Holden Spark to fly Down Under

[Reaper]

Holden Spark to fly Down Under


Holden will soon have a new small-car champion to sell alongside its baby Barina.
Holden dealers have been told that the replacement to the Daewoo Matiz, the Chevrolet Spark, will be available in Australia wearing a Holden badge in the first half of 2010.
The Carsales Network understands that the price leader of the Holden range will be available in one model only -- a five-door body powered by a tiny 1.2-litre four-cylinder petrol engine with a five-speed manual transmission. Although an automatic is available in Korea it won't be available initially at its Australian launch.
Pricing is yet to be confirmed but we're guessing somewhere around $14,990 drive-away, which would put it on par with the starting price of the Indian-made Suzuki Alto.
Despite persisting with a base model Holden Barina that does not even come with anti-lock brakes (you have to pay a premium to get this basic safety feature that's been in common use for 30 years) Holden has apparently changed its tune on the safety front.
Holden told dealers it is waiting for stability control to be developed on the Spark before the model is introduced -- so that the tiny hatch can hopefully attain a five-star ANCAP safety rating. The Australasian independent crash test authority only issues five-star ratings to cars that provide a high level of occupant protection in a crash -- and have an effective stability control system.
So the Spark will come standard with six airbags -- a rarity in the Light Car class, matched so far only by the Suzuki Alto.
However, it is unclear how the Spark will achieve a five-star safety rating if crash tests by the European NCAP division are a guide. Euro NCAP awarded the car a four star rating.
The Euro NCAP report published on December 9 said the passenger compartment "remained stable in the frontal impact" and that dummy readings indicated "good protection of the head and neck".
However, the report said, "deflection of the chest indicated marginal protection for the chest of both driver and passenger". It went on to say: "Structures in the dashboard posed a risk of injury to the knees and femurs of both the driver and the passenger".
The Spark went on to score maximum points in the side barrier impact, and in the more severe side pole test protection of the chest was "adequate" and that of other body regions was "good". However, "marginal" protection was provided against whiplash injuries in the event of rear impact.
Some media have already driven the Spark. British journalist Paul Horrell reported for the US magazine Motor Trend that the 1.2-litre engine in the Spark "revs sweetly" but overall it was "a noisy little car".
"Engine hum and tyre roar battle to upstage each other depending on how coarse the road surface is or how hard you are on the throttle," he wrote for the magazine.
He said the car felt "agile" to drive but the tyres had "comically little grip".


Holden Spark to fly Down Under ? Car Reviews, News & Advice - CarPoint Australia

[Reaper]

Somehow I just can't see that thing setting the world on fire.....

Reaper

[calais24/7]

Personally i reckon it wont be a popular hit with consumers looking to buy a new small car

[TVR-190]

could be a good little car with some good tyres though, for the price.

[Jezza]

well good on holden for trying with a new small car but its ugly

[Darren_L]

that's mega AU Falcon fugly

[the_trademarc]

What I need to ask is, is there really a space in the market for a car like that, when it already has a Barina in the segments.
Not to mention the Echo, Getz (upcoming i10 as well), Festiva.

Will be interested to see if it cannibalises sales from the Barina. I'd say it will

[greenfoam]

15 grand, way to close in price to the base model Fiesta and Mazda 2, Jazz etc etc etc heaps of cars that are much better can't see it selling not even one car. Holden are weird because the major market for small cars is girls and girls like cool sporty stuff that looks styling and has a good factory stereo and fancy crap for their mobile phones and ipods. They don't want looks challenged little eccono boxes

[Calaber]

Yep, keep it in Korea.

Enough fugly mini-boxes running around in Aus already.

[Jezza]

sadly there will be a small group of people who will buy it i think holden should stop wasting there money on such small things and better invest it somewhere else

[ashbox]

What I need to ask is, is there really a space in the market for a car like that, when it already has a Barina in the segments.
Not to mention the Echo, Getz (upcoming i10 as well), Festiva.

Will be interested to see if it cannibalises sales from the Barina. I'd say it will

holden will more than likely cut the barina.

tbh, holden should've kept importing the corsa from europe for the barina

[S.O.S]

If it can be fuel efficient cheap and well spec, then maybe it might go ok, if its running 5 star safety. The 5 door looks tall and awful, but the 3 door doesn't look bad. Shame we will only see the ugly step sister.