Daewoo Matiz History

Launched in 1998, the Matiz was Daewoo's city car, styled by Fabrizio Giugiaro at Italdesign around a concept (the 1993 Italdesign Lucciola) that Fiat had previously passed on. The Matiz was an immediate commercial success, particularly in Europe, where it was among the most affordable new cars available, and it won multiple Car of the Year awards in smaller-market competitions in 1998, 1999, and 2000.

After GM acquired Daewoo in 2002, the Matiz was progressively rebranded as the Chevrolet Matiz and then, from around 2009, the Chevrolet Spark — a nameplate that continued through four generations until US production ended after the 2022 model year. The Daewoo-badged Matiz ran in its first-generation (M100/M150) form from 1998 to 2005 in South Korea, with a second generation (M200) continuing under the GM Daewoo brand from 2005 to 2009.