Come November 2024, the General Motors Fairfax Assembly Plant will stop making the Chevrolet Malibu. Two months later, Cadillac XT4 production will be halted as well. Although the Caddy will return in late 2025 after GM retools and modifies the Kansas-based facility to the tune of $390 million in preparation for the next-gen Bolt EV, the four-door sedan from the Chevrolet division will not.
GM spokesperson Kevin Kelly revealed that Malibu sales exceed 10 million deliveries worldwide. Speaking to Detroit News, the cited spokesperson also revealed that certain employees will be laid off. Be that as it may, affected employees will be supported in accordance with the provisions agreed by the UAW and the Detroit-based automaker.
Kelly further stated that XT4 and Bolt EV will be manufactured on the very same assembly line. This change gives the largest automaker in the United States greater flexibility to changes in customer demand, allowing the biggest automaker of the Big Three in Detroit to adjust production output. Had there been two lines and slowing demand for either the XT4 or Bolt EV, the company would have been forced to either lay off a shift or idle an assembly line.
Malibu is the only sedan that wears the Chevrolet badge in the United States of America nowadays. The Chevrolet brand's passenger car lineup further comprises the Corvette. Recently updated for model year 2025 with a new exterior paint color, Malibu is listed as being a 2024 model by the configurator.
The only engine-transmission combo available is 1.5L four-cylinder turbo and CVT, which makes for a rather unrewarding experience behind the wheel. The direct-injected powerplant makes 163 hp at 5,700 revolutions per minute and 184 pound-feet (nearly 250 Nm) at 2,500 to 3,000 revolutions per minute, whereas the 1.5-liter mill in the Honda Civic is good for 180 horsepower at 6,000 and 177 pound-feet (240 Nm) at 1,700 through 4,500 rpm.
Photo: Chevrolet
Considering that Malibu is a midsizer and the Civic is a compact, a better comparo would be against Toyota's all-new Camry and Honda's Accord. Rather than comparing maximum output, we should take a look at sales performance during the first quarter of 2024. The Malibu totaled 32,749 deliveries in the United States during the first three months of 2024, whereas the Camry and Accord clocked 78,337 and 41,927 sales, respectively.
Last redesigned from the ground up in 2015 for model year 2016, the Malibu was initially marketed as a trim level for the Chevelle. It became its own thing in 1978, and through 1997, the Malibu was rear-wheel drive. It's not clear if the seventh-gen Camaro, which is reportedly coming back in the form of an electric sedan, will replace this fellow.
Speaking of electric, the second-generation Bolt EV has been confirmed by none other than chief executive officer Mary Barra in June 2023. As of May 2024, we know that it's coming back in 2025 with an LFP battery and Ultium goodies. Rather than starting from a clean sheet of paper, the second-gen Bolt EV is believed to be underpinned by an evolution of the first-gen's BEV2 platform.
The second coming of the Bolt EV should give Chevrolet a sub-$30,000 electric sport utility vehicle. Sans destination charge, the most affordable Equinox EV specification will drop in late 2024 with a starting price of $33,600. By comparison, the 2023 Chevrolet Bolt EV and Bolt EUV started at $26,500 and $27,800, respectively.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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