Refreshed Chevrolet Malibu Expected To Bow This Year

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• The two best selling sedans are the Camry & Accord which both have active safety features including ACC standard even on the base trims...The Malibu has the L, LS, LT, Hybrid and the Premier, only way to get active safety is from the Premier, which doesn't make any sense if GM wants to be competitive...Hopefully they will add some safety features to base trims in for 2019...

  • "The Malibu has the L, LS, LT, Hybrid and the Premier"

    Gee... do they have enough trims for this thing? The first thing I'd do is reduce a poorly selling car to three times: standard, premier, hybrid. And the standard would offer competitive features.

    If GM wants to offer choice offer more colors.

  • Its not that they have too many trim levels look at toyota camry with its trims they have the l le xle se xse. It sells just fine, they just need to be more competitive with what they have.

    I mean the base malibu has a 6 spd auto. The camry and accord have the 8 spd and 10 spd respectively. The least they can do is fit the 8 spd to the base engine. Granted I would prefer the 9 spd overall. But the least they could do is make the 8 spd standard. Both transmissions will increase the acceleration for the base car. Heck just adding the 9 spd to the 2.0t malibu increased the acceleration time to 60 by a .5 sec and the quarter by .4 secs to be competitive to both the camrys and accords acceleration. At least accoding to motor trend all three have similar acceleration times.

    I do agree with everyone else. The fit/finish, pricing, an increase in standard equipment and preferably a little more power to both engines. But if the 9 spd has the same effect on the base 1.5t as it did on the 2.0t then the base engine shouldn't need an increase in power.

    I can kind of understand where gm is going with the malibu by not offering more standard equipment to the malibu. Its the lightest mid size car in the segment with the base being a little under 3100 lbs and the malibu premier starting out at a little under 3300 lbs. But at the same time most if not all the trim levels are not up to par with most of the segment.

    Its saddening, I like the malibu design but at the same time new regal sportback has the same engine and transmission combo at a more compelling price with the added comfort of having more cargo room.

• In order to stall the decline of sedan sales, there are a few things that I would want to see on a Malibu refresh.

  First, more standard safety tech. More and more brands are making features like pedestrian braking and lane change alert standard. GM currently packages such features in a way that requires buyers to step up to higher trims and options. Many auto journalists have been calling GM’s recent vehicles out on this (the new Regal and Traverse). A few of the basic features should be standard on the refresh to promote increased safety and better compete.

  Second, and this is small, LED headlights. A top of the line Malibu only offers halogen projectors. The competitions is all going LED. Stop cheaping out GM. I feel that GM is one of the lagging companies when it comes to vehicle lighting.

  Last, AWD. Sedans need increased usability and practicality if they are going to survive. Buyers in harsher climates see great value in SUVs and AWD/4WD, especially in the snow.

  • My guess they will make HID standard on the lower trims with LEDs on the Premier. Just like new 2018 Equinox and Traverse.

  • In some locations auto insurance companies offer a discount on Automatic Emergency Braking for a reason...They can reduce injuries to both the drivers and us; heart attack/stroke/other issues where the driver is no longer in control...GM promised to make it standard by 2022, which I believe is technically MY23...My fear is, Caddy will get it standard in MY21, GMC and Buick MY22 and finally Chevy in MY23...

• They need to quit being so stingy with std and optional equipment for absolute starters. Blind side zone/lane change and rear cross traffic alert and lane keep assist should be std on the cheapest L trim with the LS upgrading to the emergency braking and park assist. As it stands in order to get any of these features you have to move up to the 26K lT trim and then spend $2240 extra for a total of 28335. Nobody should have to spend that much to get features that are offered on competitors 23-24K models. I also wish there was either a more powerful engine option on the cheaper trims or more power for the weak 1.5T that only has a class trailing 160 HP. It sounds like they are attempting to clean up the front and back end and while they are at it change the cheap feeling synthetic cloth on the dash to a nice padded vinyl.

  Those upgrades/changes would go a long way in cleaning up an otherwise competitive car.

• Hopefully chevy won’t take the ford approach and end the Malibu life

  • Rumors are the Impala may die; if that happens perhaps the Malibu will get a little bigger...

    • Not sure if it should or if it's true for the Impala as Toyota just extended the Avalon's life by announcing the next gen at the NAIAS

  • I hope so too. Don't want to see the Malibu go, or for that matter the Fusion even. I think sometimes GM can be its own worst enemy. I agree with the first couple of posters. They could star by trimming the trims and equipping them better.

  • It's ridiculous that media is even talking about killing Fusion. Fusion isn't going anywhere. It's their best selling car. It would be like killing Camry or Accord. That report is just pain stupid. Fake news. I could see Taurus go because it's struggling even more than Impala, but Fusion? Nope.

    • But they even say they cancel the redesign

• other than automatic emergency braking, active safety features are downright annoying! awd is a nice option but not needed if you know how to drive. front wheel drive works just fine in the snowy region I drive in.

  • Agreed on all wheel drive, but there are many out there that don't. I have heard many people that have either switched to a crossover, or plan to say that they "need all wheel drive"

• 2 of the GM Vehicles on my short list...and a GM vehicle is no longer a foregone conclusion for me...are the Cruze Diesel Hatchback (Manual only though, so I can have fun and get great mpg) and the Buick Regal Sportback (The GS looks the most fun, if I'm willing to spend the $$) ..... now the diesel might end up in the Malibu? Maybe it'll make the list....but it's not a hatch...and very unlikely to be a manual transmission. Can I do a mix and match?

• I think GM is doing a good job of having fresh product on the market or upcoming but the packaging does need to be improved. Can’t get LED DRLs on an ATS without buying a pricey uppe trim, using the same cluster on the XT5 as the ATS and CTS. Under powered Malibu and cheap materials in the lower trims.

  I don’t need all of the safety features but GM does need to make more of them standard instead of options if they wish to keep up with competitors. Perhaps they aren’t doing this because Barra wants to keep her margins high. If I recall correctly she vowed to have a 10% or high profit margin.

• Just make standard security features and give to customers the choice by introducing a break and AWD.
  a SS could be good too.
  For the diesel, why just the 1.6 (less power) and why not the 2.0 as both came from Opel?

• Should we not have seen this updated 2019 Malibu at NAIAS? When are we expected to see any details on this?

  Chevrolet needs to improve the front end styling, improve interior materials, and offer more active safety features as standard equipment.