Daewoo Matiz

A Giugiaro city car built for Fiat, sold as a Daewoo

The Matiz began as a 1993 Italdesign study for Fiat, the Lucciola, developed from Giugiaro's 1992 Cinquecento concept. Fiat passed, and Daewoo took the design.

Underneath, the Matiz followed on from the Daewoo Tico, a licensed Suzuki Alto, and shares its mechanicals and suspension. That ancestry explains the body: only about 1.5 m wide, a proportion inherited from Japanese kei-car rules, offset by a tall roof and five doors. Engineering is usually credited to Daewoo's Worthing Technical Centre in England, with the 0.8-litre engine developed by Tickford.

Sales began in 1998 (ADAC lists the first versions from June), a period covered in the history of Daewoo Motors. The first generation was built in South Korea until 2005, at FSO in Poland until 2007, in Romania until 2008 and in Uzbekistan from 2001 to 2018, and some 2.3 million were reportedly made in the first ten years. Other models from the country are collected under Korean cars.

Generations and names

There are three Matiz generations proper, plus a Korean car that kept the name before becoming the Chevrolet Spark. The badges changed more often than the cars.

Sources place the M150 facelift anywhere between late 2000 and 2002, depending on market. At the end of 2004 European cars were renamed Chevrolet Matiz without technical changes.

The M200 of 2005 went further: a new upper body, again by Italdesign Giugiaro, lower drag, a centre-mounted instrument cluster and a twist-beam rear axle in place of the three-link beam axle. Korea and Japan knew it as the Daewoo Matiz II. The later Chevrolet Spark generations (M300 from 2009, M400 from 2015) are separate cars.

Engines, gearbox and performance

Each Matiz covered here is a front-wheel-drive petrol car with a transverse engine and, in most markets, a five-speed manual; some markets also had an automatic.

The original engine is a 796 cc (48.6 cu in) three-cylinder derived from Suzuki's F8B, producing 38 kW (51 PS) and 69 Nm (51 lb-ft). Some sources quote 52 PS. With so little power, the 0.8-litre car needs about 17 seconds from 0 to 100 km/h and tops out at 144 km/h (89 mph). Fine in town. Hard work on a motorway.

The 1.0-litre four-cylinder, 955 cc (58.3 cu in) by most accounts, raised output to 47 kW (64 PS); ADAC lists the 1.0 SE in Germany from January 2003. Auto Bild called it a real improvement over the 0.8. On the M200 it was revised to about 49 kW.

No diesel, hybrid or all-wheel-drive Matiz was made. The one alternative fuel was LPG: in Italy the "Matiz Eco Logic" was built from 2007 to 2010, reportedly more than 60,000 of them. The base car has its own data page as the 0.8-litre 51 PS version.

Dimensions, interior and boot

The Matiz is 3,495 mm (137.6 in) long on a 2,340 mm (92.1 in) wheelbase. The figures below are for the 0.8 SE of the M100/M150 era.

Auto Bild found room for four adults under the tall roof, but the cabin is narrow and the seat cushions short.

Boot volume is quoted inconsistently. A Spanish database gives 155 L (5.5 cu ft) with the rear seats up and 480 L (17.0 cu ft) folded, while a Dutch guide lists 104 L and 512 L. Other small five-doors are listed under hatchbacks, and the wider car catalogue covers the rest.

Fuel economy and running costs

Official combined consumption for the 0.8-litre car is about 6.1 to 6.4 L/100 km (36.8 to 38.6 mpg US) on the NEDC cycle, depending on the source.

A 2005 Irish used-car column advised changing the timing belt at 40,000 miles (64,000 km), so the service history of any car for sale should show when it was last done. Wheels are 13-inch, so tyres are small, common sizes.

Equipment and German list prices

The ADAC catalogue records German list prices by model period. These are new-car prices at the time, not current values.

Auto Bild's test of the 1.0 SE quoted EUR 8,790. Equipment was basic: front airbags only, no rear head restraints and a lap belt for the middle rear seat. The magazine liked the ride but found the steering vague.

Safety: two Euro NCAP tests

Euro NCAP tested the Matiz twice: three adult stars for the Daewoo Matiz in 2000, and three with one struck through for the Chevrolet Matiz in 2005. Neither compares with modern ratings.

The 2000 car had front airbags, belt pretensioners and load limiters, but a two-point belt in the centre rear seat; Daewoo fitted improved rear belts from June 2000.

The struck-through star in 2005 marks an unacceptably high risk of life-threatening chest injury to the driver in the side impact, so the adult rating was effectively two stars. The bumper scored no pedestrian points, and the passenger airbag could not be switched off, which rules out a rear-facing child seat in front. In the same round the larger Fiat Punto and Toyota Yaris scored five adult stars.

Reliability and known issues

Hard reliability data are scarce. A Dutch buying guide describes the car in everyday use as problem-free and very economical, but notes that the tall body is sensitive to side winds.

In Ireland about 4,600 cars were recalled in 2000 over fuel-filter corrosion with a risk of leaks and fire, and later recalls in 2003 and 2004 covered clutch cables and a high idle speed. Other markets may differ. Questions about starting, immobiliser and gearbox faults come up often, but we found no reliable source that quantifies them.

Rivals and the Daewoo range

When new, the Matiz competed on price with cars such as the Suzuki Alto, Auto Bild's main yardstick.

A later rival caused a dispute. In 2005 GM sued Chery in Beijing, arguing that the Chery QQ copied the Matiz so closely that doors were interchangeable, and later withdrew the case. In Daewoo's own range the Matiz sat well below the Daewoo Nexia and the Daewoo Gentra, both larger family cars.

Which Matiz to look for

For most buyers a 1.0-litre car is the better choice: 47 kW (64 PS) against 38 kW makes motorway driving far less strained.

The M200 Matiz II has the newer body and twist-beam rear suspension. Whatever the year, crash protection is modest by current standards. A good example will have recall work recorded, a documented timing-belt change and, where it applied, proof that the fuel-filter recall was carried out.