Review: 2008 Chevrolet Malibu, Discuss

[1X83Z]

Anyways, I have to agree with Doug. This was relegated to rental fleets the second GM decided to call it Malibu. No matter how good the product, no matter how clever the commercials, no matter how much GM refuses to acknowledge it, the Camry and Accord will still outsell it. All GM can hope for is a good launching platform for the next model, which is when GM will be able to actually compete by sales.\

I completely agree, although I believe the vehicle's name is only tangenital to its poor sales. Case in point, Saturn Aura, whose sales have been less than stellar despite YSSMAN's love of it. Why? Because it's a Saturn sedan. Call it L300; call it Aura; hell, call it Jesus - it's still not going to sell based on buyer conceptions of the manufacturer, not necessarily the model.

 

[Tornado]

Don't get me wrong: The Aura and Sky could crap gold and I still wouldn't buy them, simply because they are Saturns. And I am aware of quite a few that share the sentiment.

 

[YSSMAN]

Well, its a hurdle that they have to get over, and they're trying rather hard. The Sky is bringing people into Saturn dealers for the first time in a long time, and thats a good thing. Whether or not they pick up the Aura though, well, thats out of our control.

Its a building process. Positive press all around should make for sales I'd assume, particularly when it is winning awards, but my guess is that we may have to wait until Epsilon II for the real world-beating models to start rolling-out.

 

[YSSMAN]

Some news for those who didn't believe the Malibu would sell:

GM spent $150 million on the ad campaign for the new Malibu. Intriguingly, though -- and after all the work that went into the car, all the hype, all the ads (we dig the one with the jogger running into the car, even though it's not a new Malibu), and all the great reviews -- GM only expected to sell 500 of them in November, the car's first full retail month. That's right: GM sent 3,500 of them to dealers. And they only expected 500 of them to get off the lot, down the road burning gas.

Well, as George W. Bush said, GM "misunderestimated." GM's on track to sell nearly the entire allotment, with 3,000 cars looking to be on the move. Lutz said dealers don't have any because they keep selling out of them. The same phenomenon is being reported for the Buick Enclave. which is not only exceeding sales expectations, but swiping the expected younger buyers from the Saturn Outlook. Hey Mr. Lutz: that's because the Enclave looks curvy and cool, and the Saturn, uh, doesn't.

In a Wall Street Journal article about the perception gap between American cars and imports, GM chief Rick Wagoner said "Building a better car and assuming people will buy it doesn't work." To you, Mr. Wagoner, we would like to present the Malibu and Enclave as Exhibits A and B, and retort: wanna bet? If they prove to be as reliable as we know you can make them, then you shouldn't have any problem selling them. Now, get us a Camaro that looks like the concept, a CTS Coupe, a hot Solstice coupe, and a Volt by 2010, and you might be able to shift your concerns to building inventory as opposed to moving it.

What? An American car that drives well, looks good, and actually sells? Did I just fall into a wormhole and go back 40 years?

First we convince folks that the Aura is a good car, then we make moves with the Enclave. The Fusion and MKZ get top-marks in quality and satisfaction, besting even the Japanese. Then we get around to beating or matching the Europeans with our sports cars, all while bringing it back to the family sedan. Oh, and not to mention the COTY award, presumable 10-Best winnings, and a few other awards for the Two-Mode Hybrid trucks.

Its a good time being an American car guy. Well, unless you like Chrysler. But, generally, a good time...

 

[1X83Z]

They sent 3,500 to dealers but only expected to sell 500? What a joke. Publicly they only expected 500 sales, but they were privately hoping for 3,000 or more - this kind of underestimating so you can look good on paper is well documented in this industry.

For the record I'm still yet to see a new Malibu, though I'm heading to the airport later today, so I'll check the rental lots.

 

[YSSMAN]

Lets think about it this way; The way you had written about the Malibu, would you have made the effort to place that many cars on dealer lots if they "weren't going to sell" by comparison to others?

Cautious releases are nothing new, its what they did with all of the Lambada crossovers and the Kappa sports cars as well. Metering response is something that must be done, and while I'm sure that they will be more than willing to meet the demands of those who wish to buy one, I would hope they keep the Fairfax and Lake Orion plants on a controlled construction process. We don't need another Chrysler situation on our hands...

You want ten Sebrings? How about 100? We'll keep 'em in Detroit until you need 'em...

Its a good sign for a positive future, GM just needs to handle the sales in the proper way. Hopefully they've finally learned how to do it with the success of the Enclave and Sky.

 

[V1P3R]

When you have a previous model that was uglier than poo it's pretty easy to top you're sales on the new model. xD

 

[Jim Prower]

and I've not seen one on the commute. yet.

