Rendered: 2012 Chevrolet Malibu

You're kidding right? September Fools' joke?

The only things remotely accurate are the taillamps. The rest is verbatim GMDAT.

Looks like an Aveo. If this is how it ends up looking, they definitely took a good looking car and made it ugly.

Ace rendering specialist, lol. I'm glad somebody still has a sense of humor.

I do believe they've now fully ruined what should be their bread and butter. Grill and tail lights are far too awkward. How is it possible that design is so difficult for Detroit? Maybe they should send their designers over to Hyundai or Ford Europe for some direction. Hell, even Honda would be a step in the right direction, and they are the definition of yawn. At least they got rid of the chrome license plate surround and stick-on rear fender reflectors, so they got that going for them…
GM IPO?...I'll pass...

Front end looks fine....the rear end? Not so much. Dump the chrome surrounds and merge the stop lamp with the turn signal.

Why?

I hate everything about this, ohgod D:

Chevy Fs it up, if this is anything close to the real thing. Looks like a Camry did it with a Camaro, and got Uncle Subaru Legacy's face w/ a bowtie added.

ohgod.

this isn't a malibu at all. It's an epica with a body kit.

http://www.mundoautomotor.com.ar/web/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/chevrolet_epica_01.JPG

THOSE RIMS ARE CARRYOVER FROM 2003ish.

seriously.

Yea, not liking it. I wanna see something more handsome/pretty, that car doesn't even have a definitive personality. It looks like its wearing a huge welders mask or something, I can't see a face, or body, all I see is anonymity. I don't hold GM as responsible, as society in general. America has low self esteem, the car doesn't even have a color.

Hahaha
Did a 5 year old make this?

This is horrible.
GM is going bankrupt again, even with government money.

the bak looks good but the front end...... omg just no no no no no!!!! and those arent "slight" exterior changes at all :/ im not so sure about this.......

the front end of the patent pics looks a BILLION TIMES BETTER than this rendering so if u put the patent pics front end it would look great

Talk about ugly. The rear end has potential but the front nose won't cut it. Then again, those who buy American won't care anyway, even if its an Aveo.

Yeah right, an Epica with Camaro tail lights? What's the point of making stuff like this up??

That's pretty creative. I mean it must have taken some really painstaking effort to download a picture of a Korean-made Chevrolet Epica and graft some fog lights and Camaro taillights on it.

Back to the usual chevy rental car look...

You should be ashamed of yourself Edmunds Inside Line, for posting something so far off the mark.

A camaro and a BMW got together and yielded the back end of this one. I'm not much of a sedan fan anyway. My next car might be an Aveo RS...

Another reason to never consider buying a Malibu. That is so GM. That's as bland as the Jetta redesign. Definitely destined for rental car fleets.

Ah come on GM, you took a pretty nice design and did this? Seriously? The front looks like an overgrown Aveo and the back looks like a bad merger between a Malibu and a Camaro done by some high school kids in Shop Class because they thought it would look "kick ass".............Already starting to look for USED Malibus.....even the Malibu Maxx looks better than this....shame on you Chevy, you deserve to be beaten....maybe if someone beat you in the head bad enough, you will regain your eyesight or at least you senses..........just when I thought GM, Chevy particularly, was on comeback....now this..the 2011 Chevy Citation!

Ah come on GM, you took a pretty nice design and did this? Seriously? The front looks like an overgrown Aveo and the back looks like a bad merger between a Malibu and a Camaro done by some high school kids in Shop Class because they thought it would look "kick ass"..Already starting to look for USED Malibus.....even the Malibu Maxx looks better than this....shame on you Chevy, you deserve to be beaten....maybe if someone beat you in the head bad enough, you will regain your eyesight or at least you senses,just when I thought GM, Chevy particularly, was on comeback, now this? the 2011 Chevy Citation!

I hope those renderings aren't accurate. The front looks terrible. Actually looks worse than the current car. Looks incredibly cheap.

