The new version of one of the most popular small cars on our roads is ready to take center stage: The new Chevrolet Matiz will debut at this year’s Geneva Motor Show in March. In mid-April, it will begin arriving in Chevrolet showrooms across Europe.

Like the first generation – some 630,000 have so far been sold in Europe – the second generation of the compact city car attracts immediate attention through its modern de-sign, clever use of space, favourable price and solid engineering. The new Chevrolet Matiz is just 3.50 metres long and thus ideal for urban and short-distance traffic, al-though it is equally capable of longer journeys in comfort. It will be available in three trim levels and with a choice of two gasoline engines (0.8 and 1.0 liters) that comply with the Euro 4 emission standard. Fuel consumption is as much as 15% or 0.9 l/100 km lower than that of its predecessor.

Buyers have a choice of two well-proven engines for the smallest member of the Chev-rolet range. Both have been significantly upgraded for the new model: a 796 cm³ three-cylinder gasoline version with 38 kW/52 bhp and a four-cylinder unit with 1.0-litre capacity and 49 kW/66 bhp. The engines have been optimised by various technical improvements such as the use of low-friction valve gears. Combined with the weight reduction and the improvement in the drag coefficient from 0.399 to 0.344, fuel consumption has been cut significantly. Compared with its predecessor, the MVEG av-erage for the 0.8-liter model has gone down by 15% from 6.1 to 5.2 litres per 100 km. The reduction for the four-cylinder version is similar, with consumption dropping from 6.4 to 5.6 liters of regular-grade gasoline.