2011 Shanghai Auto Show: 2013 Chevy Malibu

I'm waiting for the higher output engine.

oh my is that leather stitching above the gauges? be still my beating heart.

It's certainly interesting. The front end is a little too Legacy-like, but the overall shape looks good. I am hoping the tailights look better in person. In these pictures those rings of LEDs remind me of eyes tarted up with too much mascara.

interior looks great (though personally I could do without the wood trim), not digging the back so much. Its enough that all chevys share the front end, but now it needs camaro-esque taillamps?

The interior looks great but I almost spit my drink out when i saw the rear end. I'm not sure its working for me in these photos, so we'll have to see in real life. I wish we could get some real pictures of the vehicle, not these 'airbrushed to death' pictures.

Why are people surprised and/or angry that the front of this car looks like other Chevy models? Have people not noticed that BMWs, Audis, Fords, etc. share common front end styling cues?

I dont like the fake wood, but it looks good other than that.

This IL post tells you nothing. The car will have 10 airbags, lane departure warning, over 190hp, HIDs, more interior space, larger trunk, over 35mpg on at least one model and other stuff. Very impressive equipment for this class of car.

I like the 2.5 DI engine. I'm interested in driving impressions. That engine sounds like a winner though.

Looks nice, particularly from the front, and Chevy should be commended for forging a family face that's instantly recognizable but not completely boring. That said, the rear and interior, though nice-looking, appear overdone by about 10%. And that Bangle Butt is a generation out of date.

Chevy should've announced the full engine lineup with the car, too. Seems e-assist would've been low-hanging fruit on that point.

I'm curious to learn more about this thing. Perhaps there's some tech or design that's really class-leading that just isn't getting press right now. I sure hope so, because right now this appears to be a well-executed exemplar of MY2009 cutting edge. It looks fully competitive right now, perhaps even class leading. I just don't see as much new ground forged here as Honda/Toyota/Nissan/Ford may forge in the next 12-18 months with new Accords/Camrys/Altimas/Fusions. Then again, I said that about the new Civic & that seems to be TOTAL dud...

Looks are fine, but this car leaves me cold until and unless I see the words "manual transmission" associated with it.

Looks good, however I think that 4.5" wheelbase chop will hurt retail sales. I am curios how much bigger the interior is over a Cruze. I'm guessing shrinking the wheelbase allows for a "larger" Impala on the same platform.

roar:

The car will be out in about 8-9 months. There will be no new Accord or Fusion before then. The next Fusion is coming sometime in 2012 from what I've read. Accord is at least 2 years out. With 10 airbags, HIDs, Chevy MyLink, over 190hp standard, 19" wheels, LED tailights, over 35mpg in ECO model, collision warning system, color LCD displays, etc. I'm not sure how this car is going to be surpassed easily by newer competitors. What would you say is missing from the package here? This car is a luxury car by MY2009 standards so I don't know how you can claim it has the makings of an also ran.

throwback:

This car will have more interior volume than Regal and Cruze. Those two cars are around 95 cu ft but this will be close to 100 cu ft. Next Impala is likely going to share 111" wheelbase with Lacrosse so rear seat room should be generous. The Malibu is definitely going to be smaller than Accord, but likely close to Fusion.

I think that the red doesn't do it justice. I think it's a more exciting design than the current one but they are loosing the "pop" feature by allowing the red tail lights to blend into the car. Lets see it in LTZ trim and black. Same as the interrior, black leather and contrasting stiching. These interrior shots almost look too busy, nice design, wrong first impression.

1487,
the rear leg room is my concern, more so than total interior volume. My cousin has a '09 Malibu and I was impressed with the rear seat leg room. Ingress/egress to the back was good.

1487:

I'm not going to start a pissing match with you, cuz thats like arguing with a 10 year old, but you say: "With 10 airbags, HIDs, Chevy MyLink, over 190hp standard, 19" wheels, LED tailights, over 35mpg in ECO model, collision warning system, color LCD displays, etc"

The Sonata basically has all of that as of last year. Somehow 190hp is now the standard starting point of family sedans, sonata has 198, Accord 190, Camry has a "weak" 180. I don't know about the HID lights on the competition, but that is a sweet option. Once you have them you do love them. 19inch wheels are WAY too big on a family sedan...tires shouldn't cost $1000 on a $20,000 car. 35mpg is the new benchmark as well, and collision warning systems are becoming the standard along with other active and passive restraint systems.

