General Motors will officially end production of the Chevrolet Malibu this fall, The Detroit News reported Wednesday, after years of uncertainty and rumor following GM’s quiet acknowledgement that it was getting out of the four-door business for good. Cruze production led to 2019 and the Impala bit the bullet in 2020, Even its small hatchbacks weren’t secure; the poor Sonic and Spark each met similar fates.
However the Malibu managed to stay around about so long as GM had originally predicted, despite the aforementioned uncertainty. A fast glance on the sales charts explains why: the midsize family sedan was considered one of Chevy’s best sellers in 2023. The one two models that outsold it were the Equinox CUV and the Silverado. While we suspect lots of those Malibus were going to fleets, an annual volume of 130,000 units is nothing to sneeze at.
The Malibu is considered one of Chevy’s oldest nameplates and dates to 1964, nonetheless it took a hiatus from 1984-1996. Filling in during its absence were the front-wheel drive-Chevy Celebrity and later the Lumina. The latter overlapped with the revived Malibu for several years before itself being killed off in 2001.
The sedan’s departure will make way for a brand new vehicle — one other small one, actually. The Fairfax Assembly facility in Kansas will probably be retooled to construct the alternative Chevrolet Bolt. Fairfax can also be home to the Cadillac XT4; production of the small Caddy crossover will probably be placed on hold during retooling as well, but it can resume alongside the Bolt once the upgrade is complete, a GM spokesperson confirmed to the News.
Autoblog reached out to GM for comment. We are going to update this post if we hear back.
This Article First Appeared At www.autoblog.com
