GM is not happy at all with how the Chevrolet Malibu is performing on the US market, especially since we’re talking about a model redesigned less than three years ago.
Since its redesign for the 2013 model year, Malibu has been losing market share in the midsize car segment. Sales are down 7 percent this year, with the Malibu being the only model to record a decline among the segment’s top eight sellers. Furthermore, in the past two months it was outsold by the Chrysler 200 and Kia Optima, two models that were way behind it in terms of sales in the past.
To try and revive sales, Chevrolet is offering big discounts this month for the Malibu: $3,500 in cash off the car and a $189-per-month, $1,369-down lease. But GM admits this is only a temporary solution and has already started talking openly about the next-generation Malibu.
GM is planning to get the next-generation Malibu to market about a year from now, which would be faster than the usual cycle for GM. The redesigned Cruze, for example, is due out around the same time, but has been launched more than a year earlier.
“We’ve got our act together here on the midsize-car segment,” Mark Reuss, GM’s product development chief, told Automotive News at an investor presentation in October while he showed an image of the next-gen Malibu. He promised the new model would have groundbreaking design but also groundbreaking technology. “When is the last time you saw a midsize car this distinctive and this dramatic from General Motors?” Reuss said.
Another GM exec, global design chief Ed Welburn, said in an interview this month that the next Malibu’s design will “make a significant statement” with “a very passionate design.” That would be a welcome change compared to the current model’s bland looks.
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