I do like this car and I think its a great offering for the mid-sized sedan market. But that's the most crowded and competitive segment in the industry and this car is not "revolutionary" if I may borrow an overused term by Steve Jobs. Its just pretty good (like his iPods!), meeting all of the industry standards and surpassing some. But to tout this thing like it's about to rock the family sedan world is a little far fetched.

"The Sonata basically has all of that as of last year. Somehow 190hp is now the standard starting point of family sedans, sonata has 198, Accord 190, Camry has a "weak" 180. I don't know about the HID lights on the competition, but that is a sweet option. Once you have them you do love them. 19inch wheels are WAY too big on a family sedan...tires shouldn't cost $1000 on a $20,000 car. 35mpg is the new benchmark as well, and collision warning systems are becoming the standard along with other active and passive restraint systems."

1. Base Accord has 177hp
2. Base camry has 175hp, only SE has 179hp
3. camry, Accord, Sonata dont have HIDs
4. Camry, Accord, Sonata dont have anything similar to MyLink
5. They dont have the safety systems found on this car
6. At least two of them dont have interior design of this car
7. 19s are an option, I just noted they were available on this car but not on competition.
8. No one said anything about "revolutionary" so I'm not sure who you're aiming that comment towards.

It looks decent. I'm actually somewhat impressed re: the exterior. Sure, it's somewhat generic in its approach but as a car designed to sell 200K-300K+ a year in the US and some unknown target globally to middle-of-the-road family-types, it gets the job done. The Chevy 'styling cue' integration came out better than I thought. I'd still like to see it in person before passing final judgment, but for what it is it looks good so far. Let's put it this way: the current one looks decent, this one looks better. So they nailed what matters.

Now the interior? While the basic design is good, I don't like some of the details. I hate the 'square-ish' gauge pods (though the dials that reside within them look nice). And that chrome-vent-extension/blend-in-thingy they have going on primarily in front of the passenger's seat (but also partially on the driver's side as well) looks flat out awful (as I said it would when I saw the prototypes). Go look at the interior of the old Corsica/Berettas from decades ago. Chevy tried similar things back then too (extending the vent patterns across the dash). It looked cheap then and it does now too. What's worse? Despite being a kid back then, I still remember it for the cheapness. Bad carryover. And the ersatz wood -- they must have killed a lot of ugly plastic trees for that -- looks very out of place in a modern 2013 interior. Sorry, but no.

Content wise? So far so good. Decent options/feature list for the class: HIDs, premium connectivity/entertainment options (though personally I'd rather not have OnStar -- I'll take the Sync-like features but not the subscription) lane-departure warning, enough air bags to save a village, etc. It checks all of the boxes. And you can bet pricing will be competitive.

So that leaves engineering. Some is known; some is not. I'm still wagering this thing is going to be HEAVY for its class. And while the new motor sounds like a good upgrade, I think it's going to be taxed with moving close to 3600 pounds when loaded down with options (same as the Regal, and about 200-300 pounds heavier than all of its 4-cylinder competition). It'll have some trickery (active shutters, for example) to tweak high-mileage claims (I expect 35 to be the highway "EPA" number -- at least), but it may not do as well in the real world (see: any of the 'cheater' EPA cars out there like Fiesta, Focus, Cruze, and the Elantra -- which no one has gotten near 40 mpg yet in the real world). Credit GM for making EpsilonII a solid platform with a decent quiet ride and competitive handling. But those extra pounds (I'm guessing they're using very little of the more expensive steel now available) will hurt real-world mileage and acceleration. I still think some turbocharged motor is in the offering down the road, but who knows which one at this point?

