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2018 Buick Regal Sportback 2.0T Significantly Less Expensive Than Chevrolet Malibu 2.0T

While it’s likely not the only factor buyers will look at when shopping for a mid-size sedan, it’s worth noting the 2018 Buick Regal Sportback is by far the less expensive option to net General Motors’ 2.0-liter LTG turbocharged four-cylinder engine under the hood.

The most comparable vehicle, the 2017 Chevrolet Malibu, only offers the 2.0-liter turbo engine with the range-topping Premier trim. At that point, buyers will be facing a sales price over $30,000. The 2018 Regal Sportback arrives with the 2.0-liter turbo engine standard and starts at $25,915.

2016 Chevrolet Malibu Exterior - Media Drive 001

As mentioned, it’s not a true apples-apples comparison. With the Malibu Premier, the $30,000-plus price tag earns buyers lots of niceties such as heated and ventilated seats, an eight-inch infotainment system, 19-inch wheels, dual-zone climate control and more. The base Buick Regal Sportback doesn’t feature any of the previously listed features.

But, if 2.0-liter turbo power is necessary—other Malibus feature the 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine—the Regal Sportback is a compelling option.

Former GM Authority staff writer.

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Comments

  1. It’s kinda sad that even at the premier trim there’s no LED or HID headlight available for the Malibu

    Reply
    1. GM is quickly falling behind in the Headlight race and badly as well.

      Reply
  2. I’ll bet for that price the under 26K base Regal won’t come with many of the features that are on the current car such as leather seats and steering wheel, a normal sized touch screen, a power seat, auto day night mirror and several other safety items like BLISS.

    Reply
    1. Probably not true. Primary reason my wife drives a current gen Regal is, by the time we kitted out a Malbu with leather and a 2.0l engine, it was 5k more than the Regal base list. And not sure about the Malibu, but the incentives on the Regal were over 5k too.

      Reply
      1. True. The GM Fleet Order Guide shows the base 2018 Regal having non-leather steering wheel, 7″ touch screen instead of 8, manual seats, manual dim mirror, and no SiriusXM. The $2k+ cut from the ’17 base had to come from somewhere.

        Reply
  3. Malibu Premier offers front parking sensors and automatic parking assist – two things oddly omitted from the Regal even on the Essence trim. I noticed the GS will have it… come on GM, stop making us get the biggest engine to get the best tech!

    Reply
  4. Maybe this will encourage Chevrolet to follow Buick so consumers can order a strip down Malibu with the 252 hp LTG 2.0L DOHC-4v 4-cyl turbo or a Cruze customer to order a diesel without too many bells and whistles especially as this was what people of yesteryear loved about Chevrolet.

    Reply
    1. Unfortunately that old GM you and I loved is dead. They went broke for a reason, and it was catering to people like us. Face it, they are just another car company just like Toyota and Honda and Ford. The days of searching dealer lots for the one car that didn’t have power windows is long dead, along with the Old GM.

      That doesn’t mean I won’t be buying a GM next time around, I just have to accept there are things I’m not going to get, because I’m not paying for all the nanny state gizmos.

      Reply
      1. The way of doing buisness is just different today. GM just did not change with the market and paid the price.

        As it is the economics of scale today render it cheaper and more profitable to add things like tilt wheel and power windows to all the cars vs keepin manual windows just for a handful of buyers.

        I had to be head of the F body program point out to us that these options on all models make it cheaper to build, easier to sell, cheaper to stock parts, less expensive to engineer and better to make a profit.

        Today it is a matter of survival and automakers just can’t operate as they once did. The automotive landscape has totally changed and those who adapt live and those who do not merge or fade away.

        While we may have some of the best engineered cars today we also have lost much of what we once had. Like life you have to take gen good and the bad.

        Reply
    2. I remember those days whe you could just about any vehicle equipped just about any way you wanted it. Perhaps GM need to abandon the profit at all cost mentality and give the people more choices. They may not make as much profit per vehicle ( a point they love to brag about) but I think they will make up for that by the increase volume of vehicles sold. An example if I wanted heated seat on one of their less expensive vehicles they make me upgrade to a more expensive vehicle that cost thousands more. Even then when I want certain additional equipment that usually comes with a package that makes the price much more expensive.

      Reply
  5. Options are where the profits are. If they had to live on selling decontented cars they would go broke.

    With that said I do suspect that some new marketing may be employed to deal with the expected slow down in the market.

    We may see the 2.0 show up in the LT yet. In the 08 you could alacart tne LTZ on a LT 2. I have the V6 and 18″ wheels that are just a little different.

    To under cut the others this could be a new strategy.

    Reply
  6. Chevy Malibu LT is available with the 2.0 turbo. We have one.

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    1. Except for 2017 they don’t have the 3LT option

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  7. Old school–not interested in 4-banger motors in mid-size cars–even the 2018 Subaru Legacy mid-size can be had with a six cylinder–as is the 2018 Toyota Camry with a 301 hp six.

    Reply
    1. Old school is diminishing into nothing, and even at their peak could only account for a small percentage of total sales. They simply don’t matter or carry enough weight to dictate market activity as they like to think they do.

      A Camry can be had with a V6, but Toyota knows many 4-pot models have to be sold to offset the increased costs of the 6-pot. HP isn’t the selling point you think it is.

      Reply
  8. Are we running out of new stuff? This is a repeat from July.

    Reply

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