Chevrolet Spark ends production this summer

Since its debut in 2012 as a 2013-model-year microcar, the Chevrolet Spark has been a capable little hatchback. At the same time, for that entire time, it's been so innocuous and inoffensive that the first question asked when the Spark comes up is, "That's still for sale?" The answer has always been yes, despite at least four years of musing about how long the Spark, and slightly higher-riding Spark Activ, would last. But that answer holds for only a few more months. Last year, the Automotive News Future Product Pipeline noted the Spark's death knell with the curt, "End in 2022." Yesterday, a Chevrolet spokesperson confirmed to CarsDirect that the Spark ends production in August this year, adding in a statement to Carscoops, "Customers seeking comfort, function and style at an approachable price still have strong options within Chevrolet’s family of compact SUVs."

The Spark is the least expensive vehicle in America, stickering for $14,595 after the $995 destination charge — about half the price of the average used car nowadays. That buys a 1.4-liter four-cylinder engine putting out 98 horsepower and 94 pound-feet of torque, plus a #SaveTheManuals five-speed row-your-own transmission and row-your-own manual windows, too. Moving up to the continuously variable transmission adds $1,100. Keeping to the Chevy's weight class, it competes with the Mitsubishi Mirage that debuted at the same time as the Spark and asks $15,640, and the Nissan Versa sedan that wants $16,005. The Spark has outsold the Mirage every year but one since 2013, the Versa's annual volume (including the Versa Note hatchback until 2019) has been double-or-more that of the Spark and Mirage combined. 

The tiny Spark's demise makes the Chevrolet Malibu the lone car in the Chevrolet range, the last sedan standing until 2025 when it gets sent into retirement. The Trax crossover, which arrived two years after the Spark, becomes the least expensive vehicle in Chevy's range, going for $22,595 after destination. Its 1.4-liter produces 155 hp and 177 lb-ft, the extra power, room, and coveted crossover market segment responsible for the Trax destroying the Spark in the U.S. sales volume department. If you want a Spark before it goes out (geddit?), CarsDirect writes that it's "eligible for 0% APR financing for 48 months through February 28th plus a $750 conquest cash incentive for customers coming from another brand."