An all-new Chevrolet Spark mini-car and Orlando seven-seat compact multi-purpose vehicle will come to the Únited States in 2011. The announcement was made during a General Motors press conference at the North American International Auto Show here today. ‘Chevrolet Spark will bring great style, roominess and versatility to the §egmènt of extremely fuel-efficient small cars in the Ú.S.,’ said Troy Clarke, president of GM North America. ‘The decision to add the Spark to Chevrolet’s portfolio reflects the brand’s commitment to being a fuel efficiency leader in the industry.’ Originally seen as the Chevrolet Beat concept at the 2007 New York Auto Show, the four-door Chevrolet Spark will provide versatility with a fresh, youthful exterior and interior design that is reflected in the selection of materials and colors.

The Spark will make its world debut in full production form at the Geneva Auto Show in March 2009. Sales begin in Europe in the first quarter of 2010, followed by other markets around the globe. ‘The Chevrolet Orlando show car, unveiled at the recent Paris Auto Show to positive public reaction, combines the versatility of a sport-utility, a family van and a wagon in a single vehicle,’ Clarke §äid. It has the added benefit of excellent fuel economy, because of its car-based architecture.’

First photos and plans for the Chevrolet Orlando’s global rollout will be released in the coming months. It will be in Chevrolet showrooms in the Ú.S. in 2011. ‘These small vehicles make a big statement,’ said Ed Peper, North America vice president, Chevrolet. ‘With their fresh, clean approach, we believe Spark and Orlando will appeal to a wide range of customers who want excellent fuel efficiency, functionality and style in a small vehicle.’

Price: $11,500 – $13,700.

Design

For years, car designers believed that the key to making a car appeal in the mini §egmènt was to make it cute and cuddly. But Chevrolet doesn’t do cute and cuddly. It’s out of keeping with almost a century of iconic vehicle design, where every Chevrolet has had to deliver a new level of edginess, character and a bold identity. As a result, the Chevrolet Spark has a purposeful stance. It isn’t cute, but it sure is handsome, its angular, self-confident profile giving it the proportions of a larger vehicle, and making it appear self-confident among a sea of meeker lòòking city cars.

Chevrolet Spark was also designed with global appeal in mind. Chevrolet has always been a brand with a large footprint across the world, but its growth in Europe makes that now, more than ever, relevant.It originated from the GM DAT design centre in Korea, with influences from all of the key markets in which Chevrolet is a major player. It’s goal? To redefine what was expected in the mini car §egmènt. To break the rules, defy convention and deliver something that offered great style and value for money, but without compromise.’From the beginning, we wanted to have a revolution in size and design,’ explains Taewan Kim, vice president of GM DAT Design. ‘We wanted to take a big step forward to deliver a completely new statement, especially in the design of the car.

The exterior of the Chevrolet Spark features a ‘wheels-out; body in’ stance, its single arc roofline accentuated by strong, clean body sides free of cladding. The appearance is sleek; slightly aggressive, and unmistakably more upmarket than a number of mini car rivals. The headlamps are sculptured elliptically into the body, stretching from the front grille right back to the A-pillar, with clear polycarbonate lenses and chrome coated headlamp bezels to emphasise the frontal styling.

From the side, the rear door handles are hidden away alongside the C-pillar, answering the conundrum faced by many a designer – is a sporty three-door better than a practical five-door? Chevrolet Spark delivers the appeal of both. The sharp looks are enhanced by a level of fit and finish that’s second to none. Every single panel gap is laser straight, and engineered to be below 3.0mm or less across the car. This precision and attention to styling detail is not only reserved for the car’s exterior – unlike some models in the §egmènt, where interior design is clearly functional, the Chevrolet Spark manages to add a youthful, vigorous appeal to the inside of the car that is equal to the look of the exterior.

While maintaining exemplary levels of craftsmanship, the Chevrolet Spark’s cabin is an iconic piece of design in itself. It maintains all of the class attributes – comfort, spaciousness and easy-to-use controls, yet delivers them in a style that is unique to the sector.The focal point of the cabin is the motorcycle-style instrument ‘pod’, which sits on top of the §teering column and delivers all of the essential information in a compact yet easy-to-read manner. The analogue speedometer is backed up by a digital tachometer, just like on a sports bike, backlit by upmarket ice blue lighting when the headlights are turned on. It’s truly unique to the sector, and clearly illustrates the Chevrolet Spark’s intention to put the fun back into function.

