GM has shown off its redesigned 2016 Spark city car prior to its first public outing at the New York Auto Show on Wednesday.
A sister model to Europe’s Opel Karl and Vauxhall Viva, the new Spark will be a global model offered in more than 40 markets around the world.
It’s less playful and more mature in looks than the outgoing model, but at the same time, it’s also more powerful, more refined and promises to offer better materials inside and improved tech.
“In short, the Spark has grown up,” said Michael Simcoe, GM International vice president of Design. “It retains a youthful flair, but reflects the maturation of the global minicar market and customers’ desires for richly styled and highly contented choices.”
It rides on a slightly longer wheelbase, and has an overall height about 1.6 inches (40 mm) lower than the current model.
Under the hood, there’s an all-new 1.4-liter gasoline engine offering 16 percent more power than before at 98hp, coupled to either five-speed manual transmission or dual-range continuously variable transmission (CVT), with which it achieves an estimated highway economy of 40mpg that represents a 1mpg improvement over the current car.
The 2016 Spark is expected to reach showrooms in the fourth quarter of the year.
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