The Chevrolet Matiz - sold in South Africa as the Spark - has been around in one form or another for more than 10 years. It used to be branded Daewoo but, since that company's Korean automaking was taken over by General Motors in 2002, it's been badged a Chevy.
It's best understood as a transitional product, more appealing to European tastes than earlier Korean cars but not part of the latest generation of really impressive modern Korean models such as Kia's cee'd and Sorento, Hyundai's i30- or indeed Chevrolet's own Opel Astra.
Inside, however, it tends towards old-school Korean ideas about interior trim with some surfaces being harder, shinier and lighter in colour than they would be in a European car, although it's all very neatly laid out and the overall effect is more than acceptable given the Spark's low price.
DOMINATING IMPRESSION
That transitional quality comes through when you meet the car in the metal. There's more than a nod to Western tastes in the Spark's neat styling; Italdesign was involved both in the original design and some of the subsequent mods, apparently.
But really, more than any detail of its internal or external styling, there is one thing that dominates one's impression of the Spark - it's narrower than just about anything else on the road.
It's hard to overstate what an advantage this is in town driving; the Spark can be squeezed through the smallest of gaps, and supermarket parking bays, such as domestic garages, suddenly become a doddle rather than a struggle.
WELL-JUDGED PACKAGING
The interesting thing is that while the Spark does certainly feel narrow inside as well out, adults occupying the front seats don't quite rub shoulders.
The Spark's packaging seems to be well judged, its rather upright proportions allowing quite a lot of space to be squeezed into a car with such a small footprint.
The Spark isn't particularly exciting once you get it out on the open road. Tall and narrow is not a combination that will tempt the keener driver into wild cornering.
On the other hand it's not too buzzy and wearing for such a small car at higher speeds so, for owners who use the Spark mainly in town and just make the occasional longer trip, it'll do the job.
The Spark is a solid effort, and it's had a long period of justified popularity as an urban runabout - recently extended by the UK Government's scrapping scheme, which has heavily favoured cheap cars of this sort. But its main role in life these days is to remind us a bit what the old, pre-GM Daewoo-based Chevrolets was like before the Cruze came along. - The Independent, London
SPECIFICATIONS
SA Price:
R93 170
Engine:
One-litre four-cylinder petrol, 48kW, 91 Nm.
Transmission:
Five-speed manual.
Top speed:
155km/h.
Acceleration:
0-100km/h in 14.1sec.
Fuel consumption:
5.6 litres/100km (combined cycle)
CO2 emissions:
137g/km