Another smart feature is the Chevrolet Spark’s Integrated Centre Stack, which incorporates all of the radio, sat nav (where fitted) and heating, ventilation and air conditioning controls in one central location, leaving the fascia clean and uncluttered and putting all of the major switches in one central location that is simple and intuitive to use. The heating and ventilation controls feature a crystalline surround, which lights up in ice blue to match the instrument panel when driving at night.A neat appliqué around the instrument panel adds even more attention to detail – finished in high grade technical grain on base models, piano black on mid-range or a choice of silver, red or blue surrounds on top models is matched by inserts in the doors, while colour-coded seat fabrics are also available.

Comfort and Convenience

It may not be very big on the outside, but the Chevrolet Spark’s clever design means it is able to make the most out of its available space. Front seat passengers enjoy up to 1067mm of available legroom (893mm in the rear), while shoulder space of 1288mm (1263mm rear) and headroom of 1009mm (952mm) are also rated among the very best in the §egmènt, proving that even when a car is small, it doesn’t need to be cramped. With five doors and five available seats, the Chevrolet Spark is one of the most space-efficient cars in the mini §egmènt. Much of the interior space is down to the car’s clever design – details such as the §teering column-mounted instrument pod and longer than average wheelbase allowed the designers to reduce cabin intrusion, allowing for as much space between the axles as possible.

On top of this, the cabin was planned to accommodate as much supplementary storage space as possible. The centre console, for example, incorporates a bin for carrying smaller items such as a mobile phone, MP3 player or packet of chewing gum, while there’s also a double cup/drinks holder ahead of the gear shifter. There’s a generously sized glove box, seat back pockets designed to accommodate books, road atlases or laptop computers, door bin pockets on both sides with storage for a standard sized 500ml drinks bottle and neat convenience features such as an auxiliary power socket in the lower instrument panel, overhead assist grips on the front passenger and rear doors and padded sun visors, with a ticket holder on the driver’s side. Luggage space is 170-litres with the rear seat in place. The rear seat base and back both split 60:40 to fold flat increasing the luggage space to 568 litres.

The cabin is also one of the most refined and well-finished in the §egmènt. Ergonomically designed, the seats are designed to be harder wearing and longer lasting than the class average, with strong knit fabric on entry-level cars and woven fabric on upper models. Cabin engineers paid particular attention to longevity, increasing the ratio of stitches-per-inch to ensure all sew lines and seat surfaces remained tight and free from premature sagging or a stretched-seam appearance over time. The firm ‘Durometer’ foam in the seats is highly bolstered and of a construction that evenly distributes the passenger’s weight for high comfort on both long and short journeys.

An indication of the attention to detail that went into Chevrolet Spark’s overall design comes from the testing carried out on the seats prior to launch – prototypes were tested in various seasons and climates across various road surfaces to optimise comfort, including side-by-side comparisons with key rivals. Add to that the use of only high grade plastics in the interior and computer-controlled interior panel alignment ensuring no inside gap bigger than 5mm between door shuts and it’s clear to see that the high levels of build quality seen on the Chevrolet Spark are of a level normally only found on bigger, more expensive cars. Of course, comfort and refinement don’t just come down to fit and finish or the use of high quality materials – one of the keys to delivering class leading refinement is to reduce noise, vibration and harshness levels (NVH) inside the cabin through effective damping and noise suppression.

With its tight and stiff body structure and carefully optimised damper and spring rates, Chevrolet Spark delivers a ride comfort and noise level that’s easily among the best in class, making it remarkably refined for a mini car. Much of that is down to its complex four-mount engine cradle (with a hydraulic mount on RHD cars) which is tailored to the engine’s inherent torque axis, effectively damping transfer of vibration and noise in the process. Enhanced chassis-to-body structure interface points are designed to ensure high levels of stiffness, further retarding low-frequency noise intrusion into the car’s cabin, isolating much of the noise and vibration caused by road surfaces.