If this is how it ends up looking, they definitely took a good looking car and made it ugly. Could not agree more!

It is a rendering people, it is only speculation. But if this is how it looks, I will not be trading my current 2008 Malibu on the new one. But the that front end is way too awkward and isn't proportional to the spy pics I have seen. I think the actuall design will look much better. Plus GM would never use wheels like that, those wheels alone are enough to make me not want it.

But let me repeat....

IT IS A RENDERING!!!! NOT THE REAL THING!!!!!

Talk about a step backwards...I hope this rendering is NOT the new car! The current car has a smooth character and strong, simple presence to it. This would be a big disappointment if it looks anything like the new car.

Yep, it is just a rendering. A rendering of a Toyota Camry with a Chevy grill and Camaro taillights. No joke. Compare roof line, trunk line, character line along the rocker panel, etc. Just a Camry in Chevy photoshopped guise.

Not much to get the undies in a wad about.

This aint the real car folks. Why are people reacting like its a pic from GM? This is a (poor) rendering based on models wearing tape and camo and thus IL is basicall guessing. The rendering looks unfinished which of course makes the car unfinished.

"From what we can see, the next Malibu won't be a full redesign, just a heavy update of the current car. Nothing revolutionary, just some slight exterior changes along with a new interior and updated features."

This is flat out UNTRUE and yet IL keeps posting this. EVERY auto publication knows the next car is on a NEW platform and will be totally new. It is not a "refresh" like the Fusion. The car moves to the same platform as the Regal and this has widely been reported, its a known fact at this point so I have no idea how IL is under the impression that is a "refresh". Stop posting blatantly inaccurate information.

"Ah come on GM, you took a pretty nice design and did this? Seriously"

This is a GM picture? seriously? Wow, I thought it was rendered speculation.

Dear GM,
This is the ugliest car I have seen since that last generation of Malibu. Camaro taillights don't make this car cool, they make is stupid. You need to get rid of whoever designed this thing if indeed the rendering is accurate. In the meantime I will head over to Ford if I decide to buy an American car. At least their Fusion doesn't make me want to pour bleach into my eyes.

Sincerely,
Average American car buyer

Oh no, GM! I thought you were on a roll! This is a major step back in design for you guys, if this is accurate. How can you make a huge leap ahead (the current Malibu still looks classy and athletic) to this uglier Impala-looking thing. I'd rather see another straight-from-Europe design than this thing.

I like Edmunds.com, I really do. It's a cheap and convenient catharsis for my automobile obsession. However, I cannot understand why any effort is wasted on speculative renderings... unless auto makers have resorted to using this website and others like it to conduct consumer design testing. Is there nothing real to discuss and display? Please Edmunds, stop this silliness or tell us what's up so we can comment knowing that someone somewhere may actually be using our feedback to mold their product design.

All of this "rendered speculation" crap has got to end. Edmunds isn't the only website guilty of this, but since this site probably sees the most traffic this is worth posting here. Look, we get it that you have to keep the site new and fresh and keep those web clicks coming. But posting sensational headlines all the time with "such and such vehicle rendered!" really takes away from your credibility. Yes, we get it that you're trying to get a leg up on the other guys, hoping your images will be the first ones out there that are accurate, but all of these renderings ARE just speculation, and in most cases, are wrong anyway. I mean really, Camaro tail lights? That's the best you could come up with?

Just imagine if every news outlet did this. "So and so could be murdered tomorrow. Here's what it might look like if it happens. Click here!" "What are our guesses for the next presidency? Here are our predictions." "What will the new Playstation 7 look like? Click here for our guess!"

Sheesh.

Craptastic! The current car looks better.

I get a chuckle out of all the morons on here who think this is a picture of the actual car. Does nobody understand what RENDERING means? Really?!?!

The rear looks about right, according to the patent drawings, but the rest needs a more creative "artist" to do it again. What's up with that Euro-spec plate on the front? The "artist" couldn't get it just right, so it was slapped on? Those popup headlight washers won't happen, either, and the fog light design is pretty far off from the patent drawings.

