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Apparently, this is the next-gen Chevrolet Malibu.
According to GM, the Malibu will shed 300 lbs and gain a 4-inch longer wheelbase – can you say “Chinese market”? The BMW Gran Coupe-like shape might be a bit too radical for buyers on our shores. Maybe they should call it “Malibu Maxx”.
50 Comments on “2016 Chevrolet Malibu Teased...”
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“Maybe they should call it ‘Malibu Maxx’.”
They need to think small and basic to rejuvenate this turd; maybe “Malibu with useable back seat” will generate some initial interest.
The original Maxx had a great back seat. And a good front seat.
Easily one of the best cars for tall folk I’ve ever seen. And the trunk was great. It was the car the Epsilon Saab 9-3 should have been, and I could have forgiven the interior quality and dead-stick steering, but the general unreliability and listless base powertrain were a bridge too far.
My grandmother still has her Malibu Maxx… It is a neat little car, but feels smaller on the inside than I think it should… Much better than her stereotypical grand marquis it replaced…
Just get rid of the stupid camaro tail lights. The previous gen was boring, but clean and boring sells really well…
If this isn’t a hatchback, then that’s going to be one really problematic trunk opening.
See: Chrysler 200.
That silhouette would make a nice (actual) coupe. Put RWD in it and ala the GTO call it a Chevelle.
This thing has a MASSIVE C-pillar, you can see where rear door line is back there if you squint. I hope they put some glass back there to cover some real estate.
Also the gross hood shut line is still in the same place.
LOOK LOOK, THE HOOD OPENS HERE. It says.
I’ve never understood or appreciated they hood/bumper meeting point. I don’t want to reach over a painted surface that close to the engine.
What I’m really curious about is the line where the C pillar and top of the back window meet. What’s going on there?
You know what that is, it’s a tacked-on LED CHMSL like on the Fusion. Ew.
Looks more like one of those shark fin antennas to me.
No no, not that. Between the antenna and the top of the rear glass – in line with the rear glass.
It looks like the C pillar and roof are not joined as one item.
I’m tellin you it’s a flat LED light assembly!
Look, proof!
http://www.autoguide.com/gallery/d/999722-3/2016-2017-chevrolet-malibu-spy-photos-09.jpg
Here’s a better picture of all the new Chevys
https://s3.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/bLdhohTs.5L0wjKMzVk06Q–/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7cT04NTt3PTYzMA–/http://media.zenfs.com/en-US/cms/autos/Boldride/Chevy-Cars.jpg
I hope it is. It is a good car, so the real problem with the back seat is it is not very comfortable. Tell me how many times the back seat is used for adults? I have a 2008 with over 110k and not much to complain about. My co worker has a 2013 and he has had no problems. Not very scientific, but I would buy another.
It does need to lose some weight though.
Fitting adults in the backseat doesn’t worry me much; at 6 feet tall I can “sit behind myself” in most subcompact cars without my knees hitting the seatback.
It’s rear-facing car seats that you have to worry about. They warp the fabric of space the moment they are placed in the backseat of a car, turning your formerly adequate compact or midsizer into a cramped sardine can.
Never really understood the hate on these. They sell pretty sell. I’m not thrilled to see the profile of the 200/Sonata/ etal joining the lineup, but that seems to be the way sedan style is going these days.
FWIW, my father in law has a 2008 LTZ 3.6 with 230K miles on it and has had very few things go wrong with it.
That photo strongly resembles a Cobalt to me. I sure hope the actual car looks a bit more practical!
Did you see that the dress was black and blue.
I don’t see how you can see Cobalt in this unless your craving one.
Zackman, you’re either looking at that picture on an iPhone 4 or you need your eyes checked.
I don’t see how you are getting Cobalt from those lines at all – the Cobalt was relatively short and squat to begin with.
I only have one good eye – that must be it.
I just hope the car won’t come with that start/stop feature. That scares me as to how durable and dependable the system really is.
That is the main reason I would hesitate on buying one, otherwise, I do like the current Malibu and have driven them.
