[mithun]

I've always heard folks commenting that Matiz was one of the best hatches at that time and it was even better than the Santro of that time....And Matiz failed due to the bankruptcy of Daewoo which resulted in bad A.S.S.

Personally I've never travelled in a Matiz or don't know anyone who owns Matiz. But I've heard that it had better riding comfort, safety & handling than it's peers.

So what led to the doom of Matiz ?

And what were it's plus points ?

[chanapli]

+ Very good leg space at front
- Body get rusted

[Equus]

Just that it was a Daewoo. The 800CC engine was very decent for its class.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Matiz was a good car, and a relatively good success too, with a decent number of cars on the road...

It wasnt matiz that failed... But the company daewoo did...

The success and goodwill that Matiz earned is the reason why GM is going to bring it back...

Plus points...
1. Small car on the outside
2. Relatively big on the inside
3. Nice lil engine.
4. Good enough looks
5. Still running good in many cases... Owners still keep the car in good condition...

Bad points
1. Was not much peppy or powerful for highways (Acceptable performance for its class though)
2. Daewoo went bankrupt
3. We are going to get it back after all these years... (and i feel its too late now... Hope GM proves me wrong)

[TSEA]

My dad owns a Matiz, 2002 Model, having done nearly 50,000 Kms. The engine is still young and smoothe. Some more observations from my side:

1. The car is neat and has an excellent fuel efficiency (around 17 Kms in City Driving conditions).

2. The A.C. is sluggish, but was far better than that of any 800 cc segment car of those times.

3. The rear legroom was better than those times small cars (specially Santro, even today)

All said, I believe that a "Car is as good as it's Driver"...

[theMAG]

The Matiz didnt fail at all. Daewoo went into bankruptcy

[navdeep]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

(and i feel its too late now... Hope GM proves me wrong)

I am sure it give maruti ( read estilo, WR ) a run for their money. It will be one of the best cars of 2007.

[FancyPlayer]

I've owned a Matiz for 4 years. It is a wonderful car in its segment.
It has great looks.
Though the car looks small, the space and comfort inside is amazing for a car in this segment.
It is a bit sluggish with AC on.
It failed because Daewoo went into bankruptcy.
It was a case of right(great) car from the wrong company.
Hope GM prices it right and it makes a big comeback.

[Minardi]

When the car was launched it was overpriced by Daewoo. Remember how Cielo was overpriced, and overnight Daewoo brought down the price by over a lac and there was a commotion?

Matiz price was later on corrected and the sales gap to Santro was coming down fast, and when it was just abt to overtake, Daewoo collapsed.

I am still using my 2000 Matiz, and the seats are more comfortable than the Honda NHC.

[tsk1979]

If daewoo hadn't gone bust, Matiz would have been a success. Its not possible for a car, no matter how good, to survive when the parent company/and or/A.S.S is going bust.

[GTO]

The first problem was the Matiz' positioning. They had launched ONLY a fully loaded variant at 4.xx lacs in mumbai. Compare that to the Santro and Zen, which had fully loaded as well as mid-range and basic versions.

The second was Hyundais determination and Daewoos lack of it.

Third was Daewoos financial crisis and eventual bankruptcy.

Dont fret too much over the Matiz' failure. Its coming back ala Chevy Spark.

[ramie2400]

I guess Daewoo was the first company to give all the hi-tech features in their cielo and matiz.People use to say they give less average,I had a cielo which used to give an average of about 9-11kmpl,like petrol used to be very expensive(Rs.22/Liter) now i m using a ford ikon which gives an average of 8-10kmpl with the fuel price about Rs.50..so guys aren't we feeling expensive now driving these cars from different company???????

[sbasak]

Probably the most significant reason for Daewoo's failure is their initial hefty price. For both Cielo and Matiz they suddenly brought down their prices by Rs 1 lakh. This created very bad impression on public.

Another reason might be that many people didn't like its cute frog like look!

A used Matiz is quite cheap now and a good buy. Chevrolet has revived the car anyway.

[mahadev_kc]

Originally Posted by sbasak

A used Matiz is quite cheap now and a good buy. Chevrolet has revived the car anyway.

But on a pessimistic front, I don't think GM will support the old matiz.

[hvkumar]

I still own a 1999 Matiz, done 2,60,000 kms on it. It is a great car.

Many things went againt it in the beginning:
- the imagery that the Santro 1000 cc was better than the Matiz's 800cc
- Shahrukh Khan was a good ambassador, and Lisa Ray never made an impact
- Car was overpriced
- Many people DID NOT actually like its looks (sounds very funny)

The good things:
- Very very spacious inside although old people found it very difficult to get into the rear
- quite powerful, although with AC it was drag in lower gears
- good fuel efficiency for its time, the combination of 800 cc and aerodynamism
- Parts were reasonably cheap

And the bad things:
- The car was never properly customised for India - faulty fuel pumps, etc
- Had lots of problems with the cooling system and suspension
- Its wheel rims were awful - got bent very fast and wore out the tyres even faster thanks to the ensuing wheel misalignments
- was teh most difficult to repair, because aesthetics overtook convenience inside the bonnet

Nonetheless, I continue to have the Matiz as my second car (of course, it must be said, who will buy it?), and wish it had lived longer. By the time it started perking up in the popularity ratings, the company failed.