By Tim Plouff

Well, well. While the mainstream press has been busy assailing General Motors for its sagging SUV sales and shrinking stock value, the boys in Detroit haven’t been just standing around the office water cooler waiting for the collapse of Rome.

No, GM’s various brand engineers and designers have been very busy creating a new breed of cars and trucks that are winning industry accolades for new vehicle quality, safety and reliability against the stiffest competition ever in a very competitive marketplace. Hey, GM “is” the largest automaker in the world; it must know how to do some things right.

And car sales have been rising as customers make note of these interesting new products. None of GM’s new cars has generated more interest than Chevrolet’s premium compact car, the Cobalt.

Not since 1970, the previous heyday of the inexpensive muscle car and the powerful family sedan, has there been so much attention focused on a new small car wearing the Chevy Bow-tie. While the lamented Vega and the Chevette that followed were more notable for the things that they didn’t do (and didn’t last long in the market either), the subsequent Cavalier lasted 23 years and made GM a lot of money. It also may not have been the best small car, but its sales numbers made it one of the most popular compacts with many loyal customers.

The Cobalt promises to be much different and much better. Every indication, including the early reviews from the most critical of pundits, says that the Cobalt is a new kind of Chevy, a revolutionary Chevrolet.

Cobalt is built on the Delta architecture that is the platform for the best-selling Opel Astra in Europe as well as Saturn’s Ion over here. When the Ion debuted in 2003, the design was bungled in translation and the Saturn proved to be an underwhelming disappointment. Except for the addition of rear-opening doors in the coupe, the Ion proved to be nothing more than another crude, “plasticky” compact car.

After universal reservation for the Ion, the Chevy guys declared that no way was the Cobalt going to suffer the same ignominious fate. They promised that the Cobalt would not be a rebadged Cavalier, but a serious contender in a class led by Civics and Corollas.

Thankfully, the Cobalt is a winning package. Sales in April jumped three-fold to 22,700 units (the second most popular small car for the month) as spring spread around the country and word of the Cobalt’s virtues reached the masses.  Chevy is confident that it can sell 200,000 Cobalts for the year.

The Cobalt is conservatively styled, yet its friendly face sends a youthful message to all prospective buyers. There is nothing to offend the eye and just enough appeal to last several years in the hot compact market. Construction detailing is much sharper than the Cavalier, plus the Cobalt coupe carries some Corvette and Impala styling cues to continue the bow-tie family’s traditions.

The Cobalt’s interior is a huge improvement over the departed Cavalier. Premium cloth covers adjustable seats that seem firm at first but render the appropriate amount of support for long stints behind the comfortable leather-clad steering wheel. The instrument panel is an efficient clean design with the right amount of chrome trim plus backlit white gauges, making you think European. You get a comprehensive trip computer, an outside temperature indicator, and an oil-life monitor that tells you when to change your car’s oil, not some pre-ordained schedule that wastes money and time. Most rivals don’t offer these components.

All Cobalts also come with a CD player, air conditioning, and a tilt steering wheel. A Pioneer audio system, OnStar and XM satellite radio (more features that the competition doesn’t offer) are affordable options. Chevy also equipped the Cobalt with three rear-seat anchors for child safety seats. When ordered with the optional side airbags, the Cobalt is the highest rated compact car in impact crash testing. Unfortunately, the media hasn’t been trumpeting these kinds of GM success stories.

The Delta platform gives the Cobalt excellent road manners. Unlike the Ion, the Cobalt has a very supple ride that is more akin to a larger sedan than a compact four-door. Ride motions over some of the roughest, weather-tortured tarmac were superbly damped while handling composure is more than competent, too, leaving both drivers and passengers with a very positive impression. Add recalibrated electric power steering that produces superior feel and responsiveness, not to mention a tiny low-speed turning radius, and you have to pass out accolades to the chassis guys.

Making some of the ride control possible is a stiffened body design that lets the suspension do its job independently of the cabin above. Quiet steel, sound-absorbing foam, and triple door seals make the Cobalt very quiet and solid feeling. After any journey, you step out and admire the Cobalt’s smooth, efficient competence, attributes that used to be reserved for only small Asian cars.

Power comes from a new engine line called Ecotec. With roots in Germany and previously used by Saab, the Ecotec four-cylinder engines are more powerful and more refined than their predecessors while being more fuel efficient and cleaner, too. The base 2.2-liter four makes 145-hp and 155 lb./ft. of peak torque, numbers that place the Cobalt near the head of the class.

Acceleration is impressive for a small car even with the automatic transmission. Exercise the right pedal and the Cobalt surges forward with the enthusiasm and pace that is usually associated with mid-size V-6-powered sedans. Driven with no regard for fuel economy, I still averaged 31 mpg.

So where are the fatal flaws and nagging inconsistencies that always accompany a new GM product you naysayers are asking yourselves.

The back seat could be much roomier; adults will find leg and foot space at a premium. And the large floor hump intrudes on the center position’s overall allocation, yet three kids can fit without protest. That’s it. That is the only negative that reared its ugly head while the Cobalt visited.

Ownership enhancing positives were more prevalent in my Cobalt experience. Subtle features like struts instead of hinges holding up the trunk lid and the hood; rear headrests mounted to the shelf so the seat folds forward more readily, plus a left foot pedal that is perfectly placed. My LS sedan also came with a very comfortable soft leather steering wheel that was just the right circumference, and handsome five-spoke alloy wheels that are absolutely the class of the class.

Later this summer, Chevy will unveil another new compact model that could essentially be a crossover wagon of the Cobalt. The retro-styled HHR will be an affordable alternative for buyers who want more cargo space than the sedan provides but don’t relish making the leap up to a minivan or SUV. Featuring a 175-hp version of the Ecotec engine, the front-drive HHR will start around $16,000.

Until then and long after, Chevy is finally building the small car that buyers can purchase because they like it not because it’s all they can afford. The Cobalt is a nice surprise, a two-thumbs up compact car from GM.