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Chevy Malibu Running At 49 Days Supply In February

Inventory levels of the Chevy Malibu across the U.S. rose slightly in the beginning of February 2023, sources close to the matter tell GM Authority.

7,424 units of the Chevy Malibu were on the ground at dealerships as of early February, with an additional 1,000 examples of the midsize sedan on their way to dealers across the U.S. This gives the Malibu a 49 days supply, meaning there is sufficient Malibu inventory for 49 days at the current sales pace. As context, a 60 days supply was considered normal prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chevy Malibu sedan

Chevy Malibu inventory levels have been improving as of late. Back in December 2022, the Malibu had a 32 days supply with 7,829 units on the ground and about 2,900 units in transit as of December 1st. Then, in January 2023, the Bow Tie sedan ran at a 47 days supply with 8,751 units on the ground and 3,138 units in transit.

As a reminder, the Chevy Malibu is the brand’s third best-selling nameplate in the U.S., coming in behind the Chevy Silverado and Chevy Equinox in first and second, respectively. In fact, during the 2022 calendar year, Malibu sales rose almost 200 percent to 115,467 units, which outpaced Chevy’s overall average growth rate of six percent for the year.

Sales Results - Q4 2022 - USA - Chevrolet

MODELQ4 2022 / Q4 2021Q4 2022Q4 2021YTD 2022 / YTD 2021 YTD 2022YTD 2021
BLAZER-16.79% 16,63119,986-4.38%67,246 70,325
BOLT EUV+140,249.44% 11,2428+883.34%27,091 2,755
BOLT EV+28,506.70% 4,86617-50.03%11,029 22,073
CAMARO-19.59% 5,4756,809+12.60%24,652 21,893
COLORADO-3.97% 20,60221,453+22.17%89,197 73,008
CORVETTE+10.09% 9,1308,293+4.45%34,510 33,041
EQUINOX+242.98% 48,74814,213+28.28%212,072 165,323
EXPRESS+110.66% 16,3607,766+19.24%52,888 44,355
LOW CAB FORWARD+1.19% 1,5321,514+1.93%5,764 5,655
MALIBU+393.95% 35,6687,221+193.24%115,467 39,376
SILVERADO+23.00% 141,912115,376-1.23%523,249 529,765
SPARK+126.17% 3,2841,452-43.95%13,710 24,459
SUBURBAN+14.35% 16,04514,031+5.68%50,951 48,214
TAHOE+0.78% 31,12330,882-0.26%105,756 106,030
TRAILBLAZER+16.56% 18,95616,263-32.47%60,888 90,161
TRAVERSE+23.67% 27,27122,052-16.59%96,965 116,250
TRAX+267.21% 4,7151,284-37.55%26,597 42,590
CHEVROLET TOTAL+43.28% 413,560288,647+5.59%1,518,048 1,437,677

As far as the current 2023 Chevy Malibu is concerned, the Bow Tie sedan is only offered with one drivetrain configuration. This includes the turbocharged 1.5L I4 LFV gasoline engine, rated at 163 horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque, mated to a continuously variable automatic transmission. Previously, the Malibu lineup featured an additional engine option, the turbocharged 2.0L I4 LTG, rated at 250 horsepower and 260 pound-feet of torque, matched to the GM nine-speed automatic transmission. Unfortunately, that powertrain combination was dropped as the Premier trim level was replaced with the 2LT.

Under the body panels, the 2023 Malibu rides on the GM E2 platform, while production began back on September 7th, 2022 at the GM Fairfax plant in Kansas City.

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Comments

  1. Why is a 60 day supply considered optimal? Thanks!

    Reply
    1. Felix: Although I’ve been in the auto business for many years, I will admit that I don’t really have the factual answer for you. However, since nobody has answered your question, I will try to give the best I can.

      In this business, you don’t want to have too many or too few cars sitting due to floor plan costs (sitting too long). Yet if you don’t have enough cars to show and/or draw customers in, that’s not good either. This 60 day supply thing is based on average sales for vehicles overall where they have enough to sell without having too many just sitting. Remember, under normal times, there’s a 60 to 90 day window in getting a car once ordered. So you can’t just have a car in one or two days, but then there’s the dealer trade side where dealers can trade cars back and forth based on what they need.

      Hope that helps some, although I’m not sure I explained it very well.

      Reply
  2. In my opinion the 2.0 is incredibly inefficient for the power it makes andd requiring 93 octane. It’s zippy enough for morning commutes and merging but honestly I don’t think the power is that great. 40k miles averaging 21 in city, sub 30s on highway and my highest was 31 in interstate

    Reply
  3. That blue Malibu in the photo is a very nice color. I don’t think they even offer that paint anymore.

    Reply
    1. Northsky Blue Metallic was the color. Yes, a beautiful shade and for 2023, the blue is terrible, looks like a cake mixer. Now there are seven colors, not one makes the mark.

      Reply
  4. That’s some pretty good sales numbers for the Malibu, and I think it shows there’s a still a demand for GM sedans. I hope GM creates a really impressive design for the Malibu’s exterior in the next generation; I know looks are subjective, but I think the current Malibu’s exterior looks too round and soft.

    Reply
    1. Bring back the Impala including the Premier. Or at least have the Malibu with a better engine and a real automatic.

      Reply

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