After a fairly lengthy run for the Chevy Spark, Chevrolet has declared that the model is getting the ax before year's end. The car once began with a decent amount of excitement from the customer base, but interest began slowly waning without anything to rejuvenate interest. The car's main hook was its affordability and being known for being inexpensive, especially in Canadian markets. With the Spark's demise, Chevy's future lineups will be more and more dominated with trucks and SUVs and less with cars. The Spark has until August 2022 to wrap up production, and then it reaches its permanent end.

Read on to find out more about the Chevy Spark and its impending doom.

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Trucks And SUVs Only Remains Focus

The move to cancel the Spark means the future Chevy lineup will continue to be mainly trucks and SUVs. The budget-friendly alternative vehicle niche in the market will go unfilled, and the next best option, the Trax, already costs $8,000 more than the Spark did, and its interior and exterior have a lot to be desired, both in terms of updates and in comparison to the Spark.

Chevy has already planned to reduce the number of cars in its lineup in favor of trucks and SUVs, a move many have speculated is the motive for the Spark's cancellation. While this affordably-priced subcompact car was ideal for customers with a low budget and lack of need for space, the need was not great enough to justify its continued production.

The Trailblazer is another alternative, which has a starting MSRP of $22,795, only a bit more than Trax's $22,595. The Trailblazer, however, has superior styling and a roomier cabin than the Trax offers. Unfortunately, the Malibu is now the last remaining non-Camaro Chevrolet car once the Spark concludes production, and it has a higher starting MSRP than the Trailblazer does at this point.

Steady Decline To Blame

Despite a strong start, several have argued that the Spark has been slowly losing its footing while lacking significant staying power. At the start of the 2013 model year, Chevy introduced the spark to the American market, after beginning life as a concept car at the Beat (New York's International Auto Show) in 2007. It had been refined for American markets in the interim, with all the standard features that were popular at the time.

As time went on, the Spark suffered from the global microchip shortage that led to factories becoming dormant and replenishment becoming less practical. With supply unable to keep up with demand, needy customers began to look elsewhere.

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Known For Being Inexpensive

One major hook of the Spark was its relatively low price tag. The Spark's initial cost of $15,000 appealed to many shoppers with lower budgets.

The Spark is a hatchback with a 1.4-liter four-cylinder, 98 HP engine producing 94 lb-ft of torque and manual windows, with a transmission upgrade available for $1,100. Other vehicles in its weight class, such as the Mitsubishi Mirage and the Nissan Versa sedan, cost significantly more than the Spark did.

Unfortunately, the discontinuation of cars like the Spark is a trend evident from not only GM, Chevy's parent company, but from other companies. Hyundai discontinued the Accent, Honda discontinued the Fit, Toyota discontinued the Yaris, and Nissan discontinued the Micra.

Ending August 2022

Although the Spark is on its way out, it still has six more months to wrap up production. August 2022 ends a decade in the American market as an inexpensive entry-level subcompact car, and while Chevrolet didn't ever give an official statement regarding its termination, the company aims to redirect potential buyers to compact SUVs instead. The Spark had four generations, the last of which arrived in 2015 as a 2016 model.

With the rise of SUVs, the fourth-generation Spark garnered little attention compared to its predecessors, and the 25% drop in sales over the next year was noticed. Chevy now seems to be focusing on vehicles like the Equinox for the 2023 and 2024 model years.

Sources: edmunds.com, autoevolution.com, autoblog.com, motor1.com, driving.ca,