Spied: 2010 Chevrolet Cobalt

Under the camo is Chevy's all new Cobalt sedan, scheduled to debut as a 2010 model. Codenamed GMX071, the next-gen Cobalt will begin production at GM's Lordstown plant in July or August of next year. A coupe version will also be available.

These pix reveal a contemporary new design direction for the Cobalt. The now-familiar two-tier Chevy grille dominates the front end, and the bodyside is delineated by a sharp boneline rising to the rear below a twisting concave surface that hints of current BMW 5-series. The trunk is well hidden, but the logical extension of the bodyside treatment suggests a raised central section and mild shoulders over rear wheel openings.

But what's more important is what's under the skin: The new Cobalt is one of the first cars to come off GM's new global compact vehicle architecture, which will also underpin the next gen Saturn Astra and the Chevy Volt. More than just new hardware, the global compact vehicle architecture represents a new approach to product development for GM.

The global compact vehicle architecture will replace five GM small car architectures worldwide by 2014, generating huge cost savings in materials and product development. One of the key attributes of the architecture is its high degree of dimensional flexibility, which allows GM to build vehicles as diverse as coupes and crossovers on the same assembly lines using many of the same parts.

Not only will the global compact vehicle architecture enable GM to get more products to market more rapidly -- company insiders hint more than 30 new models will be launched worldwide off the architecture in just four years -- but it allows easier sharing of powertrains and other advanced technologies.

Which is good news for GM. With gas prices continuing to rise and the subsequent boom in small car sales, the Cobalt is likely to be even more of a major player in the U.S. market than originally planned. GM now has the ability to rapidly expand the Cobalt range to include hatchbacks and crossovers if customers demand, and easily install diesel engines and other gas-saving technologies such as electric power steering.