Remember the Daewoo Matiz? According to history, circa 1999, this cheeky little Giugiaro design was one hot-selling number. It had everything going for it, even an award from BBC TopGear, beating the likes of Kia, Hyundai, Rover as well as Fiat and Volkswagen! It was made in India by Daewoo Motors India and a limited number of cars were even exported. In India, it caught the imagination of young women because it was cute and also of anybody who wanted an alternative to the big M. The March 2000 year-ending saw about 35,000 cars sold and about an equal number of engines and gearboxes exported. About 150 cars were being made per day, and there was a delivery backlog.

Then the company collapsed, leaving thousands of Indians who had bought the car wondering what would become of them. Delhi still has a fiercely loyal set of Matiz drivers, and why not? The car, though based on the same cylinder block as the Maruti 800, had much going for it. The SE version for example, came with an AC, power windows in front, radial tyres as standard ? and of course, multi-point fuel injection. With the design having four wheels at the four corners, the Matiz was an example of maximum utilisation of cabin space. Even in 2006, the looks and profile of the Matiz are still very contemporary modern. The Matiz did receive a freshening of its looks towards the end of Daewoo’s life, but this never made it to India.

They say hope springs eternal in the human breast and now, suddenly there is hope again. Chevrolet bought Daewoo some time ago and since Daewoo’s product portfolio consists of some rather competent cars, GM decided to refine them a bit and introduce them as Chevrolets in markets like India. Since GM India decided to phase out the Opel marque from India and replace it with Chevrolet, we have had the Chevrolet Forester, which is a Subaru, the Optra, which is a Daewoo Nubian, and the Aveo, which was the Kalos. It’s called badge engineering. Incidentally, Suzuki has launched the Forenza in the US of A, which strongly smacks of the Optra/Nubira. It would be interesting if that ever made it to India. But one digresses.

The Matiz has been resuscitated and since late-2005 has been selling in Europe as a Chevrolet. That’s why the car in the picture has a German number plate and the Chevrolet bowtie on the nose. It could be coming our way by next year, however. As can be seen in the picture, the difference is in the front end ? The headlights, though based on the old round lights, have been slightly altered to change the look and the bonnet is fluted. The rear is slightly different too in terms of the taillights and so the hatch has been modified to accommodate these. The doors, the roofline and the windscreen are from the Matiz so chances are people running around in old dented Matizes may be able to freshen up their old cars a bit.

It has been improved in a number of ways, both cosmetically and functionally. For example, owners will remember the old Matiz had a very vague-feeling gearshift. That has been rectified in the new car by putting in a new gear linkage mechanism. The European Matiz comes with power-assisted steering, dual front airbags, ABS brakes, remote locking, split-fold rear seats, ISOFIX child-seat fixings as well as a revised rear suspension. The top of the range model comes with air-conditioning and side airbags too. One doubts whether all that will be available with the Indian market model, where the car will be called the Spark. The name change is because GM India, it would seem, wants us Indians to believe this to be a one hundred per cent, genuine all-American car!

The Matiz is available in two engine-versions internationally, a 0.8-litre and a 1.0-litre, but for India it looks like the latter version is intended. This is a 995cc, 8-valve unit with a bore and stroke of 68.5mm and 67.5mm respectively. That makes the stroke shorter than that of the 796cc unit, which could lead one to think torque will suffer, but the extra cylinder compensates in terms of torque and engine balance. Torque output of this engine is 91Nm at 4200rpm and power developed is 65bhp, which is in the same category as the Santro, Wagon R et al. What will help this little car is that thanks to its engine size and overall dimensions, it is eligible for tax breaks in the form of lower excise duty. So if GM plays its cards right and prices the car correctly, this could be the sale-igniter the company needs in India. All the factors that endeared the old Matiz to Indian customers remain ? it is still a five-door city car, it is still a nimble compact car that is easy to park and it is still ok for a ‘hum do, hamare do’ type of family. With an improved powertrain and suspension, and near 160kph capability it should be even better.

My first car

LOVEY BURMAN
confectionery expert

My very first car was a Maruti van. It holds a special place in my heart, being the first car I bought with my own money. It was about twenty something years ago, and I never looked back to regret.

The Maruti van was highly affordable for my pocket then. I needed a car for personal travel, yet it had to be something that I could use for work as well. Being spacious, the Maruti van fit my requirements to a T. It was the best possible thing to have happened at the work front and on other occasions it behaved perfectly as the ideal family car.

I upgraded my wheels two years later and now, after years and many more changes, I get to have a Honda Accord of my own. But Maruti vanss still exist very much in our lives. As a matter of fact, we have four such vans at work, relieving me of a lot of unnecessary hassle. That first car was sold off somewhere down the line, but Maruti vans still loom large in my life as saviour par excellence.