Sunset on Malibu: Another Sedan Headed to Graveyard

by Matthew Guy

Published: May 9th, 2024

sunset on malibu another sedan headed to graveyard

As mentioned yesterday in a story dug up by our Managing Ed, spox at General Motors have confirmed the venerable Malibu isn’t long for this world. But, hey – there’s a new paint shade for 2025.

We know, we know; hold your excitement. According to the brand’s fleet order guide, the 2025 Malibu will be offered in Night Shade Metallic, though a compact spare tire will not be available with an FDR order type which is a reference to Fleet Daily Rental and not a former president of the United States.

This is clearly the type of heady information which keeps the B&B clicking on our website.

Recall the Malibu hasn’t had any meaningful updates since Adam was an oakum picker, powered solely by the 1.5-liter turbocharged engine making 163 horsepower and 184 lb-ft of torque funneled to the earth via a CVT. Even headed into this, its final model year, there are a quartet of trims (LS, RS, 1LT, 2LT) plus an LS for fleet customers which relegates otherwise standard features like the Driver Confidence Package to an options sheet. Guess they figure rental drivers are confident enough already (actually, it’s rear park assist and some other minor tripe which would actually be handy given the abuse some rentals endure).

Back on the shop floor, GM says production of the Malibu will end in November 2024, making way for assembly of the next-gen Chevy Bolt. The little Cadillac XT4 will also be impacted by this change, with production of that model being paused in January 2025 while the place is being prepped for the Bolt. The General is promising the plant will return to an online status later that calendar year, cranking out XT4s and Bolts as it sees fit to meet demand. The facility opened in 1987 to build the Grand Prix and now employs about 2,000 souls.

[Image: Chevrolet/GM]

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#Malibu #Chevrolet #Sedan #2025

Matthew Guy

Matthew buys, sells, fixes, & races cars. As a human index of auto & auction knowledge, he is fond of making money and offering loud opinions.

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2 of 23 comments

Lorenzo on May 12, 2024

Soon, the rental car lots will be filled with Kia's as far as the eye can see!

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Chiefmonkey 6 days ago

It's amazing how stingy automakers have gotten with sedans. The lack of engine options, lack of customizability, lack of sedans period... it is absolutely miserable. I want to go back to 2009 and buy a brand new Camry LE V6 or something of that sort.

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Recent Comments

Varezhka I have still yet to see a Malibu on the road that didn't have a rental sticker. So yeah, GM probably lost money on every one they sold but kept it to boost their CAFE numbers.I'm personally happy that I no longer have to dread being "upgraded" to a Maxima or a Malibu anymore. And thankfully Altima is also on its way out.
Tassos Under incompetent, affirmative action hire Mary Barra, GM has been shooting itself in the foot on a daily basis.Whether the Malibu cancellation has been one of these shootings is NOT obvious at all.GM should be run as a PROFITABLE BUSINESS and NOT as an outfit that satisfies everybody and his mother in law's pet preferences.IF the Malibu was UNPROFITABLE, it SHOULD be canceled.More generally, if its SEGMENT is Unprofitable, and HALF the makers cancel their midsize sedans, not only will it lead to the SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST ones, but the survivors will obviously be more profitable if the LOSERS were kept being produced and the SMALL PIE of midsize sedans would yield slim pickings for every participant.SO NO, I APPROVE of the demise of the unprofitable Malibu, and hope Nissan does the same to the Altima, Hyundai with the SOnata, Mazda with the Mazda 6, and as many others as it takes to make the REMAINING players, like the Excellent, sporty Accord and the Bulletproof Reliable, cheap to maintain CAMRY, more profitable and affordable.
GregLocock Car companies can only really sell cars that people who are new car buyers will pay a profitable price for. As it turns out fewer and fewer new car buyers want sedans. Large sedans can be nice to drive, certainly, but the number of new car buyers (the only ones that matter in this discussion) are prepared to sacrifice steering and handling for more obvious things like passenger and cargo space, or even some attempt at off roading. We know US new car buyers don't really care about handling because they fell for FWD in large cars.
Slavuta Why is everybody sweating? Like sedans? - go buy one. Better - 2. Let CRV/RAV rust on the dealer lot. I have 3 sedans on the driveway. My neighbor - 2. Neighbors on each of our other side - 8 SUVs.
Theflyersfan With sedans, especially, I wonder how many of those sales are to rental fleets. With the exception of the Civic and Accord, there are still rows of sedans mixed in with the RAV4s at every airport rental lot. I doubt the breakdown in sales is publicly published, so who knows... GM isn't out of the sedan business - Cadillac exists and I can't believe I'm typing this but they are actually decent - and I think they are making a huge mistake, especially if there's an extended oil price hike (cough...Iran...cough) and people want smaller and hybrids. But if one is only tied to the quarterly shareholder reports and not trends and the big picture, bad decisions like this get made.