The slow death of the American sedan continues with the Malibu. It's one of the few Chevy cars still on sale, but according to the latest reports, 2023 will be its final year.
GM Authority says it has insider information on the death of the Malibu, which will likely be dropped from the lineup after the 2023 model year. Previously, the car was supposed to survive until 2025 through a second update.
It's being reported that the pandemic and economic slowdown prompted GM bosses to take fresh cost-cutting action. But even before that, the Malibu's days were numbered. For 2019, it only managed to sell 131,917 of these sedans, down from 227,881 in 2016. That's somehow even less than the Ford Fusion.
Right now, the mid-sized sedan is dominated by two Japanese cars, the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord. But they too are expected to see sales declines in 2020.
We think GM's cookie-cutter approach to making and selling cars is to blame here. Simply put, the Camry and Accord have things that make them cool. While the Malibu is rarely kept in stock or aggressively advertised, you a weather-conquering AWD system being added to the Camry, for example.
If we roll the clock back to April 2015, when the Malibu was revealed at the New York Auto Show, we find a sedan that seemed quite impressive at first. The wheelbase has been extended by four inches and the car is almost 300 lbs lighter. But under the hood was only a 1.5-liter turbo engine making 160 horsepower. Optionally, you could also have a 2-liter turbo making 250 horsepower. Despite promising 48mpg in the city, the Malibu Hybrid was such a slow seller that it got discontinued last year.
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