Why does everything that's flagging sell well around here and everything that's selling well not sell around here? (The primary exception being trucks and anything made by Toyota Motor Company) There shouldn't be as many Sebrings as there are, If the Sebring's selling poorly...

on the flipside, it's nice to see G.M. put out a competitive car in yet another category. I'd say something like "Lutz is the new Iacocca," but I'm pretty sure I'd be disproven pretty quickly. I can only hope that people really give it a look against the Camry and Accord

 

[1X83Z]

Lets think about it this way; The way you had written about the Malibu, would you have made the effort to place that many cars on dealer lots if they "weren't going to sell" by comparison to others?

You're agreeing with me. They placed them on the lots knowing they would sell - their bull**** "we only expected 500 to sell" was just a line. They actually expected them ALL to sell.

By the way, I found out the real reason why Chevrolet "exceeded their sales target." I saw my first new Malibu tonight:

I almost died laughing when I saw the Budget license plate. Welcome to fleet sales again, Chevrolet. What a piece of ****.

And by the way, the styling on this one was considerably more bland than the last one.

 

[a6m5]

That's right: GM sent 3,500 of them to dealers. And they only expected 500 of them to get off the lot, down the road burning gas.

Well, as George W. Bush said, GM "misunderestimated."

I sense a little sarcasm in here. Does Doug write for this site?

As for stance on Chevy, Toyota, or Malibu, I'm kinda in the middle. I don't think Toyotas and Chevys are bad, but I don't think they are some kind of miracles either. I wouldn't mind Malibus or Camrys, personally. Great looking sedans.

 

[YSSMAN]

I almost died laughing when I saw the Budget license plate. Welcome to fleet sales again, Chevrolet. What a piece of ****.

Take one out for a spin and give it a good look, you may actually find that its a nice car. Its a shocker, I know, that GM in fact CAN build nice cars when they put their mind to it.

Fleet sales or not, there are a lot of cars that get put there no matter how good or bad they are. The Ford Fusion comes to mind there, a surprisingly good car from Ford that set them back on their feet. The updated "Taurus" isn't too bad either, and I see rental versions of those quite frequently as well.

Give it a shot Doug, thats all I'm asking.

I may write off some cars because they are Toyota products, but I give them a pretty detailed look-over before I do. Its why I've got fairly solid reasons for not liking the new Camry, but on the opposite side, its also why I was pleasantly surprised by the Scion xD, not being nearly as bad as I had anticipated.

 

[1X83Z]

Give it a shot Doug, thats all I'm asking.

I'm sure it's a nice car. Hell, I liked the last one.

All I'm saying is: the majority of sales will be to fleets, as always. Customers will stay away in droves.

 

[neanderthal]

i betting you're wrong on that one.

im seeing a good number of these on the road in LA. of course i work near burbank airport so they could be rentals but theres a good number of them on los angeles roads already. dealer i talked to only had one in stock and it was already sold.

 

[TopHat]

Doug. The sales numbers given were not fleet sales. When a dealer gets them in they're gone in a very short amount of time. I'm very sure the 3500 cars aren't to fleets.

Doug. Give the thing a shot before you break it's legs.

 

[1X83Z]

dealer i talked to only had one in stock and it was already sold.

What are they - pre-selling Malibus?

Doug. The sales numbers given were not fleet sales. When a dealer gets them in they're gone in a very short amount of time. I'm very sure the 3500 cars aren't to fleets.

Then how do you explain the one I saw? YSSMAN's article claims they sent 3,500 to dealers and sold 3,000. How many of those went to Budget? My guess: 2,500 - to account for the difference between their publicly "projected" number, and their internal "hoping for" number.

 

[Tornado]

I think we are forgetting that not all fleet cars are actually destined for fleet sales. A base I4 Malibu with a manual does about as much for GM's bottom line as a Malibu sold to fleets, but without the promise of sales volume. If the final years of the Taurus were any indication, just because they aren't all sold to fleets doesn't mean they actually make Ford any money. For example, I was seeing dozens of Chrysler Sebring's on the road immediately after they came out. None of them were fleet cars (or at least weren't labeled as such) and only a couple of them were above base model status.

 

[1X83Z]

I think we are forgetting that not all fleet cars are actually destined for fleet sales. A base I4 Malibu with a manual does about as much for GM's bottom line as a Malibu sold to fleets, but without the promise of sales volume. If the final years of the Taurus were any indication, just because they aren't all sold to fleets doesn't mean they actually make Ford any money. For example, I was seeing dozens of Chrysler Sebring's on the road immediately after they came out. None of them were fleet cars (or at least weren't labeled as such) and only a couple of them were above base model status.

I don't understand your point. Fleet sales = rental car sales.

