Alongside the Chevrolet Cruze RS hatch Blue Line concept, Chevy also revealed the Malibu Blue Line concept, which features many of the same appointments as its Cruze hatchback cousin.
The major attraction of the Malibu Blue Line concept are the blue tinted windows and its 18-inch wheels painted slate blue metallic. The blue tones are contrasted by a Genesis White exterior paint hue.
Along with the blue touches, a slew of Chevrolet Performance accessories have been fitted to complete the Blue Line concept’s look. The accessories include:
- Ground effects kit with a rear diffuser
- Black grille insert
- Black Chevrolet bow tie emblems
- Rear spoiler
- Suspension lowering kit
- Floor liners with premium metal badging
- Illuminated doorsills
- Sport pedal kit
Additionally, the Malibu Blue Line concept features a concept Chevrolet Performance brake kit (painted Harbor Gray Metallic) to accent the blue hues around the vehicle. Tinted head and taillamps, as well as polished exhaust tips, also add extra flair for the midsize sedan.
Last year, Chevrolet brought the Malibu Red Line concept to the 2015 SEMA Show, giving us hope a proper sport package would be introduced for the sedan. Alas, it hasn’t happened yet.
The Malibu Blue Line concept will be revealed publicly at the 2016 SEMA Show, which takes place between November 1-4.
Comments
Yawn!!!!!
Now lets take the trim of the Redline and the While line then at the very least add a Turbo upgrade kit adding 40-50 HP with clear statements Premium is required.
Keep the full factory warranty and push 20 plus PSI in boost.
Some of you say it can’t be done? Well they did it for the Cobalt SS and HHR SS 8 years ago on the LNF with full warranty retained.
GM has this big fear at Chevy forcing people into premium fuel required and want to keep it recommended. This dealer installed item would let people choose it and not void a warranty. It would add income for GM and the dealers. Generally it is a flash and two maps and takes little time to install.
40-65 HP is not an issue.
Note Ford just started to offer a kit for the Turbo Mustang.
It’s mind boggling that even in the absence of Pontiac, GM refuses to add real performance upgrades to more mainstream Chevrolets. Pontiac is gone, as well as most of the other divisions, so there’s no reason why GM can’t stretch Chevrolet’s capabilities.
How about a couple of hot hatches? What about a Cruze coupe? Could we get a Malibu with a de-tuned Regal GS drivetrain? What the heck will Chevy do for a RWD full-sizer?
You leave out one real detail. Chevy offers today as much or more performance than Pontiac did for many of the final years. The truth is I drive an SS now as Pontiac did not offer a Turbo LNF in anything other than a Solstice. I owned nothing but Pontiac for many years till what performance they had vanished.
The only real performance at the end was a G8 V8 and the Solstice. Chevy today offers the SS and Corvette. As for the rest of Pontiac it was nothing special. The G3-5-6 were all standard engines Chevy offered and even the V6 was not any more than the Turbo 4 Chevy now offers.
The Bonnie SSEI was gone. The GTP was gone, The GXP was gone, The TA and Bird were long gone. The GTO was gone.
Even the Cobalt SS Turbo was 260 HP in stock form and the Malibu is right about there just minus the plastic trim and large wing.
As for GM today Buick is here to do the heavier lifting with cars that will cost more but also offer more to be worth the price.
We already lived though a good generation where Pontiac and Chevy built the same cars with just different trim. You can see where that got us into bankruptcy.
The fact is today Buick offers the GS with a Haldex system but it sells for $44,000. Now how many people would pay over $40,000 For a Malibu when the GS itself is a low volume car. If it were not for the Opel share it would not be here.
The new Buicks are coming and promise to open the door to possibly TT V6 AWD models. This may open the door for Chevy to have a Turbo 4 awd at at some point.
Todays market is not about selling over laps in product anymore as it waste resources and brings low income if you even make anything.
Yes Ford offers AWD sport models on the Focus but the numbers sold are not a ton. 15K-20K is not much in this segment and making the investment back is slow vs. investing in other models that will sell over 100,000 of a product like the new Nox and even the larger AWD Colorado based SUV.
GM is trying with three divisions to offer something for everyone and not over lap. Yet while doing this they are targeting not just models that make money but the models that will bring in the highest income.
As the market tightens the role of models that bring in max income will play heavy. The lower volume cars in tough times become more a burden.
GM is still in need of making cars like the Malibu, Cruze and Regal the best in class. Offering a sport model would be nice but till they get the mainstream models to be the best on the market they still have work to do.
So while some like to lament the loss of Pontiac you fail to submit that Pontiac failed long before it left the market. Chevy and Buck have about as much and in the case of the Regal more than what Pontiac offered in the end. Don’t get fooled by the big spoilers on the GTP G6 as it was all frosting and no cake. The V6 was no better than the Chevy. In fact most G6 did not even have the DOHC engine.
Keep in mind I was a Pontiac owner for years and still have one. I did not leave Pontiac as Pontiac left me behind. I had no LNF G5 I had no LNF G6, I had no AWD G6, I got red dash lights and chrome wheels that the chrome flaked off on my GTP. As it is my LNF would run circles around my Series III 3800 SC in my Chevy. That is why I ended up with it.
This car is just too vanilla! I agree with scott3. break out more serious goodies so you can TELL a difference if you label it SPORT or RED LINE or Blue LINE.By the way Vanilla is quite tasty too
Wish it had a v6
(Ironic mode: On)
Wow!! Can’t wait for next year’s color!
(Ironic mode: Off)
Sarcastic mode?
Yes!
There is a market for performance vehicles in these “lesser models” (non-Camaro, Corvette, SS). Hot hatches and the like are quite popular. I’m still waiting on a Cruze SS variant to have as my daily driver (Camaro SS is my weekend cruiser). Perhaps, since GM screwed-the-pooch for so many years with the “SS” trim levels on many models, only to give them sticker packages and wheel upgrades (Malibu SS, Malibu Maxx SS, Impala SS, etc.), they are hesitant to re-enter the segment. When GM demolished the SS moniker with their sticker/wheel packages in the past, they turned off a lot of GM faithful. These folks need to be recaptured. The only model to successfully use the SS badge at that time, was the Cobalt SS. It came with real performance upgrades. That is what “SS” has always stood for…PERFORMANCE! Get with it GM!