The Cruze cannot come here soon enough! The Cobalt is trash.
I wonder what a kidney bean split grill with a blue and white propeller or four shiny chrome linked rings would look like on the nose of the car if the public did not know it was Korean built for GM. If squint a bit you can see it.
The front end doesn’t look as offensive with that grill! I like it’s looks better as a Daewoo!
It looks very nice. WTG Chevy!
I would love to see this thing in the US now. But, giventhe current financial meltdown maybe it is a good thing for GM to postpone the release. Hopefully they won’t wait till this thing is no longer relavent.
That is a fine looking automobile and I can’t even believe we’re seeing soemthing so nice at this (supposed low) price point.
I rented a Cobalt last August and didn’t expect much. The car was well put together, with a nice fit and finish outside and a decent quality interior. It rode comfortably/quietly and got good gas mileage. Unfortunately THE Cobalt looks and drives/feels out of date. Cobalt should have come out 4 years earlier in 2000. By 2006 the Cruze design would have been released and today we’d have a competive up to date small Chevy.
I think the Cobalt could be OK. But they need to spend a bit of money on it to give it at least a more attractive dash. The Coupe is a nice looking car for the money. Much better than the odd looking 2 door Focus.
The Cobalt platform is very good. The Saturn Astra is based on it, as are various derivatives in Europe. It’s the finishing that kills the Cobalt. The interior, the rear end design, the front clip are all so mediocre. It wouldn’t have taken much to make it something really great. I don’t know if any government financial injection is going to help with GM’s lack of good judgement.
ne1butu said, "I don't know if any government financial injection is going to help with GM's lack of good judgement." To be accurate, the the bad judgement was their decision to spend 80 Billion on Pensions (vs Toyota's 8 Billion worldwide) and pay union wages (when toyota and honda pay a LOT less, not only in wages, but ESPECIALLY benefits). If you overpay workers, you can't re-style every time the style changes. You can only spend it once. Having the best designs & tecnology in the world is useless if you don't have the cash to get it into production– NOW. Need I mention the costs of law-wuit aversion and 50%+ US corporate income taxes? GM's biggest (only??) and possibly fatal mistake is to keep headquarters in the US. You want money to play with like the Japanese & Koreans? Then save yourself GM — drop the dead weight in America and move to Japan or Korea, where the governments & unions don't fight potentially sucessful businesses every step of the way.
I agree with the above comment. I am certainly no fan of overpriced manufacturing labor that are a result of the bad contracts that automakers agreed to in the 1960s. However no automaker is in a position to style and re-style their vehicles at the whim of what’s in fashion. Is it cost effective to build an Astra for Europe on the same platform as the Cobalt for the US? Sounds to me like it’s twice the necessary effort to offer the US buyers a trashy product. Good quality never goes out of style, and GM needs to pick a style and then build it like it’s supposed to last forever. Judging from GMs current new vehicles, it appears that they are finally getting that idea. People are noticing. I hope they use this influx of $ to go even further in the right direction.
Looks fine except for the ridiculous, Chrysler Sebring-inspired “C” pillar painted (or black plastic-covered) to look like a rear quarter window.
Too bad GM cheapened the look with that silly “C” pillar design. Not necessarily a deal killer, but almost.
The Cruze cannot come here soon enough! The Cobalt is trash.
I wonder what a kidney bean split grill with a blue and white propeller or four shiny chrome linked rings would look like on the nose of the car if the public did not know it was Korean built for GM. If squint a bit you can see it.
The front end doesn’t look as offensive with that grill! I like it’s looks better as a Daewoo!
It looks very nice. WTG Chevy!
I would love to see this thing in the US now. But, giventhe current financial meltdown maybe it is a good thing for GM to postpone the release. Hopefully they won’t wait till this thing is no longer relavent.
That is a fine looking automobile and I can’t even believe we’re seeing soemthing so nice at this (supposed low) price point.
I rented a Cobalt last August and didn’t expect much. The car was well put together, with a nice fit and finish outside and a decent quality interior. It rode comfortably/quietly and got good gas mileage. Unfortunately THE Cobalt looks and drives/feels out of date. Cobalt should have come out 4 years earlier in 2000.
By 2006 the Cruze design would have been released and today we’d have a competive up to date small Chevy.
I think the Cobalt could be OK. But they need to spend a bit of money on it to give it at least a more attractive dash.
The Coupe is a nice looking car for the money. Much better than the odd looking 2 door Focus.
The Cobalt platform is very good. The Saturn Astra is based on it, as are various derivatives in Europe. It’s the finishing that kills the Cobalt. The interior, the rear end design, the front clip are all so mediocre. It wouldn’t have taken much to make it something really great. I don’t know if any government financial injection is going to help with GM’s lack of good judgement.
ne1butu said, "I don't know if any government financial injection is going to help with GM's lack of good judgement." To be accurate, the the bad judgement was their decision to spend 80 Billion on Pensions (vs Toyota's 8 Billion worldwide) and pay union wages (when toyota and honda pay a LOT less, not only in wages, but ESPECIALLY benefits). If you overpay workers, you can't re-style every time the style changes. You can only spend it once. Having the best designs & tecnology in the world is useless if you don't have the cash to get it into production– NOW. Need I mention the costs of law-wuit aversion and 50%+ US corporate income taxes? GM's biggest (only??) and possibly fatal mistake is to keep headquarters in the US. You want money to play with like the Japanese & Koreans? Then save yourself GM — drop the dead weight in America and move to Japan or Korea, where the governments & unions don't fight potentially sucessful businesses every step of the way.
I agree with the above comment. I am certainly no fan of overpriced manufacturing labor that are a result of the bad contracts that automakers agreed to in the 1960s. However no automaker is in a position to style and re-style their vehicles at the whim of what’s in fashion. Is it cost effective to build an Astra for Europe on the same platform as the Cobalt for the US? Sounds to me like it’s twice the necessary effort to offer the US buyers a trashy product. Good quality never goes out of style, and GM needs to pick a style and then build it like it’s supposed to last forever. Judging from GMs current new vehicles, it appears that they are finally getting that idea. People are noticing. I hope they use this influx of $ to go even further in the right direction.
Looks fine except for the ridiculous, Chrysler Sebring-inspired “C” pillar painted (or black plastic-covered) to look like a rear quarter window.
Too bad GM cheapened the look with that silly “C” pillar design. Not necessarily a deal killer, but almost.