For now, I’ll keep my 2012 Impala.
That 4 inch stretch in wheelbase wont matter if its all in the hood. It all need to be behind the front seat. All of it. The Impala is big enough now where the Malibu can grow and not upset in sales.
Hear hear! Rear seat room is easily the worst aspect of the current Malibu. I’m 5’9″, and sitting in the back seat, my companion moved the driver’s seat back. My legs were jammed deep into the driver’s seat and it still had more travel to go. I was literally wedged in. For a family sedan, that’s simply unacceptable.
I can sit behind the driver’s seat in the full rearward position in my 2012 Accord, and have plenty of head and knee room. This is in a car that is significantly lighter and more efficient than the 2013-15 Malibu.
Another comparison – in my 2002 Focus, a significantly smaller and lighter vehicle, I could sit behind the driver’s seat in the full rear position without issue. There was no extra legroom, but there was ample head room.
It can’t help but be an improvement over the current version.
I was going to say this. No way it’s worse than what they have.
This is one of those rare instances in which even a silly teaser shot can confirm that fact.
If GM can make a decent compact car (the Cruze) then I don’t see why they can’t make a solid midsizer. I know the B&B love to hate on the Malibu (much deserved) but there really isn’t much we can tell from this teaser other than that they are following the coupe-like silhouette trend.
That’s my point in spite of my initial snarky comment.
I have rented a new Malibu a couple of times and I certainly don’t hate it but it’s not real impressive in a class where it needs to be real impressive. What I don’t understand is how the current generation (2013 – forward?) is less appealing than the previous generation. Why would GM go backwards and be happy with “just OK”? (rhetorical question)
GM was pregnant with the present Malibu during the bankruptcy.
If i was to compare it to a person, it would be compared to an alcoholic mother who wasn’t forced to stop heavily consuming Margaritas and Cosmos until she was 7 months pregnant. And the car we have here is the result. A little stunted, a little rough and capable of some crazy things that are done without reason, the turbo 4 top speed being 155mph.
This. I had a rental ‘bu 2008 when it first came out. It was an LTZ model and it was definitely a huge step up from the previous abomination it replaced. (which CJ will not define as me being a fanboi)
I passed up a Ford Taurus in 2011 because my 2008 experience was so awful, and tool a ‘bu instead. This was an LT model. To say it didn’t age well would be an understatement. It was awful – I couldn’t believe it was the same car in 2008. It was uncomfortable, under powered, and just – yeck.
Had another ‘bu rental in 2013 and I too share your view. It isn’t a “bad” car, the touch screen and materials were nice, under the leaders of the class but not like crawling into a 2013 Chrysler 200 where you go, “what the Hell are they thinking,” bad. The power train was everything I read and worse. The back seat (only two of us) I could tell would not be pleasant and would fail the, “I’m 6’ tall so could I sit behind myself,” test miserably.
The 08 – 11 Malibu was a big step up – and there is plenty of stories and reviews to support that, including here at TTAC. It was at its time of release class competitive and got high praise in particular for the interior. It certainly helped that the ’08 Camry was a big step backwards from the previous generation.
The 12 was a big step, what the Hell were they thinking, what they phoned this in, facepalm step backwards for the ‘bu.
We know that car companies have a grand history of finding another rock layer to dig through just when you think they hit bottom – but I think there is not much left to go buy up on the coming updated ‘bu.
I seem to recall a lot of folks insisting upon total Malibu fail during late 2007 when that generation was announced. And you were a GM tool if you said anything to the contrary. The 2013 version was substantial and improved the ‘Bu far more than the 2007 refresh did the 2004 version.
But one meme gets out and the car is condemned forever. Like someone else posted here, the rest of the car functions perfectly well. I guess we were all spoiled after the 2007 version took over the G6’s and Maxx’s 112″ wheelbase, conveniently forgetting the earlier four door versions only ever had the 109″ wheelbase to start.
