GM plans to spend at least $100m to promote the new Chevy Malibu. In hopes of making the model more competitive against Camry and Accord and less of a fleet queen, GM has given the Malibu an Opelized makeover. John Wolkonowicz reckons "This will be the nicest-looking mid-size car out there. It's simple, and it looks capable and looks aggressive." But the Global Insight analyst also warns, "If they think they are going to cannibalize a bunch of sales from Camry and Accord drivers, they are fooling themselves. You're not going to change those people's minds." Bloomberg.com describes the Malibu as "the latest Lutz-inspired model that GM Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner is counting on to help end a seven-year slide in U.S. sales and recover from more than $12 billion in losses in 2005 and 2006." Here's hoping that the Malibu will be more successful in that mission than the last automotive marines sent to storm the beaches: the Chevrolet Silverado, Saturn Aura, and Lambda crossovers (Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia and Saturn Outlook).
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It’s definitely an improvement over the last two generations, but it’s not enough now to overcome the market leaders.
They forget the new Accord arrives in a few months too – that will certainly impact a lot of buying decisions.
What makes GM think Malibu will be anymore succesful than Aura, it’s badge engineered clone?
Forget Accord and Camry, Malibu will be lucky to convince Altima and Sonata oweners.
Didn’t they just re-do the Malibu? Granted the current generation isn’t all that attractive, but isn’t it only 2 years old? GM needs spectacular products to survive, but if they’re face-lifting mediocrity every 2 or three years, it seems as though they are wasting energy.
My wife is a Sonata buyer, and she didn’t even look at any GM products. Literally, our local Hyundai dealer is owned by the people who also have a Saturn store literally next door and paved straight through between the dealers, the Aura cars parked 500′ from the Sonata’s. She got a 2007 Sonata.
Sorry, GM, you spent the last 30 years treating customers like cr*p (oh, let me count the ways) and now you are reaping the whirlwind.
Here’s just a few “gems” (GM’s?)
Vega
Olds diesel V8
Turbohydramtic 200 automatic with pressed steel gears – behind V8’s
Cadillac V8-6-4
Cadillac 4100
W body brakes
And finally, our last GM purchase, a 1997 Cavalier commuter car. Windshield wipers that “didn’t”, brake rotors which warped (and a dealer which refused to do anything but turn them thinner), a funky electronic automatic which started doing mystery noises and a dealer which handed us an $80 bill for turning the brake rotors for the 4th time, before 36,000 miles / 3 years.
That was the last straw. I replaced the parts with non-GM and traded it off, never to darken the door of a GM dealer again. Me and oh, about 30% of the US car buying market (so far).
I haven’t seen the car in person nor obviously driven it, but who knows, this could be the beginning of a new beginning. It will take more than a few years to take significant sales from Honda or Toyota, but over time, its possible. Consider the previous generation Sonata or the Toyota T100. I’m a devoted Honda owner, but its hard to ignore the fact that Detroit is finally starting to build cars that require atleast some consideration.
N85523:
Didn’t they just re-do the Malibu? Granted the current generation isn’t all that attractive, but isn’t it only 2 years old?
The current generation was introduced as a 2004 model, so with the ’07 model it’s in its fourth year.
Things could be turned around, Hyundai showed the way. They produced absolute crap and appeared dead, look at them now.
The only issues are:
1) is the new GM produce better in every way, as has often been promised in the past?
2) does GM have the time and money to stay the course?
There are some very encouraging things coming from GM now (eg: Enclave, Corvette) but the financial clock is ticking.
Frank Williams:
The current generation was introduced as a 2004 model, so with the ‘07 model it’s in its fourth year.
Well I suppoe that shows that I am behind the times. In 2005, I was working part time at a putrid little Hertz franchise and we had new 2005 model 1st gen Malibus labeled only as “Classic”. Must have been fleet specials. When the 2nd generation came in, I suppose they were overdue and seemed new at the time. Things in Laramie go at a slower pace…
It’s very likely that the new Malibu will continue to be sold to fleets, although if GM sells to fleets at a profit, then is that actually bad? Especially if it gives the Toyota/Honda/Nissan driver the chance to sit in a vehicle that they’ve rented… Of course, that’s assuming that this is a very good vehicle. Which, in my opinion, it looks like it will be very good, especially at it’s price point.
If the new Malibu has the dynamics of the Aura then it will be competitive (in a Camry market), however, its the build quality and mechanical reliability that will determine how it is received. If it can deliver on all of these criteria then it may be a turning point for GM cars but it will be a long road back as regaining the trust of consumers will take more than just new sheet metal and a slick ad campaign.
N85523: In 2005, I was working part time at a putrid little Hertz franchise and we had new 2005 model 1st gen Malibus labeled only as “Classic”. Must have been fleet specials. Actually, that was the fourth generation of the Malibu. But you're exactly right. They continued producing the forth gen Malibu under the name "Chevrolet Classic" (although there was nothing "classic" about it) to sell as a fleet-only car. Their hope was to keep the fifth generation from becoming a fleet queen. It didn't work.
Frank,
Yes I know that there were previous generation Malibus before the one introduced in 1997, but I simply can’t put the two on the same plane. Your correction stands, but my ethics will not allow me to give in and say that there is any connection between the old production run and the current production run. In 1997 when I saw the new Malibu, I almost went to a dark place and cried.
