An Australian-designed concept car will star on the GM stand in Detroit. BUT Its A H

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An Australian-designed concept car will star on the GM stand in Detroit.

An Australian-designed concept car will be the star of the General Motors stand at this year's Detroit motor show.

At its first hometown motor show since emerging from bankruptcy, GM will unveil a concept mini-car built at Holden's design centre in Melbourne.

While christened the Chevrolet Aveo RS for Detroit and wearing the famous Chevy bow-tie, the production version will head to Australia as the new generation Holden Barina.

The official photography of the one-off Aveo RS gives away the Australian link. The concept Aveo and the production car that will follow were both shaped by Holden designer Ondrej Koromhaz. He led the design program in Korea for the Aveo in 2006-07 and the RS in Melbourne in 2009. Anyone familiar with the Melbourne skyline will recognise the background to the exterior shots taken on the roof of Holden's corporate headquarters at Fishermens Bend.

In recent years Holden has designed and/or built several concept cars for major motor shows on behalf of other GM divisions.

The Aveo RS will be revealed in the metal on Monday afternoon Detroit time. Holden boss Alan Batey is expected to confirm then that the car is coming to Australia as the new Barina in 2011. He is also expected to announce the even smaller Spark is headed our way this year.

In preview information, GM has only confirmed the five-door Aveo concept car is longer, wider and more spacious than the current Barina, which is built in Korea by GM-Daewoo and based on the old Daewoo Kalos.

This car created controversy when it first went on-sale in Australia in 2006 because of its poor two-star rating in independent NCAP crash test rating. Engineering improvements lifted that to a four star result in 2008. That still didn't allay criticism of the car's quality and driving behaviour, which is a step back from the previous generation Barina, the European-sourced Opel Corsa.

Sales of the current Barina have been strong because of its low pricing, undercutting better offerings such as the Mazda2, Ford Fiesta and Toyota Yaris. Meanwhile, the Spark is a new venture for Holden, aimed at the Suzuki Alto in the emerging micro-car class.

There is no official forecast from GM of an NCAP star rating for either Aveo/Barina or Spark, the latter the replacement for another old Daewoo model, the Matiz. However, as per Holden policy, expect both to come fitted with standard stability control and six airbags.

Holden's versions of the new Barina and the Spark will be built by GM Daewoo in Korea, which is GM's designated small car development 'homeroom'.

GM's Detroit emphasis on small cars is indicative of just how important they have become to the survival of the now government-owned car company, as well as its struggling compatriots, Ford, and Fiat-owned Chrysler Group. In 2009 the recession-hit US market fell to its lowest level since 1982. Only manufacturers such as Hyundai with a broad range of cheap, small cars held up in the carnage. GM's share fell by 30 per cent.

The Aveo concept - which is said to closely mirror the look of the production car once you strip away its hot hatch-inspired 19-inch wheels and body adornments - is powered by a 1.4-litre turbocharged direct injection petrol engine.

The 103kW/200Nm four-cylinder engine is mated with a six-speed manual transmission in the show car. Like the Spark, the Aveo's underpinnings are based on GM's latest Gamma II mini-car architecture.

This engine already features in the US version of the Cruze small car and is expected to replace the ageing 1.8-litre petrol engine in the Australian Cruze later this year, possibly coinciding with the launch of the locally-designed and built hatchback version.

The mainstream Barina is likely to arrive with a naturally-aspirated four-cylinder engine around 1.5-litres, reserving the turbo for an RS if it makes it into production. The Spark is expected to be powered by a 1.2-litre four-cylinder engine.

Styling features of the Aveo concept include an aggressive face, headlights and tail-lights inspired by motorcycle design, rear doorhandles that disappear into the rear pillar and 'Boracy Blue' paint finish for the body and brake callipers. Inside the Boracy Blue theme continues in the trim materials while motorcycle design also inspires the instrument meter.