2021 Chevrolet Spark gets more active safety kit, new trim levels

What's the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word Chevrolet? If's it's trucks and SUVs, we can't blame you for that. After all, Chevrolet makes one of the biggest SUVs you can buy these days, the Suburban. But they have small cars too, and they just recently updated one of them.

That model is the Spark, and it gets a light facelift for the 2021 model year, at least for the South Korean market. It's largely down to trim changes, and it can be fitted with special black highlights and a two-tone paint finish.

Its chrome bits can be replaced by gloss black trimmings, and there are more wheel choices available for the small hatch. Chevrolet also added the RedPick edition, which adds red highlights on the badges and wheels.

But while the exterior barely changed, the 2021 Spark takes a big leap forward in terms of available tech. The infotainment system has been overhauled, plus they added a USB-C port for more connectivity options. The Spark also gains more active safety features. Most models now come with automatic emergency braking, and it can be equipped with lane-departure warning and blind-spot monitoring.

The South Korean Spark has a different engine from the ones sold here. Instead of a 1.2-liter, the ones over there use a 1.0-liter inline-three cylinder mill. It's good for 75 PS and 90 Nm of torque. Those models don't use a CVT (continuously variable transmission) either.

That 1.0-liter is mated to an 8-speed automatic transmission with a manual mode. Since the Philippine-spec Spark is sourced from South Korea, there is a possibility that the local units might shift to this engine if Chevrolet Philippines will continue to sell the Spark here.

The only question now is, will the 2021 Chevrolet Spark be arriving here soon?