The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety named the 2014 Chevrolet Malibu equipped with available Forward Collision Alert a Top Safety Pick+ today. The distinction is given to cars which receive high marks in crash worthiness and earn a basic, advanced or superior rating for frontal crash prevention.
In order to receive the Top Safety Pick+ distinction, the 2014 Malibu had to have a frontal crash protection system on offer which met IIHS requirements and received a “Good” rating, the highest classification used by IIHS, in four of the five crash tests. The tests consisted of front, side, roof strength and head restraint assessments.
GM says the 2014 Malibu exceeded those requirements, achieving a “Good” rating in all five of the tests. The Forward Collision Alert system available on Malibu 2LT and above trim packages also earned a “Basic” assessment for the frontal crash prevention system. The system uses a camera and radar system to judge the distance between the Malibu and the car in front, and will sound an alert if it senses a possible collision.
“We are very pleased that the IIHS has recognized the safety of the Malibu with this prestigious rating,” Gay Kent, general director of General Motors Vehicle Safety and Crashworthiness said in a statement. “Customer safety is our guiding compass; this serves as a testament to that.”
The Malibu has been an IIHS Top Safety Pick for the past four years, but 2014 marks the first time it is categorized as a Top Safety Pick+. It joins Chevrolet’s only other car with the distinction, the Chevrolet Spark mincar.
Comments
Hopefully it gains some more sales because of this! Such a shame that it doesn’t sell well for it is one of the best sedans out there!
EvanG, it is a shame. This car has had good improvements since the 2013, which really wasn’t bad either. Blame the lamestream media for this, Car and Drivel, etc., etc., etc. and their biased opinions. Therefore the public decides to not even give it the chance it deserved.
Well to be fair to the media they all have been fair to this car. I am no fan of the media but they all have said it is a good car. The problem is it is in the toughest segment in the industry and the other cars in their plain boring way are as good or better in some ways.
I do not think this car is all that far behind but even GM knew it had some issues with the coming cars as this is really an old design that pretty much was set back in 08-09 and delayed with the bail out. GM worked hard to beat the Fusion to market because they knew it was going to be a tough car to compete with. They also had the fix for the seat and nose in before there were many complaints because they did not have the time to fix them with the rushed car. It was either fix it and show up late or be first and fix it the next year
The pricing on this car will help and it will do fine. It may not be number one in the segment but it will hold it’s own till the new platform is here. This is not going to be a long term car as this platform is dying soon.
I think the most major issues is the styling is very polarizing here as you either love it or hate it. The others are so plain that many of the owners do not care or the Fusion that actually has some real style to it gives it some flow.
The other issue is many in Honda and Toyota models are hard to remove as thy are getting what they want. Reliability and MPG. They could care less for most other things like style as it did not affect their present purchase.
Now Dodge has a major issue with the new 200. It is a better looking car but it is not really a great car. The MPG is nothing great. It is much like the Dart just kind of out of touch with the leading models in class. If it were not for the trucks and Jeep Chrysler would be in a big mess right now. Even the Viper is not selling and Fiat sales have not been to the level they had hoped.
I love the Malibu, as I have driven them in the 1970’s. Even if its competition has better MPG. that factor doesn’t decide what vehicle to buy. I prefer to spend a little more in gasoline and in a safer car than any of the lightweight and inferior imports. I see plenty of the imports in accidents and many of their passengers don’t survive. Where does more MPG justify less safety?
Light weight dose not always mean it is not safe. You will find many of the new GM cars will be much lighter but will yet retain the 5 star ratings.
But I know what you mean. Honda’s have not always held up well in a crash but it has more to do with design vs. light weight.