 

[YSSMAN]

Then how do you explain the one I saw? YSSMAN's article claims they sent 3,500 to dealers and sold 3,000. How many of those went to Budget? My guess: 2,500 - to account for the difference between their publicly "projected" number, and their internal "hoping for" number.

Yes, 3,500 models were sent to dealers but GM only expected to sell 500 for the start. Keep in mind that it wasn't "officially" on sale until the second week of November, and even then, the car didn't even show up at every dealer (in many cases) until last week.

Like Neanderthal said, they're sold-out in LA. We're pretty much sold-out here in Grand Rapids too. I'd venture a guess and say that its the same in Denver and Atlanta as well. I was really surprised that we had three on the lot (at Berger Chevrolet, the largest dealer in GR), and last time I drove by they weren't there. There has been a lot of interest in the car (so the salesman said), and thats a good thing. Furthermore, not every dealer in Grand Rapids has seen the car either. I have yet to see one at Kool Chevrolet, which is a pretty popular one in my old North-Side neighborhood. And if Kool doesn't have one, its pretty easy to assume that Good or Classic wouldn't have them either. When Chevrolet actually has to try hard to spread the new cars around, at least in my opinion, thats a good thing.

Here are some official production numbers from GM as seen on the GMI Forums:

Source: Automotive News Data Center; 11-26-07

Number of 2008 (New Model) Malibu units produced thus far: 11,133.

Malibu production week of 11-19-07
Three production days at Fairfax produced an estimated:

2008 Malibu Classic*: 442
2008 Malibu: 1319

Scheduled production week of 11-26-07:
Six production days are scheduled.

Estimated output:
2008 Malibu Classic*: 884
2008 Malibu: 2638

*Fleet only

So, they're going to have built 4000 Malibus by the end of this week, many of which may have already been spoken for if the waiting lists are indeed as long as some have said they are. While this may in fact be well-short of the Camry, it isn't GM's intention to completely out-sell the Toyota, they already know they can't. However, a good product that gains a foothold in the market is certainly a bonus, and it should presumably get better as the Lake Orion plant begins production of the Malibu as well (I believe Pontiac G6 production is being slowed significantly to do so).

We'll see. Positive press, good finishing positions in comparisons, interesting advertisements, and well-timed releases should make this car do pretty well.

But now that the CTS and Malibu are on the streets, GM needs to focus on getting the launchpad ready for the Pontiac G8 and Saturn Astra. I got something yesterday on FaceSpace for the Saturn, but I haven't heard much from the Pontiac kids in a while other than the product-placement in the 50 Cent video (that Fiddy requested personally).

 

[JCE]

I don't understand your point. Fleet sales = rental car sales.

That isn't always the case. Our dealer's fleet sales deals with alot more than rental agencies. Local and state-wide municipalites, construction companies, individules who buy more than 1 car at a time, and things you'd be surprised at. Hell, a friend of mine bought A car from our fleet sales manager--and he's just a "regula ass person". For companies like GM and Ford (at least locally) the majority of their fleet sales are not rental companies but local municipalities and or construction/contractors.

Oh and YSS, you tell GM to STFU on the Malibu adverts that CLAIM it is a "mid-sized" car. That's BS. Its full-size.

 

[YSSMAN]

Oh and YSS, you tell GM to STFU on the Malibu adverts that CLAIM it is a "mid-sized" car. That's BS. Its full-size.

Don't worry, I'm in the same camp!

I kept pushing the idea that the car was replacing the Impala to the salesman and he didn't quite get it... Or, as it seemed, wasn't allowed to talk about it. I guess they "know" that the Impala is probably going RWD, making it the uber-sized car in the lineup, but if the Camry is still "mid-size" and it is the car in which Chevrolet wants to compete with, they're likely going to call it such.

They're all about what, 200 in in length these days? I seem to recall reading that the new Accord isn't too much smaller than the RL/Legend now...

 

[1X83Z]

Yes, 3,500 models were sent to dealers but GM only expected to sell 500 for the start.

No - they claim they expected 500 to sell. They ACTUALLY expected 3,500 to sell - or else they wouldn't have sent them to dealers. In the end, they sold 3,000 - because of fleet sales like the one I saw last night.

For the record, I called every Chevrolet dealer in Atlanta and received the following information:

Bill Heard Chevrolet - 13 (3 LTZ, 3 'FL', 3 LS)
Jim Ellis Chevrolet - 5 (2 ?, 1 LTZ, 1 LT, 1 LS)
Tom Jumper Chevrolet - 1 (LT)
Gwinnett Place Chevrolet - 4 (1 LTZ, 3 LS/LT)

EDIT: one of the dealers just called back offered me a drive in an LTZ. I'm considering actually doing it.

