This week our sales staff made the trip to the “big city” for training on the all-new Chevy Spark. Chevrolet’s first mini-car to hit the United States. The Spark has been selling very successfully globally and now is ready to hit the United States. After spending 4 hours with the Spark, we can all say that we were impressed with the safety and technology that this car has.
While the Spark is tailored for the Millennial generation, parents of these Millennials have nothing to worry about. The Spark is a vehicle that the kids will think is cool looking, with awesome technologies and the parents will love the safety aspects not found on other mini-cars.
Like its two Chevrolet small-car siblings, the Cruze and Sonic, the Spark arrives with a comprehensive list of safety and security features that provide protection for drivers – before, during and after a crash. For Spark, they include 10 standard air bags (yep you read right, 10 air bags); safety construction with high-strength steel; rollover sensing system; ABS, Panic Brake Assist and electronic brake force distribution; Hill Start Assist and StabiliTrak electronic stability enhancement. That is a lot for a mini-car 
In addition, Spark is the only vehicle in the mini car segment to include the safety and security of OnStar, including Automatic Crash Response and emergency services, and to back its quality with a five-year/100,000-mile transferable limited powertrain warranty.
Here is a further breakdown of the great before/during/after features found on the Spark:
Before: Crash avoidance
The safest crashes are those that never happen. Spark provides several standard crash-avoidance technologies, including:
- Four-wheel anti-lock brakes (ABS), for confident stopping ability
- Panic Brake Assist, which senses emergency braking and boosts the power as needed. In some circumstances, it may activate the ABS more quickly and easily compared to vehicles without the feature
- Electronic brake force distribution across all four wheels, for outstanding stopping performance and more even brake wear
- Traction control that limits wheel spin when one or both of the drive wheels begin to lose traction. The system brakes the spinning wheel and/or reduces power to limit wheel spin
- StabiliTrak electronic stability control, which uses sensors to continually monitor the driver’s steering input and the vehicle’s course. If it does not respond, the system automatically engages braking and traction controls to help put the vehicle back on its intended path
- Hill Start Assist, which, on an uphill or downhill steep grade, holds the brakes for two seconds to help prevent the Spark from rolling before the driver can accelerate
- Daytime running lamps make Spark more visible to pedestrians – especially important because Spark is expected to appeal to city dwellers – as well as fellow drivers.
During: Protecting the driver and passengers
In the event of a crash, Spark’s safety construction – like Cruze and Sonic – provides a “safety cage” that helps isolate crash energy from the driver and passengers. Spark’s strong; body-frame-integral structure combines the body and frame into a cohesive unit. To enhance its crash and rollover protection, high-strength steel makes up more than 62 percent of Spark’s underbody and 42 percent of its upper body.
Other standard Spark occupant protection technologies include:
- Ten air bags, including dual-stage driver and front-passenger air bags that deploy based on crash severity; front and rear seat-mounted thorax side air bags; full-length head curtain side air bags located in the roof rail; and front knee air bags that help protect the driver’s and front passenger’s lower extremities
- Three-point safety belts in all four seating positions, with pretensioners and load-limiters for the driver and front passenger
- Rollover sensing system that detects an imminent rollover crash and deploys the air bags.
After: Segment-only OnStar
Spark comes with six months of OnStar Directions & Connections service, including Automatic Crash Response. Built-in sensors with an injury severity predictor can automatically alert an OnStar advisor, who is connected with the vehicle and can summon emergency personnel to the exact location of the crash, even if no one in the car responds.
Spark also includes security equipment such as 24/7 roadside assistance as part of the powertrain warranty; anti-theft alarm system; an engine immobilizer; rear child safety locks and battery rundown protection.
This covers all the features that the parents will love, stay tuned next week for all the great technologies the millennials (and maybe you tech savvy parents too) will like. The All-New Chevrolet Spark should be arriving to Alexandria Motors soon, watch our Facebook page for updates!
