The Half-Life of the Chevy Cobalt May Be Longer Than You Thought

First, yes, I'm fully aware that a certain Japanese auto company — Toyota, right? — is continuing to make news for some kind of problem with its floormats. And gas pedals. And now its floormats again. But after getting in on the action a few days ago, I was going to let the topic simmer for awhile longer before getting back to it.

Then I stumbled upon the type of "Dewey Defeats Truman" situation that I had to share with Krome on Cars readers: Interbrand, a firm that styles itself "the world's largest brand consultancy," recently came out with its "Japan's Best Global Brands 2010" report — dated January 28, 2010, mind you — and you might be surprised at which company heads the list.

Actually, those of you with a finely tuned sense of the absurd probably won't be surprised at all: It's Toyota.

Nissan LEAF vs. Chevrolet Volt

Now that I've gotten that out of my system, let's stick with my political theme here and see what's up at the 2010 Washington (D.C.) Auto Show.

The event used to be a minor blip on ye olde radar screen, but as the global auto business began melting down a few years ago, things in D.C. began to pick up. Initially, OEMs began using it as a stage on which to show off all the high-efficiency new products they could make if only the U.S. government helped them survive.

Today, things are different: The companies are using it as a stage on which to show off all the high-efficiency new products they could make if only the U.S. government continues to help them survive.

For example, by providing $1.4 billion in Department of Energy loans to help Nissan roll out its coming LEAF electric car. The money will be used to upgrade Nissan's Smyrna, Tenn., plant, where the U.S. Leaf will be built.

The small five-door hatch still looks like a winner, too — just ask the folks at "Green Car Journal." The publication gave the Leaf its "2010 Green Car Vision Award" in conjunction with the Washington show. It certainly helps that the Nissan will have a significantly lower MSRP than the Chevrolet Volt while also, in theory, having a longer range; despite some recent concerns, Nissan remains confident that drivers can expect to get about 100 miles out of every charge. In addition, Nissan has been very aggressive about supporting the infrastructure changes needed to make practical electric driving a reality.

Chevrolet Cruze vs. Ford Focus

Of course, General Motors attempted to counter the Leaf news by announcing D.C. would become one of the Chevy Volt's three initial launch areas, joining locations in California and Michigan. If some of our nation's politicos aren't driving around in Volts and Leafs (Leaves?) at next year's show, it will only be because some automaker figured out how to run an engine on universe juice.

Also on hand was the Chevrolet Cruze, which is essentially the General's answer to the new Ford Focus. Like the Ford, the Cruze is a global compact that will be compact only in terms of size — well, that and, one hopes, price. Both are expected to bring a full range of new powertrains, safety advancements and digital gadgetry to the segment, and the sales battle between the two will be worth watching.

Chevrolet Cobalt vs. Kia Forte Koup

Speaking of the Cruze, I'm going to finish up here on a bit of a Cruze-inspired tangent. The Bow-tie division's latest compact is set to replace the Cobalt in Chevy showrooms this fall, and all the noise about how great the Cruze will be has muffled just what a credible vehicle the Cobalt remains. Which was pointed out for me in a recent story in the "Detroit Free Press."

The story actually was about the Kia Forte Koup, a car that I really like, and naturally included some competitive comparison info. In this case, the cars the Freep picked as Koup competitors were the coupe versions of the Chevrolet Cobalt, Honda Civic and Nissan Altima, with a Volkswagen Golf thrown into the mix, too.

Some factoids about that bunch: The Cobalt in its standard trim has the second-best combined mpg ratings in all EPA categories, trailing only the Civic, but the Cobalt XFE model meets the Civic's city rating and tops it both on the highway and in combined driving. If you want to talk performance, the 260-hp turbocharged Cobalt SS can easily handle — and outhandle — the Civic Si and Volkswagen GTI (the "hot" version of the Golf).

The Chevy also offers the usual complement of digital doodads — like a USB port and Bluetooth connectivity — and safety features, including side-curtain and dual-frontal airbags as well as traction control.

In fact, about the only area in which the Cobalt significantly trails this group is in terms of sticker price. Using the stats from the Free Press story, in which the writer, of course, tried to assemble models with similar equipment levels, the Cobalt is listed at $16,470, more than a thousand dollars less than the next cheapest ride, the Golf.

Not to take away from the competition, which certainly has its share of selling points, but this isn't too shabby for a car that's about to be replaced by a "better" one.