As the Chinese Offensive Deepens in South America, GM Blunders the Arrival of the Spark EUV – CleanTechnica

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Last Updated on: 20th August 2025, 12:40 am

Much has been said about Legacy Auto’s inability to move at the speed of leaner, younger Chinese brands. Though normally this is said in terms of model and platform development, recent events have convinced me that this issue is not limited to that, and that they also lack the capability to rethink their strategy amidst a changing context.

I’m talking about the Baojun Yel Plus Chevrolet Spark EUV, a car that I had really high hopes for in the Latin American market, and that recently arrived in Mexico at a price of some $23,900 (MXN$449,000). Mexico does not have such a competitive EV landscape yet, and at this price, the Spark EUV remains decently placed amidst the competition, which includes the JAC E30X (MXN$515,000) and the MG4 (MXN$479,900). The problem, as I mentioned in my previous article, is the ICEV competition, which severely outclasses the Spark EUV in similar segments with offers like the Suzuki Jimny (MXN$460,990), but that’s a different matter. The Spark EUV also arrived in Argentina at somewhat reasonable pricing, given the country’s abysmal EV offerings right now.

So far, so good. The Spark EUV has at least a chance of becoming a good seller and sustaining GM’s market share while the brand starts production of affordable EVs in North America. Though, a comment if any GM representative reads this: don’t quote EPA ranges when everybody else is using CLTC, that’s just bad advertising.

However, when looking at markets further south, things seem completely different.

Brazil: Spark EUV at Yuan Up pricing

Unlike Mexico, neither Brazil nor Colombia have hyper-affordable ICEV prices, meaning EVs have an easier time competing. However, in both countries, we’ve recently seen a massive offensive by Chinese brands, keen on sustaining momentum and gaining strongholds in what used to be Legacy Auto’s turf. And in this respect, GM messed up spectacularly the Spark EUV’s arrival.

Prior to April 2025, the BYD Yuan Up cost R$183,000 (USD$33,450) in Brazil. My guess is that when they announced the Chevrolet Spark EUV, they had this number in mind. But, alas, BYD is aiming to become more competitive in foreign markets and, by May, the Yuan Pro had fallen to R$159,800 (USD$29,200). Mind you, when comparing this vehicle to the Spark EUV, the Yuan Pro is bigger (4.3m to 4m), more powerful (135kW to 75kW), has a bigger battery (45kWh to 40kWh), and, though subjective, feels to me like more of a “real” SUV and has an overall better look.

Which means that the Spark EUV, at R$159,900, is basically dead on arrival.

Colombia: Spark EUV at (almost) “real” off-roaders pricing

As in Brazil, Colombia is currently undergoing another round of price cuts and affordable arrivals, most recently represented in the Chery ICar 03 and the GAC Aion V. And, as in Brazil, the Spark EUV is not up to the competition it’s facing.

We’ll focus here on the ICar 03. Though not a “real” SUV (as it’s a unibody, not body-on-frame), its power and clearance make it a decent vehicle for off-roading: its 4×4 capabilities were recently tested in Santurbán’s high mountain road, showing that even as a unibody, the car can deal well with very rough terrain. The 4×4 version comes with a 69kWh battery and it’s sold for COP$140,000,000 (USD$34,650), whereas the 4×2 version has 65 kWh and a price of COP$120,000,000 (USD$29,750). Of course, the 4×2 ICar 03 will not be a capable off-roader, but it can easily deal with rural, unkept roads that smaller cars could struggle with. Smaller cars … such as the Spark EUV.

And, again, we see the Spark EUV arrive at COP$110,000,000 (USD$27,250). Meaning, for only $2,500 more, you can buy a much more capable, much more robust, much better equipped ICar 03.

Or, alternatively, we can point out that the Spark EUV arrived at the same price as the Yuan Pro and the JAC E40X (both larger, more capable vehicles), and at $5,000 more than the similarly sized, similarly equipped JAC E30X, except the JAC has much better ADAS.

Legacy Auto’s BEV strategy (or lack thereof)

Many times we’ve seen EVs stumble as they fail to compete on price. The Fiat 500e in Europe, the VW ID.3 in China, even Polestar in the US, have all arguably suffered as they did not offer as much value as similarly priced EVs and/or ICEVs. In developing markets, things are much worse: very few people are willing to pay more in the name of luxury or exclusivity, and that number gets even lower in the competitive mass-market segments, where exclusivity really isn’t a thing.

As such, GM fumbled, badly, the Spark EUV arrival in Brazil and Colombia. It seems to me they went with market research from 2024, a time when such a price may even have been competitive. Worse still, unless they lower the Spark EUV’s price, the upcoming Captiva EV will have to be much more expensive, once again standing well above its competition, and making a flop out of their entire EV strategy. Wasn’t the whole point of building EVs in China to prevent being outcompeted on price?

Yet GM is at least trying. Other brands are losing market share and letting their competition gain a stronghold because they won’t even bring EVs made in China (the exceptions being Renault, with the Kwid E-Tech, and BMW, both of which are doing at least decent-ish). As several markets in the region have grown in the last few years, the loss in market share hasn’t yet translated into fewer sales overall, but if they keep things the way they’re going, volumes will start to suffer as early as next year.

The Chinese are not staying still. Lately around here, it feels that every couple of weeks there’s either a new arrival or an announcement on lower pricing, making the overall EV market more competitive piece by piece…. But Legacy Auto seems either unwilling or unable to join the trend. In the past, this could’ve been a case of presenting uncompelling EVs, to complain later that nobody wants them…. But that doesn’t fly in a time when BYD, Chery, and Changan’s EV sales are growing at double or even triple digits.

Which brings me back to my original hypothesis: GM is acting on outdated information, and as such, the car is — sort of — competitive in markets which have changed little (like Mexico and Argentina), and uncompetitive in markets which are evolving more rapidly. Let’s hope they can adjust, but, until they do, I’m certain the Spark EUV will be a flop in both Brazil and Colombia. Truly a shame, as I believe this vehicle could’ve turned the tide for the General…. But who knows? Perhaps, it can still do it.