We’re merely a few weeks away from the 2015 New York Auto Show, where Chevrolet will debut a much needed all-new 2016 Malibu and a new 2016 Spark. A new 2016 Chevrolet Cruze won’t be far behind either, but will sit out the Big Apple for a later date.
As for the current generation of Malibu and Cruze, it seems they’ll stick around for a tad longer as they are transitioned into fleet vehicles with the addition of a “limited” moniker, as first seen on the Impala Limited.
Cheers & Gears originally reported the fleet-sale move based on the General Motors VIN decoder website, showing a newly minted Chevrolet Malibu Limited and Cruze Limited, both assigned for the 2016 model year. Both Limited trims are said to see a few changes, too.
The Eco and 2.0-liter turbo will be dropped for the Malibu Limited, and a 2.5-liter four-cylinder will be the sole option for the car. Though, as C&G reports, it is not the same 2.5-liter offered in the current Malibu.
The Malibu Limited will instead switch to the LCV 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine, dropping the LKW variant of the engine in the process. A slight reduction in fuel economy may present itself due to the lack of intake valve lift for the VVT system found in the LCV engine. It seems to be a consolidation move by GM, since the only vehicles to use the LKW variant were in fact the Malibu and Impala. In contrast, the LCV is found under the hood of GM vehicles across Chevrolet, GMC and Cadillac.
The biggest news from the Cruze Limited will be the curtain call for the car’s 2.0-liter diesel, leaving only a gasoline-powered engine choice. The Eco trim will remain available with an automatic and manual gearbox as well.
Expect more news on this move after both the 2016 Malibu and 2016 Cruze are revealed this year.
Comments
No shock there as we knew what he late refresh was for. The same will happen with the Nox.
This does two things. It provides GM with a Fleet car that they can make a lot of money on as the tooling and development is paid off and the new car are protected for a while because they do not go to fleet sales and flood the market with cheap used models later.
GM has a nice system with these older models and with regular changes as we see in the market it should continue. The Captiva was pure profits.
It wouldn’t surprise me like scott3 says, and I personally think they need to make some more $ on the previous Malibu’s architecture.
The new Bu us built on the old platform that was also shared with Opel and Buick.
They made their money and they will make more.
The Malibu did under perform but they it was far from a failure in a very competitive segment. It really bought them the time they needed for the car we are getting this fall.
GM could not keep on with the previous car a couple more years but were not ready with the new platform. Most of the work was done here so they try to bunt this one into the line up to squeeze on base. They even rushed it early as it was to have been a year later to get be the new Ford as they knew they had to come out first or be lost in the crowd. That is also how the changes came so fast as they were in the works before the car came out.
GM’s fleet business seems to be pointed in one direction. I can see the Cruze joining the Impala Limited — not sure if there’s the demand for the Malibu though.
Then there’s the matter of producing them. Let’s take the Cruze. Do you want to build the old and new Cruze to the same production line and complicate your build? And maybe risk alienating some customers if the new Cruze is a runaway hit and production is constrained?
Or do you want to spend the money to move the tooling somewhere else?
GM tooled up the new Impala for propane/LNG — but then priced it too high for the market and wasted its investment. And then they did it on the new Impala — not the Impala Classic where it would appeal to fleet and taxi drivers. It seems that several elements of a successful fleet strategy are missing in GM.
Here we go , give a happy business or weekend renter a chance to drive a vehicle that they probably won’t be able to buy ,unless used , of course . What a genius idea on how to introduce GM fine quality automobiles . I’d shake the hand of this genius who decided this monumental blockbuster of a plan , however , I’ll not go up the palm tree to meet him or her , but rather wait below for an occasional coconut to fall .