This thing will sell, and quite well. It's a good effort. But it's not class leading. It ticks the right boxes for many consumers, but the engineering will probably come up a little short for the enthusiast (a minority, I know). Yeah, no one's even seen one yet let alone driven it. But the EpsilonII is a known entity and EVERY version of it has come out with the same weight/power/economy issues (even the Saab 9-5). And the powertrain strategy is a mystery. GM's got some sort of solid footing and direction now, but it's time to go back and get some of the basic stuff taken care of in the platforms and engines. Lose weight and step it up in the power/economy game. And get the remaining 10% of the interiors right (details!).

I dont doubt that this car will be heavier than the competition, but we need to keep performance in perspective. The Sonata is an 8 sec car in spite of its great power to weight ratio. Most cars in this class are low to mid 8 second cars. The current Malibu needs about 8.6 secs to hit 60 and the new car should be in that range. I'm thinking actual hp will be close to 200 and that should keep this car close to the class average for 0-60. I think the fastest car in this class right now is the Altima and that's due to its low curb weight and ample torque, none of these vehicles are all that fast. This engine and transmission are different form what's in the Regal, plus this car has electric power steering and some other changes that will boost mileage. I wouldnt use the Regal as the basis for efficiency on this car.

I think it looks great actually! very cohesive design and I think the rear blends well. I thought that with a 4.5" cut in the wheelbase but almost the same length would give it too much overhang from and rear but I think it looks good. looks like most of the overhang is at the rear. If they were able the to cut weight out, the 4pot motor will be fine for most people.

The main thing that is sad about this car and not a knock on GM as hyundai was actually the first to do it, is this maybe the death rattle for the V6 midsize sedan. Even if they offer a turbo 4 like hyundai, its sad to think of the v6 becoming the norm in bigger cars and no more in the midsize class. Probably would take a while though to completely phase out... Maybe Nissan will hold out on the V6's...

I like the looks, even if I find the square taillights a little adventurous, and not necessarily good. The rest of it is simple and handsome, just what I want from a mid-sizer.

Given how under-styled the rear of the current Malibu is, I'm willing to forgive the designers going a bit overboard this time around. Chevy just can't seem to design a decent rear end, but this is better than most of their current designs so they're going in the right direction. I have no problem with the corporate front. It looks better as it scales up so it is even better here than it is on the Sonic and Cruze. The next Impala and the rumored G8 rebadge should look great from the front if my scaling theory holds true.

@moorewr:

+1 on the manual tranny. If GM has the guts, time to stop installing 6 cylinders and follow Hyundai's lead.

No V6?!

80% to 90% of midsize cars are sold with I4s anyway. I'm not getting why folks are so bent out of shape about no V6. Most customers dont want to pay for one nor do they want the mileage penalty.

V6 not only is not needed, it brings added cost and in many instances requires a compromise in handling and weight in order to engineer the platform for both four and six engines.

Malibu looks good inside and out.

As each midsize sedan is redesigned look for V6 engines to become more rare in this class. Automakers have to worry about CAFE and selling V6s lowers their CAFE score. If only 10% of folks are buying them they have little to lose by dropping V6s. While a 270hp family car is nice, no one really needs that kind of power in this class.

Are you sure of your facts 1487? You are wrong so often....like Ford GT production figures.

I like the rear 3/4 view, the muscular stance, and after all, the rear end looks good enough.

Upfront, not really something to be impressed with, is kinda the same for other Chevys, so if you already like them, you will like it even more, but if you are not impressed nor it really catches your eye right now, this one won`t either.

Inside, well typical GM steering, which I don`t like, and much less now, with that horrid tacky wood imitation, and even extending to the center console and already shining in the picture....that is promising LOL

That takes away what probably is a good overall interior design, thou those gauges look very boring.

We`ll wait and see how this 190 horsepower engine delivers in terms of its fuel economy!

By the way, I see nothing to be impressed with when an all new car, for the year 2012 or 2013, whatever, suddenly is the big deal because it offers HIDs, LED tailights, big wheels.... that makes me laugh a lot!!!

So I am sure the Mazda 6 made you drooled when it appeared several years ago and ALREADY had those features, yeah, a car that debuted in 2008.....LOL
And lets not forget about the Nissan Altima.

