This is the Chevrolet Spark, which didn't actually take the stands at Detroit, but was officially confirmed and shown in production form for the first time. It will debut in the metal at Geneva in March.

With aesthetics akin to its GM-group cousin, the Vauxhall Agila, the Spark looks like it will inject some flair into both the city car segment and Chevrolet itself, thankfully. The Spark is actually the production version of the Beat concept car - officially one of the most popular show cars ever.

The Beat was one of a trio of concepts that GM asked the public to vote on to decide which should make production. Nearly two million votes were cast and the Beat came out on top. The European-developed Spark will be made in Korea and go on sale in the UK at the start of 2010, before reaching America the following year. It will, of course, be nice and fuel efficient - we don't know to what extent just yet.

Chevy also took the opportunity to announce that the Orlando seven-seat MPV, which debuted in Paris last year, will also go into production for the US and Europe next year. We've yet to see the production version, however.

Mark Nichol - 11 Jan 2009