Quote Of The Day: American Tastes Edition

Edward Niedermeyer
by Edward Niedermeyer

I have driven a Spark around Michigan and have had some (GM executives) out for Saturday afternoon driving. We’ve cruised Woodward. North America has been an on-and-off thing for (the Spark). At the present time, though, it is very much on. Most of the world’s minicars were not designed for North America. The safety and repairability standards are different for side, rear, front crash and rollovers, as are emission standards and other things. They are difficult to meet if they weren’t planned for in the original engineering build. We can meet the U.S. standards. We can even package the Spark for Big Gulp cupholders

GM’s Jack Keaton [via Wards Auto] on the Chevrolet Spark (neé Daewoo Matiz Creative) and the many modifications needed to ready the 1.0/1.2-liter A-segment hatchback for the US market. Including making the cupholders large enough to hold a soft drink cup that’s nearly double the displacement of the Spark’s engine. The 6′ 4″ Keaton swears the Spark’s front seat is comfortable for him, and that he “didn’t mind” the back seat on a recent 35 mile drive.

Edward Niedermeyer
Edward Niedermeyer

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  • Blue adidas Blue adidas on Nov 23, 2009

    You'll find little Sparks all over St. Bart. They're perfect tourist rental cars because they're cheap and disposable. The Chevy Spark really really sucks.

  • Joeaverage Joeaverage on Nov 23, 2009
    Note to GM: Try to get the seats right. Every time I see a Cavalier, my back aches in rememberance of a long ago, painful trip. And how. I recall a 100 mile trip (each way) in the back seat of an early Saturn. Man that back seat was far too upright. Moved my friend's Civic hatchback around the other night and found that my 5'11" frame doesn't fit in it very well. Seat needs another couple of inches of rearward movement and the steering wheel needed to go up another inch or two. My VW Cabrio (Golf 'vert) will adjust the front seats so far back that I can't bottom the clutch on the floor. Steering column moves plenty upward out of my way that I don't even need to move it up to get in and out comfortably. Little things like that make or break little cars. I don't mind a small vehicle but it has to be packaged correctly. Not all of Honda's vehicles are like this b/c I had an early CR-X, a few Accords, and currently a CR-V. As for GM's little cars - I say bring them. Don't sell us some ugly little sneaker of a car. Sell us something with some style and taste. Not some abomination that an adult wouldn't tolerate driving across a city. I'm not too worried about it's crash stats. I'm climbing into a small or very small car. I am aware of the risks. I am also very aware of the dangers of driving when I get into either of our aircooled VWs (Beetle and Bus) or when I ride my motorcycle. Don't protect me from myself. I can think and decide for myself what I feel comfortable driving.
  • Redshift.flipgear Redshift.flipgear on Nov 24, 2009

    Correct me if I'm wrong here but the Spark really doesn't have a competitor in its segment here. The Aveo goes after the Yaris and the Fit while the Spark will go after the Hyundai i10 and the Toyota iQ or Aygo.

  • Psarhjinian Psarhjinian on Nov 24, 2009

    Correct me if I’m wrong here but the Spark really doesn’t have a competitor in its segment here. The Aveo goes after the Yaris and the Fit while the Spark will go after the Hyundai i10 and the Toyota iQ or Aygo. Fair question, but it begs another: why is GM going to sell this car in North America? Even the subcompact market sells a fraction of what the compact and midsizers sell, so at best this car will either undercut the Aveo (which is hard, considering you can buy an Aveo for CA$10K) and/or be sold as a boutique choice (ask Daimler how that's going). Don't get me wrong, I like small cars, but this is a tough sell for a company that's already suffering from cannibalization. I'd suspect they'll replace the Aveo entirely. It'll take some pressure off the Cruze as well; the Aveo currently steals more than a few base Cobalt sales.

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