So 4 years later, Chevy offers the same features and now is the big deal? LOL
Again, chevy behind several years.......

In year 2008 it was a big deal, for the year 2012 it is a MUST have. Nothing else. Especially when the car is all new.

And when a car has a bigger displacement engine than before, and now has DI, and yet barely makes 190 horses, that ain`t a big deal. Its a good number overall compared to its competition, because none of them have DI (except for hyundai/kia which are superior) but for being all new? Not so much.

CR, those pesky facts of yours are not fair to quote......this is 1487s fantasy.....why ruin it?

I like the way Chevy made the rear end "look" lower even though it still has a tall butt like most everything else nowadays. Pretty good looking car.

"So I am sure the Mazda 6 made you drooled when it appeared several years ago and ALREADY had those features, yeah, a car that debuted in 2008.....LOL
And lets not forget about the Nissan Altima."

You must be slow. The 6 and Altima are really the only cars in this class with HIDs but they dont have the other features I mentioned. The 6 doesn't even have a 6 speed with the I4 engine. The altima has less power, less safety features, no equivalent to MyLink, no 18" wheels (sedan), no LED tailights, no remote start and a cheaper looking interior. What makes you think the 2007 Altima is equivalent to this car? No sane person would make that argument. It has HIDs- that's about it.

"And when a car has a bigger displacement engine than before, and now has DI, and yet barely makes 190 horses, that ain`t a big deal. Its a good number overall compared to its competition, because none of them have DI (except for hyundai/kia which are superior) but for being all new? Not so much."

Can you read? Apparently not. The car will have OVER 190hp and 180lb-ft per the press release. That could mean 195hp or 200hp- we don't know. The base version of the Sonata has 198hp so how is that superior when we dont even know final figures for this engine? And the fact that the competiton doesnt offer DI isnt Chevy's problem. THIS car will have it and will have the 2nd most powerful standard engine in the class so thats a win for Chevy. Dont make excuses by saying the competition doesn't utilize DI.

The Camaro-style taillights on this car look like an afterthought, like it was designed with conservative taillights to go along with the conservative styling of the rest of the car, but GM designers decided to tack on a reminder of the Camaro's appeal. I hope they change those taillights as quickly as they changed the Camaro's steering wheel.

cutestangchick:

I think I like the tail lights, but I'll reserve final judgement until I see them. I don't necessarily care for the LEDs, and I have a good chuckle when people claim that LED tail lights are a 'feature' that we should be impressed about.

Camaro tail lights? More like CAMARO ASS. And around front a pair of Jetta-like prongs extend from its chin, one of the silliest design notions i've seen in a good while.

"see: any of the 'cheater' EPA cars out there like Fiesta, Focus, Cruze, and the Elantra -- which no one has gotten near 40 mpg yet in the real world). "

Cruze Eco 6-speed manual actually has been shown to exceed its 42mpg EPA highway rating, as well as the city rating. Surprising and sadly irrelevant as most want automatics.

"see: any of the 'cheater' EPA cars out there like Fiesta, Focus, Cruze, and the Elantra -- which no one has gotten near 40 mpg yet in the real world). "

Cruze Eco 6-speed manual actually has been shown to exceed its 42mpg EPA highway rating, as well as the city rating. Surprising and sadly irrelevant as most want automatics.

"Cruze Eco 6-speed manual actually has been shown to exceed its 42mpg EPA highway rating, as well as the city rating. Surprising and sadly irrelevant as most want automatics."

Links? And please dont link blogs....how about a real test with somewhat scientific conditions from a reputable source.

stoppre75, the Sonata does NOT have active forward collision warning and blind spot warning.

And, the Mazda6 is a minority player. The Altima only has HID and those are of the non projector variety.

The point of saying that this car is state of the MY2009 art is to say that it doesn't add anything to the segment. Yeah, maybe it's one of few cars in the segment that offers ALL of those features. But none of those features are new to the segment. So far, this thing just doesn't seem to represent next-generation substance because it really doesn't advance the segment from the Sonata/Optima.

