Chevy Makes Sparks in Detroit

Orlando Photos

The upcoming 2010 Chevy Spark makes its way down a gauntlet of cheering GM employees. The subcompact model gives them a reason to get excited. (Photo: American Auto Press)

It's a stylish little runabout... (Photo: American Auto Press)

.... from every angle. (Photo: American Auto Press)

Amid the hubbub of the Cadillac Converj concept car, based on the upcoming Chevy Volt series hybrid and capable of traveling 40 miles on pure electric power, and then the redesigned 2010 Buick LaCrosse and all-new 2010 Chevy Equinox, there were two announcements even more important to General Motors’ bottom line.

The new 2010 Chevrolet Orlando, a seven-passenger compact crossover, good looking and exactly what the market needs, will do extremely well, but as good as it is the most important new car to show up at the Detroit show probably won’t make GM and its Chevrolet dealers a lot of profit, at least not in North America, but it doesn’t really have to in order to dramatically affect the automaker’s overall global business strategy. It’s called Spark, an ideal name for how it fits into GM’s overall strategy worldwide. After all, it takes a spark to light a fire, and the General needs a raging bonfire if it once again wants to turn its sales attrition into growth.

The Spark, which will target the least expensive entry-level subcompact segment of the new car sector, will certainly increase overall volume levels, maybe enough, along with its other new siblings, to help GM take back world’s largest automaker status from Toyota, if that really matters to the suits in Detroit’s Renaissance Center. What matters more is how the Spark will pull new enlistees into the General’s ranks, fresh new faces that should be more interested in its ultra-cute and sassy styling over the automaker’s current small car offerings.

What might seem strange at first, however, is the choice of Spark for the name. True, it’s a good name with a fun-loving ring to it, not to mention the analogy of sparking the flame that becomes the bonfire brought to light earlier, but GM spent umpteen thousands if not millions on the public web poll that gave the car birth, in which the majority of respondents chose the Beat over the Trax and Groove concepts that showed up next to it at the New York International Auto Show two years ago. Other than the inclusion of another set of doors in the rear, practical roof rails on top and a few minor exterior modifications, the Spark looks much the same as the original Beat, unique green exterior hue included. After raising such positive awareness about the Beat, and name recognition is important in the marketing process and hard to come by for a new model, does it make sense to dub it Spark? Yes it does, actually. The current European (and other markets) subcompact offered by the bowtie boys is dubbed Spark already, so it has a lot more brand recognition than Beat. Perhaps Chevy will create a Beat special edition of the new Spark to capture the global following that voted the car into first place?

Then again, maybe GM is counting on the Spark’s appearance in the new Transformers sequel this summer to build up some name recognition in the US, where Spark is an unknown nameplate? The film will probably give it a cute little rambunctious personality that kids and young adults will find difficult to resist, and ‘Little Spark’ would fit that image perfectly.

Either way, the Spark will be a big deal for Chevrolet around the world, while unifying its global approach and reducing its overall spend. Together with the Orlando, GM has some exciting new entry-level products to come down the pike that should substantially increase its market share at home in North America and abroad, where its immediate prospects for profitability are more promising.