GM Unveils New Chevrolet Cobalt Sedan Concept at Buenos Aires

Here in the good ‘ol US of A, General Motors replaced the Chevrolet Cobalt compact car with the new Cruze sedan. In South America, however, it’s another story as the Detroit brand has given birth to a new Chevy Cobalt that is being revealed in pre-production form at this week’s Buenos Aires Motor Show (June 17 to 26) in Argentina.

Developed by General Motors Technical Center in South America, the four-door sedan Cobalt Concept is slated to enter production within the next year. GM’s press blurb doesn’t mention anything about the Cobalt’s underpinnings, but judging from the size of the car, it appears to be based on the Chevy Sonic (Aveo in Europe) saloon.

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NHTSA Opens Probe on Chevy Cobalt for Power-Steering Failures - 11 Complaints Allege Problem Caused Crash

No, we didn't spell Toyota's name wrong. It's actually GM that's being investigated in this latest safety case by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) which has either stepped up its efforts or -most likely- most of us are paying closer attention to the agency after Toyota's "sticky" woes.

The NHTSA said that it opened an investigation on the Chevrolet Cobalt after 1,132 consumers complained about a sudden loss of electric power steering (EPS) in 2005-2009 Cobalt and 2008-2009 Cobalt SS models.

According to the agency's report, around 10 per cent of the complaints claim that the loss of steering assist resulted in difficultly controlling the vehicle, while 11 support that the sudden increase in steering effort caused by the alleged defect led to a crash, with one consumer alleging an injury.

If -and we stress "if"- the NHTSA's findings call for a fix, it is estimated that approximately 905,000 Cobalts will be affected by the recall.

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