Thanks to the long reach of the mighty GM empire, it was possible for car shoppers in Latin America to buy an Indian-made third-generation Daewoo Matiz with Chevrolet badges. This was the Chevrolet Beat, and I’ve managed to find an example in a Denver self-service car graveyard.
It’s legal to bring a car into the United States from Mexico or Canada and drive it for a year, but then you need to take it back across the border or find a way to register it here legally. For a car like a Mexican-market Chevy Beat, the latter course would be bureaucratically impossible (or close enough to impossible as to make no difference).
This is by no means the first Mexican-market car I’ve found in a Denver-area yonke in recent years. I documented a 2002 Chevrolet Chevy (Opel Corsa) last fall, and a 2009 Chevy Chevy back in 2018.
Then there was the 2017 Renault Duster (Dacia Duster), the 2009 Nissan Aprio (Dacia Logan), the 20whatever Nissan FrankenTsuru (1992 Sentra), the 2006 Peugeot 407 and the 2001 Dodge Ramcharger.
Actually, this car may have begun its journey much further south than Mexico, since I didn’t find any evidence of Mexican registration stickers on its windshield.
This car replaced the Pontiac Matiz in Mexico, once the Pontiac brand got the axe. Its closest U.S.-market relative was the 2013- 2022 Spark, but we didn’t get the sedan version here.
The Beat name was used in India and Latin America. It was the Daewoo Matiz in South Korea, the Holden Barina Spark Down Under and the Ravon R2 in Russia and Ukraine.
Such a happy little car, and not to be confused with the Honda Beat kei car.
Many years after the final Lanoses, Nubiras and Leganzas were sold in the United States, Daewoos under various brands continued to arrive in showrooms around the world.
These cars were built in Vietnam, Colombia, Uzbekistan, South Africa, you name it, but this one came from GM India’s factory in Maharashtra, India (which just got bought by Hyundai).
My Denver-area readers know that I’m certain to photograph an interesting junkyard car like this, so one of them left this question for me. Short answer: bought by a hedge fund.
The engine is a 1.2-liter S-Tec straight-four.
According to the Mexican 2018 Beat brochure, a five-speed manual was the only transmission available.
Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe guided this car on its travels, which are now complete.
Sigue tu Beat (Mexico).
Reclama tu espacio (Colombia).
Immediately after a Chevy Beat saves you from the zombies, enjoy smartphone integration at no extra cost (Panama).
In India, it was the look of the season.
Available in Ukraine as the Ravon R2/R4.
In South Korea, the Matiz Creative caused gigantic pistons to assault the dance floor.
2018 Chevrolet Beat in Colorado wrecking yard.
2018 Chevrolet Beat in Colorado wrecking yard.
2018 Chevrolet Beat in Colorado wrecking yard.
2018 Chevrolet Beat in Colorado wrecking yard.
2018 Chevrolet Beat in Colorado wrecking yard.
2018 Chevrolet Beat in Colorado wrecking yard.
2018 Chevrolet Beat in Colorado wrecking yard.
2018 Chevrolet Beat in Colorado wrecking yard.
2018 Chevrolet Beat in Colorado wrecking yard.
2018 Chevrolet Beat in Colorado wrecking yard.
2018 Chevrolet Beat in Colorado wrecking yard.
2018 Chevrolet Beat in Colorado wrecking yard.
2018 Chevrolet Beat in Colorado wrecking yard.
2018 Chevrolet Beat in Colorado wrecking yard.
2018 Chevrolet Beat in Colorado wrecking yard.
2018 Chevrolet Beat in Colorado wrecking yard.
2018 Chevrolet Beat in Colorado wrecking yard.
2018 Chevrolet Beat in Colorado wrecking yard.
2018 Chevrolet Beat in Colorado wrecking yard.
2018 Chevrolet Beat in Colorado wrecking yard.
2018 Chevrolet Beat in Colorado wrecking yard.
[Images: The Author]
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Source: The Truth About Cars
