Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

Chevy Malibu emergency refresh to include roomier rear seats, Impala styling tweaks

The Chevrolet Malibu is failing to sell at the pace General Motors would like, prompting the automaker to make the decision to refresh the midsize sedan just one year after a complete redesign. According to a report from Newsday, the main gripes from consumers center around the car's tepid styling and lack of room in the rear seat.

Naturally, styling is subjective, but the report indicates GM plans to bring the Malibu's styling more inline with its larger Impala sedan, making changes mostly to the front fascia. As far as rear-seat room goes, it's worth noting that the 2013 Malibu actually has less legroom than the old 2012 model; 36.9 inches versus 37.6. Shoulder and hip room, though, increased by two and three inches, respectively, with the redesign.

In any case, without major structural changes, there's no way the Malibu will reach the rear legroom levels set by such large so-called midsize sedans like the Honda Accord (38.5 inches) or Volkswagen Passat (39.1) due to the fact that it's sized to be a global car and not one specifically for the US market. And, considering the impending existence of the 2014 Impala, we don't expect any major structural changes to affect the Malibu's interior offerings.

It's somewhat unusual for an automaker to make such significant changes to a car after only one year of production. But with all of the hype surrounding the emergency refresh of the 2013 Honda Civic, this sort of thing could become more common moving forward.

http://www.autoblog.com/2013/01/18/c...rear-seats-im/

Joeb427

iTrader: (1)

The front design on the Malibu and some other Chevy models is awful.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

To Chevy's and Honda's credit at least they're doing something and not just letting the cars wait until a full redesign. People know what they want and consumer demand really does dictate now what these cars need. That said, automakers can no longer produce crap and they know if they want to survive they need to step up their game. Sounds like a win for us the consumer!

Outrage

I have recently spent some time shopping in the mid-sized sedan market. I thought the Malibu was a pretty solid vehicle in the category. I felt its interior is among the nicest available. It's certainly nicer than the Altima's or Camry's interiors. It bests the Accord's interior in attractiveness and ergonomics, and I think the quality of the plastics are just as good or better. I'll agree the rear seat was small; the new, reduced-wheelbase, Accord suffers a similar issue.

The Malibu (in LTZ trim) doesn't look too bad in my eyes. It's got the rather ostentatious "Chevrolet" front end but otherwise it's no worse than anything else in the class with the exception of the Korean vehicles. I found the new Accord, in person, to be one of the most generically-styled (dull) vehicles to come out in some time. The Altima looks as though it came from a cartoon. I do like the new Impala, however, so aligning the styling with that vehicle is likely to be an improvement.

The Malibu LTZ 2LZ (2.0 liter turbo) model I drove had decent dynamics for a FWD mid-sized sedan. I didn't feel any of the vehicles I drove in the segment were sport sedans.

I think the Malibu has suffered due to its nameplate. I almost skipped the Chevrolet dealer since I figured the Malibu couldn't possibly be class-competitive.

mmarshall

The previous-generation Malibu did not suffer at all. It was, IMO, one of the most impressive products that GM had done in years (even decades), and ran up some good sales numbers. Its twin, the Saturn Aura, didn't do quite as well, partly because the Saturn network itself was much smaller, and partly because the Aura's interior, though nice, wasn't quite up to the Malibus's. For example (among other things), the Malibu had nice eye-soothing light-blue instrument-lights, while the Aura used a wired looking yellow/orange lighting.

Outrage

I still picture this one in my head:



Or this...

Joeb427

iTrader: (1)

Motor Trend review.
Dead last of six mid size sedans. "unusable at its most basic function..."


http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/...n/viewall.html

mat305

barf, ugliest car ever.

clriebari

I almost skipped the Chevrolet dealer since I figured the Malibu couldn't possibly be class-competitive.

mmarshall

This is the previous-generation Malibu version I was speaking about, which followed the two versions you posted. It was, IMO, arguably the best new GM car I had (then) seen in decades. It got good reviews, satisfied a lot of customers, and was quite successful. In fact, I considered buying one myself.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

Compared to other competitors of this year, I still found the ride/handling a little ho-hum, but this Malibu was light years better than what it replaced. Also somewhat handsome looking in the above picture.