After being officially discontinued as consumer interest continues to shift toward crossovers rather than sedans, the 2025 Chevy Malibu is starting to run low in dealer inventory with only a few thousand units unsold. However, some new vehicles remain, and here, GM Authority is looking at the final Bow Tie sedan’s towing capacity.
Turning first to the 2025 Chevy Malibu powerplant which provides the power needed to haul a trailer, the sedan offers only a single engine option. This is the turbocharged 1.5L I4 LFV gasoline engine that provides maximum output figures of 163 horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque.
The 2025 Chevy Malibu is front-wheel drive only, with cog swaps provided exclusively by a continuously variable automatic transmission.
The axle ratio for the 2025 Malibu is the same – 5.10 – across all four trim levels, including the LS, RS, 1LT and 2LT.
Now that we’ve gotten a look at the basics, here are the details of the exact towing figures for all variants of the 2025 Chevy Malibu:
2025 Chevy Malibu Towing Capacities
| Model | Drivetrain | Turbo 1.5L I4 LFV | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Axle Ratio | Max Trailer Weight (lbs / kg) | ||
| LS | FWD | 5.10 | 1,000 / 454 |
| RS | FWD | 5.10 | 1,000 / 454 |
| 1LT | FWD | 5.10 | 1,000 / 454 |
| 2LT | FWD | 5.10 | 1,000 / 454 |
As can be seen from the foregoing table, the 2025 Chevy Malibu has only a single towing capacity for all configurations. This is 1,000 pounds or 454 kilograms maximum trailer weight, with no trailering packages available.
General Motors has a set of towing recommendations that apply to the Malibu as well as other models. First of all, a new 2025 Malibu should be driven without any kind of towing for the first 500 miles, followed up by its first oil change. Thereafter, the first 500 miles of towing should be carried out while avoiding full-throttle starts and at 50 mph or less.
GM also recommends that the following ADAS or advanced driver automotive safety features should be deactivated while towing, assuming they are equipped on the sedan:
- Park Assist
- Automatic Parking Assist
- Reverse Automatic Braking
- Rear Cross Traffic Alert
- Rear Cross Traffic Braking
- Lane Change Alert
- Adaptive Cruise Control
The 2025 Chevy Malibu, like other ninth-generation model years of the nameplate, uses the GM E2 platform for structure under the body panels. Production, which has now ended, took place at the GM Fairfax plant in Kansas City.
Comments
Very few sedans have a tow rating worth publishing.
and this isn’t the exception 😅
Needs the 3.0L diesel to stay competitive.
Needs to be an EV to be competitive
What difference does it make? Just another well selling ICE sedan that gm has killed to give up more market share. See them very often in my son’s college town and not rentals. There is still a place for an economical entry level that might lead to brand loyalty in future purchases if a good product.
GM has said they plan a family of Bolt EVs, hopefully that includes an affordable sedan option.
GM can be very short sighted. No more sedan production, even when its a winner. Selling MagnaQuench Division, the developer and manufacturer of the worlds most powerful magnets. Those magnets enable incredibly small motors to produce amazing horsepower.
Why is this worthy of an article? My former friend, The Swindling Swede, had a 2010 Honda Accord with a 4 cylinder engine that only had a 1000 pound towing capacity.
Remember towing if one. Stopping is another.
I had a 2016 Malibu with the LTG 2.0 turbo, 250hp. GM later dropped the option in favor of the 1.5 turbo, 163hp with the CVT as the only drivetrain. Making a sizable difference in performance, while competitors continued to offer more engine choices. Ironically the KC plant built the Cadillac XT4 which used the LSY 2.0 turbo as its only engine choice. The LSY 2.0 replaced the LTG 2.0, so it could have easily been offered in the Malibu with the XT4 9 speed transmission to offer a better engine alternative. The 2.0 turbo has been offered in the previous Equinox and Terrain, which now is currently limited to the weaker 1.5 turbo recently used in the Malibu. Sad to see GM limit the availability of drivetrain options. Which limits towing and performance. I can’t help but think it affected sales with no drivetrain choices. I really enjoyed my 2016 Malibu 2.0 which my son now drives. I later bought a 2022 Malibu 1.5 and sold it after several months of lackluster performance. GM needs to find a better solution to accommodate customers needs, unfortunately for the Malibu it’s too little, too late. GM came with three great cars for 2016, the all new Camaro, Cruze and Malibu. I bought all three that year and enjoyed really them. Now they’ve all vanished, by 2021 they all should have been replaced with the next generation. But, sadly they were neglected until sales diminished to the point of no return. I guess EV’s became the priority, I hope that eventually works out. The Bolt EV is a great commuter choice, but it can’t replace my Blazer which is in it’s last model year! I don’t want a truck, expensive, bad mpg and too many recalls. My choices are limited, I hope the we haven’t put all of our eggs in one basket.
Let’s begin with pickup trucks. They’re bad ass and we all love them. Problem is most don’t get used for their intended purpose which is to work daily or at least on the weekend towing. So people finance 60-95K trucks and are slowly financially strangled. And the wife or girlfriend drives them to TJ Maxx and the mall. A neighbor lady told me that her husband “down-sized ” from a Suburban to a GMC Sierra Denali and felt it was still too big. Factor in the gas costs. It wasn’t that long ago that sedans (and some two door) passenger cars were the rule. Auto makers emasculated them to the point where they can only carry passengers and a few bags of groceries. I had two Chevy Caprices. Huge interiors, big trunks and the ability to tow. My 73 Caprice with a two barrel 350 towed my trailer with my Vette show car with no problem. A “limited” return of full size American sedans with new Gen V-8s that can get respectable mileage and tow the family camper or boat is a realistic target. But, GM and the others won’t likely build them because they want to make 10-15 K per vehicle and are hell bent on electric.