I say get a different artist and do it again. I saw some others on the net months ago that looked MUCH MUCH better than this.

If it looks anything like this, it'll be pretty sweet! http://img159.imageshack.us/img159/6492/maliburenderingsmallred.jpg

This looks worse than the current car. The design looks like 3 different people designed it. One on the front, another on the profile and a third at the back.

Americans need to get with the diesel program.

"From what we can see, the next Malibu won't be a full redesign, just a heavy update of the current car. Nothing revolutionary, just some slight exterior changes along with a new interior and updated features. "

IL- get it together. Firstly, Malibu moves to short wheelbase Espilon II (Regal) so this a FULL redesign. What are you people reading and/or looking at? It's clear that this car (even the above rendering) shares no dimesnions with the current car which has a long 112.2" wheelbase and super short overhangs. Epsilon II vehicles have roughly the same overall length of 190" but on a much shorter wheelbase. Secondly, this is the worst looking photoshop drawing I've ever seen.

"All of this "rendered speculation""

Couldn't agree more. It is the latest craze and as seen by many of the comments above, quite a lot of people don't read that it is basically a drawing of what Edmunds thinks the car might look like.

All the "GM is going bankrupt again, even with government money." comments show that people just don't get that it is a wild guess (and this one seems alcohol induced).

Heck, lets start putting up people's kids drawings of cars and calling them the latest model from such and such.

Here's a second vote for putting the photoshopped future model pictures to rest

Poorly done. Edmunds should stop with the Photoshop already. I am sure the Malibu won't get this ugly.

Two Chevy fails in two days? (unexpectedly low EPA numbers for the Cruze) I hope not. This "rendering" is just awful and a slap in the face to the current, very attractive Malibu.

Perhaps Edmunds shouldn't have run with this-- but it sure has generated some comments.

I really hope it doesn't end up looking this.

I always like the current Malibu, this one not so much.

Hahahah, I like this. Not the design, that's terrible. However it's so obvious that this is in fact an Epica. The car even has the driver sitting in the passenger seat. Very funny and good guess IL.

"Perhaps Edmunds shouldn't have run with this-- but it sure has generated some comments."

Thats the entire point. They put things up like this to generate hits and people who dont understand "rendering" think they are looking at a GM released picture. Its a terrible rendering so even if it were accurate I wouldnt put much weight to what we see above. The fact that people are going crazy over this speculation means IL has gotten their wanted response. Now people are mad at Chevy even though this isnt a GM picture or image.

Typical GM, take something nice and tweak it to make it ugly. Then uglier. Then, after nobody wants it, they will kill it.

C'mon, why is everyone being so hard on this? Even as a rendering it's certainly more attractive than the current model with it's slabsided, unfinished rear...

Also, everyone is forgetting the great success the current car had when it arrived on the scene...

http://www.automotive-fleet.com/Channel/Vehicle-Research/Article/Story/2009/12/Chevrolet-Malibu-Voted-2010-MY-Fleet-Car-of-the-Year.aspx

It should once again do very well for it's intended market.

I hope this is a joke or an exercise in photochopping. That front end is fugly.

The're going with the traditional look. It looks fine! The front may look a little cheaper, and we all agree that the current Malibu looks good. By 2012 (or late 2011) we will be ready for this change. Also, we all know that GM has just been rebadging their foreign products.

you need to get your money back from whomever did that rendering for you. Its nowhere near accurate.
I have seen the mule in person

The current Malibu is much better looking. I hope the Camaro taillights don't make it, because they look stupid on this thing.

god i hope this isnt what its going to look like this car looks like they stitched an aveo to a camaro....the front looks bland and boring and the back looks like fat camaro. maybe GM let kia design it or something looks like crap

I hope it doesn't look like that, not an improvement in any way in my book, and worse it is hard to still identify with the current uber clean malibu's sheetmetal.

