The new Spark is one of the "top candidates" for possible local production at General Motors South Africa's (GMSA's) Port Elizabeth operations, says GMSA president and MD Edgar Lourencon.

"We are busy with the final approval for the possible introduction of a third production platform at the Port Elizabeth plant."

Lourencon stresses that a decision has not yet been made, as there are "a lot of candidates. It depends on the reaction of the market to the new Spark".

"We should make a final decision of having a third platform - or not - by the end of September," he adds.

GMSA's investigation into the possible local production of the new Spark follows an announcement by Toyota South Africa Motors earlier this month that it is also mulling the local production of a small entry-level vehicle at its Durban plant.

Volkswagen of South Africa has also scrapped Golf production, and transformed its Eastern Cape plant into a small car plant, producing the Polo for the local and export markets, and the Vivo entry-level vehicle for the local market.

GMSA currently assembles the Isuzu and Corsa pick-up platforms at its Port Elizabeth operations, in the Eastern Cape - but only for local markets. The company manufactured and exported the Hummer in small volumes until the brand's demise earlier this year.

The local arm of the US vehicle manufacturer is working to reach the 50 000 units a year threshold to qualify for incentives under the government's Automotive Production and Development Programme.

Production at its Port Elizabeth plant this year will be around the 30 000 unit level.

The new Spark debuts on the local motoring scene this month, hot on the heels of its release in Europe.

The small Chevrolet is the product of a $240-million investment by General Motors (GM) in design and development, and comes to South Africa from South Korea.

The aim of the new model is to provide GM with more competitive representation in the fast-growing small car market. The new Spark has been designed to appeal to car buyers in the higher end of the entry-level segment of the market.

The new Spark is available in L and LS specification levels. Both are powered by the same nippy 1,2-l four-cylinder, 16-valve engine. Maximum power is 60 kW at 6 400 rpm with peak torque of 108 Nm delivered at 4 800 rpm.

Drive is via a five-speed manual transmission to the front wheels.

The specifications of the base L model include power steering, central locking, air conditioning, radio-CD player with MP3 compatibility, vehicle alarm, and driver and passenger air bags.

Prices for the two models are R 115 495 for the Spark L, and R125 495 for the Spark LS.

The new Spark is covered by a five-year/120 000-km warranty with five-year unlimited kilometre anti-corrosion cover. Roadside assistance is available throughout the warranty period.

Service intervals are one year or 15 000 km.

Lourencon says of the ten new cars GMSA is launching from 2010 to 2012, eight are Chevrolet products, indicating the brand's importance to the company going forward.