If you can’t discern the difference between “except” and “accept,” then you seriously don’t have any right to say someone else is an idiot.

God-awful! Everything aft of the front doors is just awkward.

This really is the age of small cars in the US (I know i’m jumping the gun). Just 2-3 yrs ago before the high gas prices and recession hit, this would have been the laughing stock of the Detroit autoshow. Now people are actually taking a long hard look at them.

It’s amazing how the degree of ugliness rises almost exponentially the closer you creep towards “A” segment automobiles.

Perfect example of a concept that was “spot on” and an execution that is “spot on the carpet”. These tiny cars are a great thing to see coming but this example is FAIL.
Zoomer, x2 my friend.

Its just really ugly.

LOOK AT THE TRANSMISSION/CONSOLE AREA!!! Thats soooooo 1990s!!!! Its almost as if GM lifted the bottom console and auto transmission from Geo/Chevy Metro!!

is it the tesla that has a touchscreen in place of the center stack? more cars need to move to that…it would solve lots of design issues with dashboards if you could mod your controls via computer and set your own arrangement of controls…

I would drive Ford Ka over this anyday.

i love how some of you say the concept for the segment is cool, and then when the car comes out looking so close to the concept which rarely happens, you then find a way to bitch. for the segment, this is a cool looking little car.

The wheels totally destroy it, in my opinion.

I;m confused on this car – Why? Where does it fit? Under the Aveo? Seems like overkill to me – I hope it does well, it’s a neat looking little car – but a I have high doubts on it.

Chevy All-Spark….?

Isn’t that a Ford F150 vent?? A Nissan Murano cluster?? A Honda civic steering wheel?? One ugly car.

1.4L Turbo please, Spark SS.
The primary purpose for this car will be to offset the CAFE requirements for the Camaro and large trucks.

Me Likey, but then again I like most of the B segment cars

Lame name. That is all

My problem isn’t with how it looks

It looks like it’s trying to jam the 2011 Aveo’s styling into twelve inches less space

My problem is you’ve never had a successful entry below a Cobalt
NOW you’re stuffing two mini-cars into the line-up?
Why not redo the Aveo, see if it works
If you start selling 70-80k units for a couple of years
THEN bring in a baby brother

I don’t see how splitting the baby will help
It will only confuse the buyer
And you have the Cruze coming out this year

You can have TOO MUCH product

It’s like diarrhea of product!

Ford is entering the same overkill strategy, after eons of bottom-feeding
Let’s vomit every new tranny, engine, and design we can think of
In 2 years

To the consumer, it’s desperate, confusing, and causes skepticism.
Buyers like tested products and technologies
Diarrhea is usually not a good thing.
DrFill

With great designs like this, General Motors and Chevy will be assured to join the historic ranks of:

AMC
Packard
Studebaker
Plymouth
Oldsmobile
Eagle

Nice going GM, you have shown us lowered expectation are possible!

i agree most particularly with the previous statements of:
– good concept, poor execution
– look at the bottom dash / between the seats / shifter area

When I looked at the interior pictures, I rather liked it, or at least the top half of it, and the seats (designed fabric), and hell, i could even dig the motorcycle info cluster. What I couldn’t dig is the horrible lower half of the dash, the cupholder / shifter area between teh seats, and even that little storage hole above the glove box…what the hell are you gonna put it in? Could have either gone the Nissan route of straightening it out and making a massive HUGE glove box (my rouge’s box will eat 2 babies and a big mac for lunch), or gone the way of everybody else and still do the lime green there, but keep it smooth and flowing, not an ash tray.

drfill: I understand your sentiment (though it’s often hard to understand your prose) regarding too much new product at once.. but whether or not it’s a good thing has yet to be tested. It is truly a rarity when Ford, Chevy and Hyundai all plan to introduce at least 4 all-new models in 2011.. so we shall see whether the marketplace sees it as desperation or newfound optimism. Considering the state of the global economy, customers could benefit from some excitement in the showroom.. so I think this will be beneficial to all involved (so long as the styling doesn’t polarize or repel, which I feel the Spark does).

I hate it. plain and simple. STUPID ****ING CAFE

A poor rendition of Japanese design.

Thank god for CAFE, at least it has forced some interesting changes into the market, and our streetscapes will be the better for it. Bring on the Spark and anything else in this size range.

hmm, Mitzo, i think i’d rather see a new Kappa/ Kappa II based car over this… CAFE can go to hell on this one

on the other hand, i’ve always hated a and b seg cars, but cars like this are starting to grow on me, wouldnt buy one anytime soon, but they have my limited attention

Another Daewoo piece of $hit to add to Chevy’s lineup. Chevy needs to stop bringing their Daewoos here disguised as Chevys. I feel like $hit like this and the Aveo is what’s kind of hurting Chevy’s reputation for poorly built sub-compact cars. Maybe Chevy should look more towards Opel than the already failed in the US market Daewoo.