I really don’t see a lot in this silhouette, other than a faster roof line. Maybe they’ll surprise us and make a Chevy version of the Kia station wagon that’s being photographed in Geneva this week. I could go for another Maxx…
Maybe the Korean Daewoo design team is better at designing a car for American tastes than the German Opel design team? It’s like Opel shortchanged the Malibu length to make it easier to parallel park or some other irrelevant to the US goal.
Where is DW to talk about its Cadillac interior that it will have and how it was made for a 10k car. lol
As bad as it may be, it’s a better value than either the POS, overpriced, pictures that are the ATS or CTS.
If GM wants to lease me a CTS for under $300/month with $0 down, I won’t say a bad word about Cadillac anymore.
Could be a hit, let’s hope they don’t offer e assist and offer the v6 as an option.
I had a 2008 LTZ 3.6 and currently own a 2014 LTZ 2.0 … both excellent cars. I actually enjoy (and enjoyed) it more than the 2006 CTS 3.6 I used to have. I’ve never understood how the “it has a small backseat” tag somehow invalidates everything the car does well. It’s especially a great roadtrip car due to the quiet cabin, comfortable ride and interior.
How do you like the 2.0 in comparison to the 3.6
The 3.6 is a punchy engine in these things, I’d imagine the 2.0 is pretty strong but not quite as nice as the 6?
The 2.0 feels just as smooth and willing as the 3.6 to my foot. The transmission in the 2014 is more aggressive with downshifts which certainly helps, the 2008 had a slight hesitation as if asking “you sure you want to wreck your gas mileage doing this?” The pull to pass maneuver in the 2014 delivers a very satisfying kick, though engine roar aficionados will be severely disappointed as the car puts a premium on quiet composure in all situations. I realize top end is where the 3.6 will shine but I’m not in the habit of clocking the quarter mile with either vehicle.
Acceleration stats of this car suggest the Malibu’s 2.0T does a far better job replacing the 3.5ish V6 than Ford’s 2.0
every time I leave traction off and punch it from a standstill the 2.0 brings a smile to my face and friends question “This is a Malibu?”
fun fact leave stabilitrak on and traction off and accelerate into a turn and a performance shift notification comes on whihc cuts power to the insie wheel more aggressively and over powers the outside making understeer almost completely non-existent. This is only on 2.0T models
I look forward to getting the keys to one at the Hertz counter someday.
From what little is visible from the tease, it does seem to resemble several other cars… and the anthropomorphic front end looks very unhappy about that.
According to GM, the Malibu will shed 300 lbs and gain a 4-inch longer wheelbase – can you say “Chinese market”?
Those sound like great qualities for the North American market as well, especially since the wheelbase gain may only get the backseat legroom up to competitive levels here
The design trend of ridiculously fast rooflines for sedans needs to end. No wonder breadbox CUVs are so popular,you can’t get anything through a trunk opening the shape of a mailslot.
The fastback trend is a result of trying to mimic the silhouette of the gen2 Prius. CUVs will look much the same within a decade.
It’s all about the mpg benefit. But i agree, my 89 camaro was a hatch, the tc is a hatch, and frankly, I can’t see why a person would ever want a trunk over a hatch.
Those damn hips that don’t actually allow interior room, but make the exterior unnecessarily larger, need to die a fast painful death.
Hopefully the new platform will also help remedy the B pillar “pinch point” for taller drivers.
I rented a 2013 Malibu and was surprised how much better it was than my 2009 Malibu. In place of the old ION/Cobalt radio system was a nice modern navigation display. The transmission hunting evident in GM cars from the last decade was gone.
I guess this is further proof there are no longer any bad cars, but different degrees of good cars.
My 14 feels a lot better in the rear space department thanks to the redesigned seats as well as the 2LZ is a hoot on back roads thanks to a competent ride. At least in my highest trim level I prefer the Malibu over the fusion…now only if they offer a manual I’ll be sold otherwise, a regal is in my near future!
If it has four doors, it really should have rear headroom. I personally feel the same way about a two door car with a back seat (BRZ, I am looking at you), but am not going to the mat to argue that.