GM Korea Spark / Matiz History

The Matiz was introduced by Daewoo in 1998 as a city car styled at Daewoo's Worthing Technical Centre in England, targeting the emerging Korean and European market for cheap, ultra-compact urban transport. When General Motors absorbed Daewoo's assets in 2002, the Matiz became one of the first carry-over products of the new GM Daewoo company.

GM progressively rebranded the car as the Chevrolet Spark across global markets (the domestic Daewoo name lingered in Korea until 2011), and launched a fully new second generation in 2005, a third in 2010, and a fourth in 2015. Across all generations it was sold in over 150 countries under at least seven different brand names including Opel Karl and Vauxhall Viva.

Production at GM Korea's Changwon plant ended in September 2022 when GM discontinued the Spark after the 2022 model year, citing a fundamental shift in consumer demand toward SUVs and electric vehicles. At the time of discontinuation the Spark was the lowest-priced new car on sale in both the United States and Canada.