I frame this as an issue because yes, within the next 12-18 mos, a new Accord, Camry, and Altima SHOULD hit the road:
Accord: 1998-2002, 2003-2007, 2008-should be 2012, 2013-
Camry: 1997-2001, 2002-2006, 2007-should be 2011, 2012-
Altima: 1998-2001, 2002-2006, 2007-should be 2011, 2012-
Ford's less consistent, but the Fusion's been around since 2006; I'd expect a replacement for MY2012 or MY2013. Either way, there should be lots of competition for this MY2013 Malibu.

A Fusion is good enough looking that it does not have to ape styling cues from a Mustang. Also GM's smaller engines are barely competitive NOW, why would we think they will be in two years? Every time they take a step, the other makes leap.

Car looks good, and we know the platform is good, if a bit heavy. Not sure how I feel about the taillights, though...they do kind of look last-minute-tacked-on. Maybe they are better in person.

Is this car revolutionary? No. It's evolutionary. But that's exactly what it needed to be. The current car is a great overall package; it just had a few areas that needed a little more refinement, and that's what hurt it. This car addresses all of those. I personally think GM may have done more than they needed to. They could've pulled a Fusion: more refined engines, a more refined interior, and a slightly upgraded exterior. Ford cheated so much with the 2010 Fusion and is taking it all the way to the bank.

But that's beside the point. GM did a good job. This is exactly what it needs to be.

I withhold final judgment until I actually see the car of course, but here's my initial take, based on the pictures and prelim info-

The good:

- Nice styling update (except for the back-end, which almost made me snort water out of my nose when I saw it). I like the Regal-esque fascia that's been toned-up and also the clean side profile. It's all appropriately evolutionary, rear fascia excepted
- Dig the wheel design, although 19" is a little silly for a 4-banger family sedan
- Offering nav and associated tech goodies to compete with Sync, along with what looks like dual-zone climate control
- What sounds like a competitive 4-cylinder

The bad:

- The plood is awful
- The interior looks pretty high-quality, but it also seems over-designed. There are 3-4 colors on the seats and a very busy dash, like those Pontiac-like strakes. Personally just not my style.
- The black nav screen bezel sticks out like a sore thumb, it matches nothing else around it. I've already complained about the huge switch to flip it up.
- Square pods with round gauges and turquoise illumination... sigh. Can we be done with this fad yet?
- One 4-banger option. GM is probably not setting the Malibu's sights on the premium end of the segment if they're not offering an upper-level engine, be it a turbo four or a V6. I think this is a mistake
- Rear fascia is strikingly ugly IMO, maybe it looks better in person? And two big pipes for a 190 hp 4-pot is a little disingenuous.

Overall I think it'll be a competitive car in the middle of the segment. I think the current one was too, but when you factor in roar02ram's comment about upcoming redesigns from the other heavyweights, the 'Bu will have a lot of stiff competition right out of the gate.

bodyblue says:
11:48 AM, 04/19/11
"CR, those pesky facts of yours are not fair to quote......this is 1487s fantasy.....why ruin it?"

Yeah, I agree, and you know what he did?
Insult me!! Bingo.....LOL

So I won`t, can`t answer to him, after all I am "slow", just like GM is slow to bring features to the market that other competitors already offered several years ago...... haha.

He says I cannot read,(another insult) well read this:

-The 2013 Chevy Malibu will come with a 2.5-liter direct-injection four-cylinder expected to make 190 horsepower and 180 pound-feet of torque-

"Can you read? Apparently not. The car will have OVER 190hp and 180lb-ft per the press release"

Thats what it says in the front page, I never said anything about a press release. You went and read the press release because you are a GM fanboy, well I am not, so I said accordingly from what I read here.
So sorry. Got it?

Hahaha.