I live in Spain and the car doesn´t look (not even close) like an Epica. It looks larger, a thousand times better and very good. Chevrolet has announced the Malibu will substitute the Epica in Europe and I see in the pictures that the car has an european format license plate. It´s excellent news to hear that the very poor Epica will be finally be replaced by a decent car. I have driven the actual Malibu several times in Mexico and the US and it is an excellent car that does the job of the german cars in an excellent manner and at a much more affordable price, so I don´t beleive this car can be worse than the actual one, specially if it has the platform of the Opel Insignia. If it´s really comming to Europe, Chevrolet you allready have a buyer.

i think the trunk finally looks good.i did not like the old trunk design it looked like it was chopped from the back.what i really dont like is the front end.this looks like the front of the chevy aveo(indian version).i am sorry i dont like this new front.

UUUUGGGGHHHH!!!! I gotta say, when I first saw the pic of the front end without reading anything, I thought it was a new Aveo or something. The front and back of this car look.....uuuhhhh.....BAD! The side looks very good. But the rear looks especially bad. I DON'T like those Camaro taillights AT ALL! I am looking forward to seeing the interior. I thought the last one was great. Maybe when I see it in person it'll grow on me. I think the front might but those taillights gotta go. I'm sure the car will be well built and of good value though. I'd rather have the Regal.

"you need to get your money back from whomever did that rendering for you. Its nowhere near accurate.
I have seen the mule in person"

You mean this isnt 100% accurate? How can that be? If IL shows us a rendering by someone who has never seen the car it HAS to be correct!

"The current Malibu is much better looking. I hope the Camaro taillights don't make it, because they look stupid on this thing."

The reporters who saw the model said the rear lights are similar to camaros. Not a bad thing if you consider the rear of the current model is its weak point.

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I agree the vehicle looks bad as rendered, so I hope it's not accurate!

Well, I will form my own opinion when the OFFICIAL vehical debuts!! However, I hope they wont make the current Malibu, which is very attractive, an ugly monster

Whoever did this rendering needs to be fired immediately. GM has produced too many lookers in the past 3-4 years to make something that looks this fugly. It also looks old- like something from 10 years ago.

hello chevy captiva

Hahahaha.... Who hired your ace rendering specialist? Because both should be fired. I don't think GM is headed backwards. Maybe next time you should hire an ace rendering specialist that doesn't hate GM so much. Clearly there is a smear attempt here.

It's "pique your interest" not "peak your interest." *retreats back into grammar cave*

LOL this is some funny stuff. All you rendering critics, let's see your work.

Don't like it? Do better.

its not their job to do better. They arent putting out renderings claiming them to be accurate representations of a car we haven't seen. They are saying this is a poor picture and should've stayed on the drawing board until something presentable was ready for public consumption. Many of us have seen professional looking renderings (saw one for the Charger last week) but this aint one of them.

Wow, a Malibu like this could sink GM's boat! I really like the current design, so I hope this is not like the real one.

1487

When did they claim this was an accurate representation?

If you read the top you'll find this line....

"With that in mind we asked our ace rendering specialist to draw up some images of the what the next Malibu would look like"

and

"So what do think? Is this the direction Chevrolet should be headed with the Malibu?"

It's a drawing of what the guy they asked thought the next Malibu should look like.

Don't like it? Do better.

What a surprise. Edmunds makes a terrible rendering, for a brand (GM) they essentially hate, and then they can't even get the text right, where they write, "From what we can see, the next Malibu won't be a full redesign, just a heavy update of the current car." Hmm, it's only going to be built on an entirely different platform (shorter wheelbase for one thing), with all new interior and exterior, and new lineup of engines, but that's not a "full redesign". The platform change has been well publicized and should certainly be common knowledge among car people. A high school could probably put together a better team of "automotive journalists"!

