Chevy aims tiny Spark at city dwellers

The Korea-built Spark that debuts in the United States in July will be the smallest Chevrolet ever sold here. It's so small that Chevy executives say they are having a hard time forecasting sales volume for the car.

"We haven't set a specific target," said Cristi Landy, Spark marketing director. "A minicar is new" to the United States. "There are a lot of unknowns here."

Chevrolet is aiming the car primarily at people residing in large cities where a very small vehicle can make the difference in finding a parking space. The Spark is 144.7 inches long, or 5.1 inches longer than the Fiat 500. It is 14.3 inches shorter than Chevy's five-door Sonic hatchback.

The Spark is currently sold in Europe, Asia, Australia, South America and Mexico. The Spark and Sonic were engineered by GM Korea. The U.S. version of the Spark will be assembled in Korea and marketed as Chevrolet's lowest-priced car. Today, the Sonic carries Chevrolet's lowest sticker -- $14,660 for the five-speed manual, including transportation.

It's the powertrain that will distinguish the North American Spark. General Motors' new 85.2-hp, 1.2-liter four-cylinder engine will be under the hood. Other markets offer a 1.0-liter three-cylinder engine.

"In a lot of regions it is exclusively a city car; they never leave a congested environment," said Bob Casparian, Spark product manager. "On our roads, you can quickly find yourself on the interstate. What we were looking for is a powertrain that provides the best balance of power and fuel economy for our road system."

Fuel economy numbers have not yet been released.

The Spark will compete here with the Fiat 500, Scion iQ and Smart ForTwo. It's a small segment. Last year Smart sold 5,208 ForTwo units, although sales were up 50 percent in the first two months of this year.

Fiat sold 19,769 units of the 500 in 2011, a partial year of sales. The iQ went on sale in December, and 1,486 units were sold in the past three months.

"That segment is a tough sell, not just a tough sell for Chevy," said Tracy Handler, an analyst at IHS Automotive. "That segment has a very limited audience that wants that small of a car."

The North American Spark will be distinguished by a restyled grille and fascia, new headlamps and rear taillights, plus a redesigned instrument panel that incorporates a seven-inch touch screen. The screen is capable of displaying smartphone-based navigation, media and contacts for hands-free driving, and it will be standard with 1LT and 2LT trims.

Those changes will be incorporated later into models sold outside North America.

Chevrolet will offer a paint palette that features dazzling colors, including bright green, light yellow and pink. The last color is the most popular Spark choice in Korea, but initially those colors were turned down for the U.S. market by the Spark team.

"This car is all about fun; it is all about expressiveness," Landy said. "It just made sense to bring in some of these very expressive colors into the palette," including what she described as silvery pink.

"It is called Techno Pink," Landy said.

"It is nothing like Mary Kay" cosmetics pink.