And those pesky facts about the mazda 6, you didn`t care about them, right? Obvious as usual

Oh wait, this must devastating, the Accord, with a dated 5 speed, a non DI engine, with just 2.4L of displacement, already offers 190 horses and 34 hwy....
What would happen if the car upgraded to a 6 speed and had DI like the all new Malibu.....oh lets think.
That is not an excuse, to the contrary, is just mocking what the new Malibu does DESPITE having key advantages like the 6 speed and DI. Despite being all new. I hope you understand now. LOL

And that was me, doing it, because in your fantasy world, those features of the all new Malibu were like a God send gift, but they were some of them already here SEVERAL years ago in the Mazda 6.
Does that make you proud of your little "precious" GM? LOL
Is that tough to swallow?

And the other features, well, the car is all new, it should have something new!
It just something obvious..... hahaha. Is that a big deal? No! Its just what is supposed to deliver.

Come on, I wonder what your thought process is, for real, but lets hope your shrink takes care of you finally.
Remember, you can be a normal human being, have a good conversation, enjoy it, don`t be that aggresive nor insecure all the time.

"Links? And please dont link blogs....how about a real test with somewhat scientific conditions from a reputable source."

Google it, he is correct.

@bimmerjay:

This interior would be better if it was underdesigned and full of hard black plastic like an entry level BMW 1 series? As the Sonata has shown people in this segment like style inside their cars. If you prefer Teutonic dull that's fine, but this segment is moving towards MORE style, not less. People criticize midsize sedans for being dull appliances but if they have more colors and shapes that your average BMW interior folks like you criticize for "overstyling".

More engines are coming, look for more to be announced at NY auto show. Don't think this will be only powertrain.

"He says I cannot read,(another insult) well read this:

-The 2013 Chevy Malibu will come with a 2.5-liter direct-injection four-cylinder expected to make 190 horsepower and 180 pound-feet of torque-

"Can you read? Apparently not. The car will have OVER 190hp and 180lb-ft per the press release"

Thats what it says in the front page, I never said anything about a press release. You went and read the press release because you are a GM fanboy, well I am not, so I said accordingly from what I read here.
So sorry. Got it?

Hahaha."

IL isnt the manufacturer, they provide summations of press releases that include some facts and exclude others. Autoblog always links press releases and the GM release states over 190hp and 180lb-ft of torque. Only a complete idiot would claim that IL's numbers are more accurate than the company building the damn car. I don't care what it says on the "front page", I'm telling you what the official release says about the hp rating. I read press releases because I like accurate information. Part of your problem is that you dont read anything but IL which explains a lot about your ignorance.

"What would happen if the car upgraded to a 6 speed and had DI like the all new Malibu.....oh lets think.
That is not an excuse, to the contrary, is just mocking what the new Malibu does DESPITE having key advantages like the 6 speed and DI. Despite being all new. I hope you understand now. LOL:"

- Accord doesn't have DI or a 6 speed. Honda added 3mpg by tinkering with gearing and suppsosedly making friction improvements. Rest assured there will be a penalty to pay in terms of upshifting and shift quality. There is a reason why all other brands have 6 speeds in this segment already.

-There will be a Malibu with over 35mpg highway- better than Accord/Camry/Altima, etc.

"And that was me, doing it, because in your fantasy world, those features of the all new Malibu were like a God send gift, but they were some of them already here SEVERAL years ago in the Mazda 6.
Does that make you proud of your little "precious" GM? LOL
Is that tough to swallow?"

The 6 had HIDs several years ago. Aside from Altima it was the first in this segment to offer HIDs. Aside from that and push button start there really isn't much else on the 2008 6 that is new on this Malibu. No 6 offer 10 airbags, MyLink Chevy, flip out 7" nav screen, remote start, BLIS, collision warning system, color info display, etc. The 6 also wont be able to match the mileage of this car and the 6 only makes 170hp, not 190hp+.

Next.

@cr_driver,

"Oh wait, this must devastating, the Accord, with a dated 5 speed, a non DI engine, with just 2.4L of displacement, already offers 190 horses and 34 hwy....
What would happen if the car upgraded to a 6 speed and had DI like the all new Malibu.....oh lets think."

Good point, though I'd wait for the final EPA ratings to be released. But it could be like the Regal vs. TSX powertrain debates all over again - 6 gears vs 5, DI vs port injection and still underwhelming EPA ratings.