As with their predecessors, all Cobalts and its Pontiac equivalents were manufactured at GM's plant in Ramos Arizpe, Mexico and Lordstown, Ohio.

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) the Cobalt receives an overall top score of "Good" for front collisions.

[9] According to the IIHS's injury measurements taken from the side impact test, the driver's torso is given a "Marginal" score.

[10] 2010 NHTSA sedan crash test:[11] Before 2009 the Cobalt only offered stability control as an option on Sport models.

[9] In early 2007, 98,000 Cobalt coupes from the 2005–06 model years were recalled after it was discovered they did not meet federal safety requirements because of a lack of adequate padding in a specific area of the vehicle's trim.

[12] On March 2, 2010, GM announced a recall of 1.3 million compact cars in North America, including the Chevrolet Cobalt, because of power steering problems.

On September 28, 2012, GM announced a recall of 40,859 cars including the Chevrolet Cobalt from the 2007-09 model year because of a potential fuel leak.

The fuel vapor leak could be detected during hot days by a gasoline smell in the vicinity of the car.

[16] On February 21, 2014, GM recalled over 700,000 Cobalts for issues traceable to the defective ignition switches.

Thirteen deaths were linked to the faulty switches during the time the company failed to recall the cars.

[28] The Cobalt was retired in Russia in December 2015, when Chevrolet decided to minimize its presence only to its iconic models.

With a very discreet commercial performance and a taxi variant, its production in the Colombian market ended in early 2016.

The Cobalt has been succeeded by the Chevrolet Onix Plus sedan, which achieved higher sales upon its launch in 2019.