Chevrolet Spark 1.2 LT review

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Chevrolet Spark 1.2 LT Road Test

Test date 31 January 2010 Price as tested £10,695

For Reasonable interior space, honest handling, natural steering feel

Against Poor interior material quality, irritating design details, engine refinement

A change of name and a change in ambition comes with Chevrolet’s new city car. The Spark replaces the Matiz, the only Chevrolet (nee Daewoo) model to make significant sales headway in the UK. To go with its new platform, the new name matches one its predecessor had in other markets already and, like the outgoing model, the Spark will be sold not just in Europe, but also in Asia, Australia and America, badged variously as a Chevrolet and a Holden.

Some Matiz stocks remain on sale in the UK, but the long-lived 0.8-litre and 1.0-litre petrol model will soon be superseded by this new Spark, which is both bigger overall and has 1.0 and 1.2-litre engines that are more in line with other cars in the city car class.

Matiz and Spark prices overlap, with the new model beginning at £6945 for a base version with the 1.0-litre engine, rising to as much as £9845 for a 1.2-litre Spark, which Chevrolet expects to be the more popular powerplant, in the range-topping LT trim as tested here. That’s borderline supermini money. Is it supermini competitive?