Ketzer,
Spot on!

This car looks HIDEOUSLY cheap compared to the concept pics! Typical gm!

Interior is better than the Aveo or the Cruze, but they took too many style cues from Mazda and Honda. That’s just my opinion.

Not sure why you say door handles were added when the concept car had them. I assume that is the concept up above, you know, with the stupid drilled rotors and Z rated tires, both pointless for this car (and those rotors actually HINDER braking performance than actually helping it).

I don’t like cars that small and this has that “This all I could afford from the rental office look.”

@ 85ZingoGTR

GM tried to sell Opels as Saturns and those failed too. Maybe they should have kept their alliance with Toyota. Maybe we would have gotten a Corvette styled Toyota IQ.

Hideous inside and out!!
Ugly tailights, body, front, side…
Ugly dashboard (bottom half), glove-box space, even the speedometer is ugly, it looks like a mini tv in front of the inexistent speedometer.
Just plain horrible.

2 Pounds of bologna
In a 1 pound bag
DrFill

so what exactly where you expecting for an inexpensive small car? i dont find any car in this segment good looking.

Uh JakeK66..the reason why is…the governement and they’re stupid regulations on automobiles!!!! As for this car, not bad, certainly better then the hideous puke inducing Yaris.

I am sure they can get an Aveo model that meets these MPG numbers. If so, then what is the point of this car when the Aveo is so much better proportioned, but still small enough to be considered B-segment? This car is redundant and a waste of floor space, resources, and advertising money.

I would take the car any day over the Toyota Yaris, the Honda Fit or the Smart for2. This is not a bad looking little car. You just need to focus on the fact that it designed to be small, really compact and lower the Corporate standards for the fuel economy. From what I can see, it does it with more style than other cars in its class. And as for all you people saying they have taken a good concept and killed it. Get a life. The biggest changes are the wheels. And if you don’t like the wheels put custom ones on. Everyone on this site is so cynical towards GM.

Umm….is this car necessary? The Aveo concept negates this little POS.

@ jimmyblaze – it didnt fail. They’re doing it with Buick now. The Saturn name was just a waste of money. There was no point in keeping it when all it did was create internal competition for the Chevy name.

GM: I feel for you on this one.
Everybody bashes you for not offering A and B segment vehicles the day that gas hit the magical threshold of $3.00/gal…
Everybody loves the concept and begs you produce it…
Everybody bashes you upon introduction.
..OUCH.

Now granted, the live photos make the car look like a modern plastic matchbox car (not even the good ol’ metal ones), and only God knows why you painted it with krylon’s plastic enamel, but I give you credit for trying. You are busting your behinds to bring us the cars we think we want, and I appreciate the effort. The big two from Japan certainly aren’t trying as hard.

My only question is the contradiction between these two quotes:
“Spark has been developed and is expected to achieve high crash test ratings.” from article above. And,
“GM chairman Bob Lutz stated last year that the Beat would not be coming to the U.S. because it was not designed to pass U.S. crash regulations,” from http://www.leftlanenews.com/gm-to-sell-chevrolet-beat-in-the-us.html

saabaru1 – Is the Beat and the Spark the same vehicle?

I can’t wait to see it on the roads

From what I read in the paper last week, when the Aveo RS was being discussed…..

Supposedly, the Aveo will take the place(and size?) of the current Cobalt.

The Cruze will take the place of the Cobalt, and be larger than the Cobalt.

This Spark will take the place of the current Aveo(supposedly).

So it will still be , supposedly, “A” car, the Aveo a “B” Segement car, then Cruze a “C” segment car.

What’s odd, is that about 10 -15 years ago.. today’s “Sub-compact/”B” segment cars” were called small “C” segment cars.

When we had a 1990 Sentra XE… it was called a “Compact” car…. but today, for example, the Nissan Versa, which is larger than our old ‘90 Sentra, is called a “Sub-Compact”.

Should stick to 1 plan for these “segments”, and not change them all of the time.

The new Ford Fiesta sedan… just 2″ shorter than the current Focus, is “Subcompact/”B” segment?

Guess we’ll have to wait for official documentation by GM…. for length, width, height, etc…

I will say… I don’t care for this design.

Who is going to buy this?

If it’s due to new CAFE regs…. that’s about the only reason to “sell” it(if it sells).

If this is aimed at Scion…. even the xD is better looking than this( is the xD a “B”, or “A” segment car…?).

Have a good day everyone.

PS: I hope GM doesn’t mess up the Aveo…. that will sell, if not toned down too much… this Spark needs toned down…. 90% toned down.

