Chevrolet packed lots of style into the tiny 2013 Spark, according to Cars.com reviewer David Thomas, but it's the car's size that really impresses. Though tiny, a tall roofline gives passengers plenty of room and clever flip-fold seats mean there's more cargo space than expected. With the Spark, Chevy has an affordable, surprisingly roomy microcar, Thomas says.
Chevrolet's Spark microcar is pointed directly at the tech-savvy youth market with features like the slick MyLink multimedia system. Did GM pull an Apple with the name of the gear selector? There's an "I" in the shift pattern, as in the possible iGear, iShift or iMoveHereToGoForward.
Apple didn't license any shifting nomenclature in the Spark. The oddly named "I" gear position is a different abbreviation for a very common feature.
Consumers might shy away from Chevy's tiny Spark because of its compact dimensions (and awful pink color, in our case), but looks are deceiving, says Cars.com reviewer David Thomas. The Spark is roomier than it looks and its small four-cylinder engine is also peppier than expected. The Spark is at home in the city, but it's not very comfortable on the highway, where the ride really suffers, Thomas says.
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Tiny cars are big in popularity throughout the world, but the U.S. has been slow to adopt the trend. The Smart first blazed the minicar trail in the States with
the 2008 ForTwo, to mediocre success. Will new entries from Fiat, Chevrolet and Scion give the class a popularity boost? If September's sales figures are any
indication, yes.
The 2013 Chevrolet Spark, which first went on sale this summer, started off strong with 1,460 sold in July and 2,630 sold in August. September sales have cooled slightly with 2,223 sold. The Spark was initially launched in South Korea in 2009 and went global shortly afterward. According to GM, more than 600,000 have been sold since its debut and it's the best-selling Chevy in India.
Chevy's smallest car was made with the Millennial generation in mind, so chances are slim that this four-passenger hatchback will regularly pull family duty. Since ours was bubble-gum pink, moms and dads are probably even more likely to steer clear. However, since it has a backseat, we test it. Surprisingly, the Spark's tiny size wasn't the biggest hurdle to our child-seat installation — super firm seats and awkward tether anchors made getting the seats in difficult.
For the Car Seat Check, we use a Graco SnugRide 30 rear-facing infant-safety seat, a Britax Roundabout convertible child-safety seat and Graco high-back TurboBooster seat.
The Cars.com test fleet recently took loan of a certain Chevrolet Spark whose paint job is, well, peculiar. We might characterize it as something between a dry rosé and half-chewed bubble gum. Chevrolet calls it Techno Pink, and it's just one of several shades for GM's latest urban runabout. Others include Jalapeño, Lemonade and Salsa.
As adventurous as they may look on the lot, trendy colors — from the Spark's Techno Pink to the Scion xB's Hot Lava orange — run the risk of becoming passé when it's time to sell. Should that factor into your buying decision?
Well, yes and no. Black, white and silver dominate the landscape — no surprise, given BASF Automotive Coatings says those three still make up the majority of all car colors. But no clear downward correlation exists for the more adventurous choices. We crunched hundreds of listings on Cars.com among three popular late-model used cars: a 2009 Honda Accord, a 2010 Ford Focus sedan and a 2011 Kia Soul. Even the Focus' sea-foam-like green — Ford called it "Natural Neutral" — and the Soul's paler green, which Kia dubbed "Alien," average similar listing prices as their traditional counterparts.
The 2013 Chevrolet Spark gets an EPA-estimated 32/38 mpg city/highway when equipped with a five-speed manual transmission, according to the automaker. When equipped with a four-speed automatic transmission, the Spark gets 28/37 mpg.
At first glance, these numbers look disappointing compared to a Chevrolet Cruze Eco (42 mpg highway) or the Chevrolet Sonic (40-37 mpg), but the Spark competes in a strange category of small city cars. Let's see how it does compared to those tiny cars.
Although it's been on sale overseas since 2008, GM's tiny Spark will hit U.S. dealerships later this year with a less-than-tiny base price. Chevrolet's new-for-2013 Spark will start at $12,200. It may sound like a bargain, but Chevy's bigger Sonic starts only slightly higher at $13,865, though the Spark has standard power windows and the Sonic doesn't.
The subcompact four-door hatchback slots below the Sonic in Chevy's lineup. Power comes from a small 85-horsepower, 1.2-liter four-cylinder engine. A five-speed manual is standard; a four-speed automatic is available for $925, Chevy says.
Three trim levels will be offered: base LS, 1LT and 2LT.
Full pricing from Chevy is below:
Here's what we have our eye on today:
I learned long ago not to assume I know what teenagers think is cool. That's why I asked my 17-year-old niece if she would be caught driving the candy-colored subcompact 2013 Chevrolet Spark. Not only would she, but her social network gave it the thumbs-up as well. By using "thumbs-up" I've proven that I have officially moved into the mom category and should always check with teenagers about what is "cool" or "hip to the now."
More 2011 L.A. Auto Show Coverage
But as a mom of younger kids, could I contemplate them as teenage drivers in something that's categorized as a mini car? After checking out the Spark at the 2011 L.A. Auto Show, my answer is a definite yes.
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