Powertrain

Across Europe, two engines will be offered in the Chevrolet Spark – both petrol units with displacements of 1.0 and 1.2-litres. Both units are closely related and use a cast iron block and alloy head, with a double overhead camshaft and four valves per cylinder. They feature multi-port fuel injection and are both Euro V emissions compliant. The two engines use advanced features such as port de-activation technology to improve exhaust gas recirculation, leading to optimal fuel efficiency and idle stability, along with a timing chain to ensure a lifetime of low maintenance and running costs.

The smaller of the two units is of 995cc displacement and produces 68PS (50Kw) at 6,400rpm, enough to power the car from 0-62mph in 15.5 seconds, and on to a top speed of 96mph. The unit produces 93Nm of torque at 4,800rpm, with a compression ratio of 9.8:1. Available in Chevrolet Spark, Spark + and LS, the unit returns 55.4mpg on the combined cycle, with a CO2; output of 119g/km. The larger unit displaces 1206cc and produces 81PS (60Kw), with maximum torque of 111Nm at 4,800rpm. It accelerates from 0-62mph in 12.1 seconds and on to a top speed of 102mph. Available in Chevrolet Spark LS and LT, the unit also returns 55.4mpg on the combined cycle, with a CO2; output of 119g/km.

Dynamics and safety

Whether it’s within the confines of the city limits or out on the open road, a good lòòking car has to be as impressive to drive as it is to look at.That’s why the engineering team behind the Chevrolet Spark focused on a number of key factors that would enable it to deliver the absolute best in terms of dynamic performance and safety. Chevrolet Spark has a number of key passive safety features, detailed below, that are often reserved for more expensive, larger cars – but it’s the car’s dynamic performance that is the driver’s first line of defence in any emergency situation. As such, the Chevrolet Spark has taut, responsive handling characteristics, at the heart of which is a very stiff integral body frame structure, designed to aid the car’s dynamic performance and provide the driver with a heightened sense of stability, solidity and confident road command.

The suspension follows a traditional yet effective layout – MacPherson struts at the front and a compound crank (torsion beam) axle at the rear, a combination that allows for neutral, predictable handling characteristics. It is both nippy and nimble round town, yet surefooted at higher speeds. Chevrolet Spark is also available with a system known as ESC, standing for Electronic Stability Control. This provides outstanding safety and control benefits, with electronic brake and traction control capabilities to provide precise anti-lock braking capabilities, as well as exceptional yaw stability.

Vented front disc brakes of 236mm in diameter are fitted at the front with 200mm drums at the rear, while a four-channel ABS system is fitted to Sparks in all European markets, along with an electronic brake assist system, which automatically applies more power to the brake callipers when an urgent stop/foot pedal motion is detected. Round town manoeuvrability and nimbleness is enhanced by the Chevrolet Spark’s efficient hydraulic rack-and-pinion §teering, which is geared to give a minimum turning radius of only 5 metres, with just over three turns lock to lock – it’s quick ratio making city driving more of a pleasure than a chore.

Of course, even the most able driver in the most dynamically competent car can sometimes find his or herself in a situation where a collision is inevitable, so with this in mind the Chevrolet Spark was designed with high levels of passive safety inbuilt from the outset. Almost 60 per cent of the car’s structure consists of advanced steels, with varying levels of stiffness and built-in crush zones to absorb crash impacts. The front engine bay rails and subframe are designed to absorb energy while maintain the highest loads possible as they collapse, while a transition zone around the base of the A-pillars and front bulkhead effectively distributes crash energy around rather than into the passenger compartment.

A similar crush zone exists at the rear, with the fuel tank and its connections designed in a way to minimise the chance of ruptures. Additional rear impact loads are absorbed by a strong rear cross member, as GM’s internal rear crash measurement standards are greater than industry required standards. High levels of occupant protection are further enhanced by twin front airbags, side curtain airbags and additional seat mounted thorax and abdomen airbags, seatbelt pretensioners and a pedal retraction system, which pulls the pedal box away from the car’s occupants in the event of a frontal collision, reducing the risk of lower leg injury. Other safety features include three-point seatbelts for all five seating positions, ISOFIX rear child seat fixings and an inbuilt pedestrian protection system, designed to protect a victim’s head from hitting hard points of the car’s body or engine block in the event of a collision.