The tail lights actually look pretty cool. The front of the car however is....awful!!!

does the back of the car look like a camaro or is it just me??

does the back of the car look like a camaro or is it just me??

Interesting, I like the back, the front? not so much.

HEY MORONS!!! ITS JUST A RENDERING!!!! GET OVER IT.

Seriously, you people need to put down the wacom tablet and call it a day. About the worst thing to happen to photoshop since, well, since the last rendering.

straight from the "if there's no news let's make up some news" department.

*** Excuse me while I go throw up! REALLY??? What is this thing? It looks better now. ***

if they were to build a super fast SS version of this car and sell it for like 35 grand i would get one

i ain't holding my breath though

Do something to the grill, it is hideous! It hurts my eyes. Loss the horizontal bar, reduce and reshape the grill..Other than that, it looks decent.

This makes the Accord Crosstour look like an award winning design.

Hideous! Is this supposed to be a joke? Everything about this car is wrong! Ugh..GM.

Who is this Theophilus Chin and what is his hidden agenda?

Is this a GMDAT's Daewoo Leganza/ Suzuki Verona/ Chevrolet Epica???? 4 lug nut wheels and the overall shape looks like GMDAT. Oh well.

I'm not sure whether this amateur chop is a good thing or bad for GM. It seems there are 3 groups of people here: knowledgeable and open minded people who realize this is just a really bad guess and a clumsy mashup that looks nothing like the prototypes; less knowledgeable people who think this is actually what the next Malibu will look like; and the vehement anti-GM contingent, who would bash the car no matter what it looked like.

The first group won't be swayed either way by this picture. They know it is meaningless so it really doesn't matter. The third group weren't going to buy this car anyway. It could have 90s era Japanese reliability, 60s American style, and early Kia pricing, and they would still dismiss it without a second thought. Now that second group is the real question mark. Will this just set their expectations low, so the real product will come off as "wow, that looks way better finished and in person" or will this just disappear off their radar now?

"Don't like it? Do better."

Not my job. This is a poor rendering that is basically an adaptation of an existing Chevy Epica model. Since I dont have rendering talent I don't submit bad illustrations in order to generate fake news and get hits.

Looks pretty.... generic(good for a rental)

The front end is bad, but that goofy bowtie absolutely has got to go; it's Pee Wee Herman time all the time.

I certainly hope the actual car doesn't look like this, wow that's awful.

GM fired you design team, WTF is this horse shit car..

Come on MAN, stop being so dam LAZY GM..

I cannot possibly imagine that the real thing will look like this joke of a rendering. If Chevy sells something that looks like this, then they've run their sales momentum into a brick wall.

And those tail lights? What a joke! Rendered by a 13 year old!!!

That looks terrible. The front-end looks like the Chevy Epica, a midsize Chevy sells outside North America, and that's not a good thing. The current Malibu looks so much more distinctive and robust. If the new Malibu ends up looking like this, it'll be a giant step backwards.

Looks like the folks at Acura got their hands on it. Lots of odd angles in every direction.

Huge step backwards. If this is true I may go short some of that new GM stock offering, as they have obviously changed very little there.

this car looks so akward, it needs to give the camaro back it's tailights then head to the city dump

"With that in mind we asked our ace rendering specialist to draw up some images of the what the next Malibu would look like. Not only did he have plenty of spy photos to work with, he even had a few patent drawings for reference."

Good quality chop - just missed out on an "ace" level of detail given the abundant availability of drawings and spy shots

The problem is the renderings don't really reference the patent drawings or spy shots very close. The rear trunk/tail-light area and the rear passenger door cut line (and window) aren't even close. The front end is better but something was lost in translation in the grille details and headlights.

Also those wheels don't look like anything like what we've seen on InsideLine spy shots.

Even a Camry looks more interesting than this. Listen GM if you fail again, it'll be because of products like this rental/taxi cab wannabe. I think it looks too lame for police car use and could induce laughter from criminals. And just remember no one will bail you out the next time you find your head where the sun don't shine.