Headlamps up to the A-pillar?
Looks like a car that got scrunched-up in an accident.

@85ZingoGTR

Actually they did fail the Astra, Aura and Vue were all based on Opels and the Regal is too new to know if it will succeed or not. Saturn existed to provide cars that import buyers would warm up to and it could’ve worked except that the product was always lacking. By the time they were getting decent cars their fate was sealed. How many Astras have you seen on the road? If you go back even further look at the Buick/Opels the Manta, GT, 1900 those failed too. Then they became Isuzu’s sold as Opels in the late 70’s with the hope that the Opel name would sell, they didn’t. So Opel isn’t necessarily what people are looking for.

WTF it looks ok, I don’t know why everyone is going crazy and hating it

Really, Just another car thats not here….Does it matter what it looks like?

Astra failed for a few reasons…..
it was too expensive for the class
the motor was very underwhelming for the class both in power and fuel economy.

@ jimmyblaze – Thats true. The Astra is a rare sight to see. For the reasons orangecones said. (thanx for the reference orangecones). The Aura and VUE weren’t however. I think the idea of making Buick the “American version of Opel and Vauxhall” is a good idea. Its a different approach. I do feel however that the failure of those Saturn models were because of the Saturn name. Not so much the models. Thing is using the bodystyles is ok as long as the car is mechanically met for the US driving pattern. Let us not forget Europeans dont drive as much as the average American does so their cars are less subsceptible to wear and tear. American versions need bigger, smoother running engines that can handle higher mileages. Thats the primary reason why Fiat, Renault, Peugeot, and Citroen failed in the states back in the 70s. They didnt make US spec cars like the japanese and VW do now. They just used the same ones they sold in Europe. VW was the only european small car manufacturer that made different versions of their cars for select markets. Now that this concept of “US, European, and Japanes Specs” have been used by the japanese and now the Europeans, companies like Fiat can try at the US market with a different approach. American versions of Fiat/Chrysler vehicles will utilize larger engines compared to their european counterparts. And thats what Buick/Opel is doing.

Part of the problem with the Saturn Astra was the weakening dollar as well.

You know, perhaps a simple reason why Opel’s and such failed in the 70s was because the US stuff wasn’t so bad back then. Or at least that was the start of them going downhill and ppl like Honda and Toyota getting better.

@85ZingoGTR
Thanks guys, you all make great points. In fact I had never considered the fact that Europeans didn’t drive as much. My own commute is 32 miles a day which is killer on my cars. But the fact that Chevy’s small cars are coming from Daewoo has to be about cost. If they were from Opel their base prices would price them out of the market just as orangecones and sprockkets pointed out happened with Saturn.

I agree that the idea of making Buick the “American version of Opel and Vauxhall” is a good one. Particularly because GM has smartly paired back its number of divisions and the Opels are uniquely styled from their U.S. lineup. Saturn lost its identity and as you pointed out competed against Chevrolet so they had to go. At least Buick has a more upscale reputation so the European vehicles may be perceived as worth the extra money. I can see the next gen Astra being sold as a Buick here as its already in China. Check out Buick’s Astra:
http://www.carpictures.com/vehicle/09KTF154611736.html

Jimmy, are you referring to where they are built or engineered?

GM currently imports nothing from overseas so whether from Europe or Korea manufacturing plants is moot as far as effecting price.

I do agree that Korea has much more experience in building low cost vehicles than Germany. But I am not sure if that really has that much effect on the cost of the components.

jimmy, I think one point that’s often overlooked in the success or failure of these captive imports is the dealer network they’re being sold through. I think a big reason for the relative lack of success in the ’70’s for Opel was the same thing that happened to Merkur in the ’80’s. These cars were being sold by a dealer network that either didn’t want or understand what is was they were selling. That, or the consumer of the time was not going to walk into a Buick or Mercury dealership looking for a European import.

I don’t know if Opel was considered a failure, though. They sold quite a few back in the day and the main reason for discontinuing the line, I think, was that the Euro-sourced models were too pricey compared to the Japanese upstarts of the day (Toyota, Datsun and Honda). They tried to rectify it by rebading Isuzus, but I think GM just decided to give up after a few years of that.

Exciting it isn’t.
Cool it isn’t.
Cheap and utilitarian it is.
It is a no-frills car. WHY are they spending money to try to convince us that is anything other than a cheap runabout. No one is fooled.

BELOW the Aveo?! The double entendre in that phrase is too good to ignore, as in:

How low can you go? (cue music on the beach w/ limbo contest)

The Aveo is horrifying. If this goes below the Aveo, then I will observe road accidents in which the Chevrolet Spark has been run over by a Smart Car–and then explodes.

Did anyone mention that with the name “Spark”, they’re just begging for explosion jokes and comparison to the exploding Ford Pinto?