That's 23 2008 Malibus on lots locally. Not exactly sellout material - maybe GM should consider sending them over to Budget. I'm sure someone is at the airport right now and could really use one.

So, they're going to have built 4000 Malibus by the end of this week, many of which may have already been spoken for if the waiting lists are indeed as long as some have said they are.

Waiting lists? Come to Atlanta and take your pick.

PS - if there are "waiting lists," then why does Budget have one already?

EDIT: Happy birthday, by the way, misguided though your GM love may be.

That isn't always the case. Our dealer's fleet sales deals with alot more than rental agencies. Local and state-wide municipalites, construction companies, individules who buy more than 1 car at a time, and things you'd be surprised at.

Regardless, they're profitless - that's my point.

 

[YSSMAN]

EDIT: Happy birthday, by the way, misguided though your GM love may be.

Hey thanks, we'll have to have a couple beers and discuss the merits of GM and other companies some time. At the very least my love for Volkswagen and Porsche should make up for that GM shortfall...

===

Bad news for Malibu haters: It made the Car and Driver 2007 10 Best List.

(same with the CTS and the Corvette, must be GM is doing something right!)

 

[TopHat]

Awesome! :tup:

 

[Tornado]

Regardless, they're profitless - that's my point.

Which is why I brought it up. I wasn't disagreeing. I was saying that the story of non-fleet sales aren't always as good as they seem.

 

[Duke]

The majority of sales of this poorly-engineered heap of garbage WILL be to fleets.

Take it as you will, but this "poorly-engineered heap of garbage" just got elected to C/D's Top 10 list for the year.

No, it doesn't. That's the worst feature in the world. For one thing, it only shifts up. And for two, it doesn't take your shift as a mandate, just as a suggestion. It's so annoying. In these things, you have no idea what it's going to do. It's a completely wasted feature because it was so poorly developed.

Ummm, with all due respect, how do you know how it drives and operates if you don't even know that the downshift paddles are on the back of the steering wheel?

 

[1X83Z]

Ummm, with all due respect, how do you know how it drives and operates if you don't even know that the downshift paddles are on the back of the steering wheel?

It doesn't shift down - that was my point.

Sorry to revive this topic, but I saw my second new Malibu last night...

There you have it. C/D 10 Best? 10 Best rental cars?

 

[Jim Prower]

There you have it. C/D 10 Best? 10 Best rental cars?

I'd hardly call the Porsche Cayman a Rental car. Or the MazdaSpeed 3. or, (God Forbid) the BMW 3-series. You wouldn't call the 3-series a Rental car, right? So, how could they put the Chevrolet Malibu on the same list as the 3-series? and Accord? It must be a good car to keep such lofty company. (and listed with a top-selling competitor, to boot...Not to mention, the highest-seller DIDN'T MAKE THE LIST!!!)

I kind of get the impression that you're either bluffing about your "only" Malibu spots or that Atlanta's horridly Import-biased. (and with as many supercar photographs as I've seen you take, that latter may be the case.) You know, we rented an Accord once, when I was young...Reminded me of dad's then-owned Golf. probably the tweed doorpanels.

 

[TopHat]

Doug, take a look at the amount of Camry's and Sebrings on lots. Then see how many are Malibu's are on the lots.

 

[toyomatt84]

Although the car looks infinitely better than it's predecessor, I still wouldn't say it's "surprisingly good-looking". All the added on chrome trim looks out of place, and it's location on the front grille is emphasizing one of the worst aspects of the car; it's exceedingly stretched nose. The tail lights, again, are a much needed improvement, but are far from what I would consider "good-looking" caliber. The outer lamps don't match the body lines, and the trunk lamps look like an after-thought. Not to mention the trunk is a little high, obstructing visibility from the driver's seat. The interior is much the same, but with an even more annoying issue at hand. The quality as to which the interior is put together, is a tell-tale sign that Chevrolet are still cutting corners in production. Up close, the dash looks sort of cheap, and a quick knock gives you the impression that it's just some thin plastic covered in vinyl. The seats are much more comfortable and form-fitting, but the material makes me nervous. It looks/feels easy to tear, and it's always why I prefer cloth interiors to the faux-leather.

But, all in all, the car is a vast improvement over it's predecessors. I would still take a Camry or Accord over it, though. Especially since the reliability is there, along with more satisfaction that I've bought something that will last.

 

[Duke]

It doesn't shift down - that was my point.

But you see, MY point was that you just looked at a picture and saw that both visible paddles had a + sign on them, and assumed that the car does not shift down, without having driven it or even sat in one.

When the downshift paddles are actually located on the back of the wheel. I say 'apparently' because I haven't sat in one either.