Category: City Cars 
Price Range: £6,625 to £8,935
Ease of use, refined driving experience, space up front, low list price and competitive servicing package, safer than previous Matiz.
Unappealing interior full of hard plastics, less distinctive-looking than previous model, slightly crashy ride.
Mediocre cabin ambience detracts from a city car that still offers a lot for around £6500. More than just a badge swap from Daewoo to Chevrolet.
Chevrolet's Matiz is a five-door city car intended for those looking for a dependable first-time car, or elderly buyers after basic motoring with few hidden costs. It seats five adults, though it struggles to maintain good pace when there's more than just front passengers aboard; plus, rear room is a bit cramped. Costing from just over £6000, the Matiz competes with other 'value-brand' tiddlers such as the Kia Picanto, Daihatsu Charade and Fiat Panda, and has traits, such as its refinement, which recommend it over those rivals. In other areas, such as styling and performance, it falls behind the class-leaders.
The name Matiz is well-known from its tenure as a Daewoo model (Chevrolet replaced GM's European budget car division in 2004) and this new model is manufactured at GM's Korean factory. The underpinnings and body have been completely overhauled for 2005, but engines are dusted-off versions of the proven 800cc and 1.0-litre units fitted in the old Matiz. Neither impresses when burdened, but should be peppy enough for that familiar trip to the shops. There are no plans for a diesel derivative.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Chevrolet Matiz
wrote on 19 06 2006