Chevrolet Spark – ExteriorView
General Motors has been taking the Indian automobile market very lightly indeed, they are not pushing hard enough to get to greater heights in our market. All the products GM India has on sale are all slow-moving, and the ones that are actually selling are all one’s with specific uses or features. The Tavera is selling because of it’s appeal to cab drivers, the Beat sells because of its frugal 1.0-litre diesel engine and funky looks and the Cruze sells because of its premium appeal. The Enjoy MPV has been around for a little more than a year now, but has not yet made any huge impact on the MPV/MUV segment, the new Sail has also not sold very well. all these things are causing a stir at GM India, and in order to change things for good, they are now looking forward to refresh the entire line-up in their product portfolio.
This refresh drive began with the launch of the new Chevrolet Cruze, and they are now looking forward to launch the Beat refresh in the near future, but this refresh drive will actually begin only when they launch an all new product and not a refresh, and the first all-new product to come out of this drive will be the upcoming Chevrolet spark replacement.
The Chevrolet spark was launched in India way back in 2005, and won over may hearts because of its cute, cuddly looks and frugal petrol engine. It sold in some decent numbers, but since its launch, it has not received many updates. There were a few special editions in between, but there were no major changes. What makes matters worse is that, the Spark is based on the same chassis as the age old Daewoo Matiz, and the only change in the underpinnings between the two cars is that, the Spark runs on updated suspension. This means that the Chevrolet Spark that comes out of the dealership today, still uses underpinnings which are 16 years old, so it was actually time, Chevrolet gave us a replacement.
Chevrolet Spark – InteriorView
The replacement has been code-named, ‘Project Amber’ and will be based on an all-new platform. Project Amber will be made available in the South-American market, which has great potential for this segment and it will also be sold in the South Asian countries like China, India, Indonesia etc. which already has a booming small-car market.
The current generation Chevrolet Spark is powered by a 995cc, 63 BHP, 4-cylinder petrol engine, but the upcoming ‘Project Amber’ will be powered by a new, more efficient engine, and we wouldn’t be surprised to find a small, frugal turbo-diesel under the hood as an option. The pricing, and specs of the car to be launched are not yet known, but all will be revealed in the near future, and the car is expected to be launched by 2017.
To read more on Chevrolet Spark, Click here
Also see – Topless Chevrolet Spark spotted in East India
Source – AutomotiveBusiness