You don’t have to look past the last gen Malibu to see why this vehicle faces an uphill battle. Despite the case Ford made for not dropping a long running name, I think this car might have been better off going that route. When I think Malibu all I see is an ugly, ruthlessly beancounted, fleetwhore.
100 million bucks over 200,000 cars (a guess at year 1 production) is 500 bucks a car…and they wonder why there’s a “gap” in value “perception.”
Wouldn’t the money have been better spend to actually improve the car rather than spend millions on an ad campain that only SAYS they have made improvements.
That was the last straw. I replaced the parts with non-GM and traded it off, never to darken the door of a GM dealer again. Me and oh, about 30% of the US car buying market (so far).
I think it is a lot more than 30% probably 50% or more for cars if you don’t include truck/SUV buyers.
I don’t know how they can possible survive with the way they have pissed off so many American’s with past products. I am included in the 30% or more that wont set foot in a GM dealer, except to laugh in there face.
We should start an unscientific survey here to see what percentage of “I wont buy a GM ever again in this lifetime” vs the people who would even consider them for their next purchase. Same survey would be interesting to see for the other 2 clowns also.
Well, if I were forced to buy a 2.X vehicle then it would only be a GM, but that doesn’t mean that I would consider them under current conditions.
On the other hand I would not consider a Ford under any circumstance, and further would strongly lobby even my extended family against them. I’m proud to say that the one warranty gearbox they screwed me out of in 1969 cost them maybe a hundred sales.
I think the Malibu has a much better chance of being a success than the last entries (pickup, Aura, Lambdas) due to the fact that it sits in the vanilla category (sedans) to begin with.
Pickups, the whole Saturn line, and 7-seaters are all niche products. Most pickup buyers today actually need them, especially with rising gas prices. For the lambdas, how many people actually need to seat 7? The number of 3+ child families isn’t what it used to be, as Americans are living longer, cost-of-living is up, and people are more self-absorbed and putting off their 1 (maybe 2) kid families. Saturn was always a niche player, and it has its loyalists. Too bad others can’t see how much they’ve improved within the last year.
But the Malibu sits right next to the lukewarm porridge, along with the Camcordima. No, it won’t steal the diehard Japanese loyalists, but most sedan buyers are not that loyal. They just want a good-looking decently reliable commuter car. This at least gives the new Malibu an in.
What makes me mad is that this isn’t where GM started its turnaround plan, at the mass-market sedan. Instead, it went for a bigger slice of a shrinking pie with the 900s, then it went straight to the niches (Kappas, Lambdas, Saturn) while the bread and butter cars aged badly (W-bodies anyone? DTS/Lucerne twins?) What kind of thinking goes on in the upper echelon at GM? Why did it take this long to finally figure it out?
GM is not going to win over Camry buyers with a “competitive” vehicle. GM’s image for cars is so bad that the buyer of a new one faces the problem of getting weird looks from friends and coworkers. Years ago I had the opportunity to get any new car I wanted at no cost to myself with the only rule being that it had to be a US brand (it was a company car). I picked a Cadillac STS and my friends all looked at me like I had lost my mind. You bought a Cadillac??? When I explained that it was a company car and had to be a US brand they understood. Had I bought a new Mercedes, BMW, Lexus, Infinity, Acura or even a Jaguar there would have been none of that.
That happened in 1996 in Texas. The situation for GM has deteriorated even more since then.
It doesn’t really matter how good the Malibu is or isn’t if all GM is going to do is to try and be competitive. That ship has already sailed. There isn’t a compelling reason for the so often abused former GM customers to give the team another try. Oddly enough, GM has mostly avoided this fate in the truck world, but their car and minivan customer base has been decimated by decades of bad products and bad support.
I think it looks very promising to me.
Can you blame us, it’s a risk I can’t afford to make again, my wallet’s not fat like GM expects it’s customers to be. Remember ”Rich people don’t care about gas prices,” Lutz remarked. I’m not rich so I guess they don’t build cars for me.
Malibu is boring, average, common, and generic. Straight up 100% rental car.
Nobody on this planet can even fake getting excited over a Malibu. Give me one good reason to be excited about a single feature of the Malibu. That car has zero appeal. It has no demographics. It’s a forgotten model. No heritage, and a bad rep. What does it excel at? Can I get 50mpg out of it like I can with a 1998 VW TDI New Beetle with over 100,000 miles on the odometer and reliable? Can I get good 0-60 performance out of the Malibu? Can I get a new Malibu for $9988? Can you make them in China so I can get one for $4,000 and commute to work in it for cheap transportation? Can you make them be electric instead of gas? Anything but what it is.
Hell, even a two door model would be a start! A rear wheel drive, two door with a Vette motor in it for ~$14k-$16k!
Here’s a good one: 2 versions of the hybrid. One that gets extreme mileage above all else. The other with some serious, serious performance. Make it run at least 13’s in the quarter for a start. Whittle down the ET as new models are released.
HELL! You should have made the hybrid a PLUGIN model! First to market, but no, you were scared and the company went bankrupt because no risks were taken. What happened to the glory days and all the action and excitement?
Put GM back on the map. First to market with everything. It’s not to late. Midyear product updates can fix everything. If somethings not selling, change it up! Make it something, someone wants to buy.
Stick a big A123 pack in it and get 1,000 miles from it between recharges.
Is the Malibu finally going to get the GM high-content 3.6 liter V-6? The engine that is used in the high-line Saturn Aura? Anything else that GM puts in their mid-sized cars (the 2.4 liter 4 and the Chevy V-6s) are POS.