General Motors South Africa (GMSA) has announced a low-cost version of its locally-built Chevrolet Spark. The new derivative should help the division towards an annual production target of 50,000 vehicles.
The new Spark Campus comes with the same 1.2-litre petrol engine as the existing, and pricier L and LS model grades but has less standard equipment. It is priced at R99,900 including value added tax (USD12,297). GMSA still fits the car with ABS, A/C, power steering, plus colour-coded bumpers, mirror housings and door handles.
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“The Chevrolet Spark has an important role to play in GMSA’s local production programme that will raise the company’s locally manufactured volume to 50,000 units in line with the government’s Automotive Production Development Plan (APDP),” says Malcolm Gauld, GMSA’s vice president of Sales and Marketing.
“The transfer of the manufacture of this latest generation Chevrolet small car to South Africa has allowed us to far better exploit the opportunities that this affords in tailoring vehicle specifications to specific local requirements and in containing costs in an important market segment,” he added.
A spokesperson for GMSA told just-auto that the Spark is now exported to multiple right-hand drive countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Some sources have claimed that Holden-badged cars might also be exported to Australia and/or New Zealand but GMSA says there are presently no plans for that.
GMSA operates two plants in the southern coastal city of Port Elizabeth. Kempston Road, which dates to the 1930s, houses a body shop and truck assembly operation, while Struandale has a body shop, paint shop and general assembly facilities. As well as the Spark, the Chevrolet Utility is also assembled by GMSA, as are four light- and medium-duty Isuzu commercial vehicles.
Author: Glenn Brooks
