The Spark is based on the Matiz's platform, and uses its greenhouse and doors. The size hasn't changed and styling cues like the well-known smiling face have been retained. The cute button lights of the old car have changed, halfway between evolving from ovals to squares.

The Matiz initially came with a 0.8-Litre 3-cylinder engine and its transmission was a carryover from the Daewoo Tico. The Matiz was designed at Daewoo's Worthing Technical Centre in England. The front-end structure was modified to accommodate a 4-cylinder engine, although the introduction of this engine, the 1.0-litre S-Tec unit was delayed until after Daewoo's takeover by General Motors in 2002.

In the year 2005, the Matiz received substantial modifications, previewed by the Chevrolet M3X concept car. The upper body was significantly revised based again on the same design. The S-Tec engine was revised and the car's drag coefficient was lowered that resulted in better fuel economy. The existing platform was renewed with a twist-beam rear suspension system. The car was marketed by the name Chevrolet Matiz II.

The Chevrolet Beat was unveiled at the 2007 New York International Auto Show. The Beat is a front-drive, three-door hatchback concept derived from the Daewoo Kalos and designed by GM Daewoo in South Korea. It is powered by a 1.2 L turbocharged gasoline engine mated to an automatic transmission. The redesigned Beat is set to hit the United States as the Chevrolet Spark by the beginning of 2011.

The New models of Matiz are sold as the Chevrolet Spark in many countries. The Spark concept sports a Vertigo Green exterior paint job with the same hue carried over to parts of the interior. Its profile is high at the rear and tapering down evenly to the front of the grille. The headlights that appear to extend all the way from the base of the grille to the base of the windshield are LED-type. The twin LED taillights extend upward to the back-up lights. This car was designed to attract young car buyers in urban markets, infusing the energy, diversity and excitement of urban life into a car that would deliver good-looking fun, fuel economy and value.

The Chevrolet Spark LPG was introduced in India on 5th June 2009. This Spark is fitted with a Sequential Injection-type LPG heart. This engine can also run on petrol in the absence of LPG.

The new Matiz – Chevrolet Spark – was the perfect platform for General Motors to foray into the Indian small-car market. General Motors sells the Spark in 150 other countries around the world. This car promises to become GM's biggest seller in India and boost the company's presence on the sub-continent.

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