Chevrolet showed its new Matiz at the Geneva Show, a replacement for the outgoing Daewoo, one of the best-selling small city cars on the British market. A thorough re-design sees the old Daewoo's cheeky and cute styling modernised and given a more upmarket appearance. The new Chevy family look is evident in the lights and grille, and a complex array of curves around the bonnet and front wing that flow into the door endow the Matiz with more of a big car stance.

Most of the Daewoo's advantageous features are carried over. The pocket-sized dimensions remain with the overall length of just 3.5 metres making it ideal for the nip and tuck city driving and squeezing into small spaces. The excellent interior space and equipment levels are also carried over ensuring the new Matiz is still good value for money.

The old engine range has been reworked with both the 0.8-litre three-pot and the 1-litre four-cylinder (producing 52bhp and 66bhp respectively) now both Euro 4 emissions compliant. The already excellent fuel economy has also been improved by 15% as a result of a raft of changes. The new cars now achieve 54.3mpg for the 0.8-litre and 50.4mpg for the 1.0-litre (up from 46.3 and 44.1mpg respectively). As well as the engine work, Chevrolet has reduced the weight of the car thanks to improved structural material selections. The aerodynamics have been improved too, with a new drag coefficient of 0.344 (courtesy of the fresh new face) compared to 0.399 of the old car.

Improved refinement completes the impressive package meaning that the Matiz has grown up a touch as befits its new master's badge. Two trim levels will be available (the SE and SX) when the Matiz joins the rest of the re-branded Chevrolet range at its release in June.

Dave Jenkins - 22 Mar 2005