Hollywood_North GT

High praise for the new Malibu.

Evil_Capri

Good for GM. I look forwad to driving a new Malibu in the coming months.

StangMahn

Good, Im glad to see it. Ford needs to step up their game. I'm so tired of Japanese cars dominating the market, I have a hatred against the camry that I can't even describe.

runningwild4.6

There was an ad in the latest edition of Motor Trend. The interior on the upscale version is really sweet. all panels appear soft to the touch and have a high quality throughout. The guages are well laid out with blue back light. Would definitely consider this as a second car over Honda or Toyota!

rhumb

This new Malibu really seems to be a really good, even excellent car, from GM no less! Styling is very well executed, both overall and in the details. Interior too seems tasteful, interesting and well executed in materials and construction. Good drivetrains (once the old 4 speed autos flush out of the system and is replaced by the 5 (6?) speed ATX) with a peppy and modern V6 at the top.

Basically just a very well done car that should sell very well on its own merits without resorting to corny flag-waving ads or ruinous bribes, errr, rebates. Hopefully there are no weird show-stoppers like some huge recalls or something.

Slims00ls1z28

Looks quite good for this segment. Hopefully they will be less problem plagued than the last version. That last model made me quite a bit of money and was so bland it was pathetic. Hopefully all the money invested in all these new platforms will pan out well. Now heres crossing my fingers that the other US markets will step up their A game give the import autos a good run for their money.

TomServo92

It's very nice and I like everything except the grill. I didn't like it on the Cobalt and I don't like it on the Malibu either.

Knight

I think the front looks nice.. i would prefer the grill to be darker but what can you do. tail i don't care for.

Moosetang

Wierd that they go for the big, bold grille with such pansy headlight on either side. Serieously, those lights look like they should have eyelashes. Tail looks like it was sawed off an Acura.

Hollywood_North GT

I agree the rear end needs some work.

I quite like the front, though.

2005GTDELUXE

I like the grille and the Chevy emblem on the front.

Rapture

Ahh the real new Taurus.... what Ford should have built

ShowGT

elcaminoguy

Everybody wants a better Accord than an Accord. Why doesn't somebody do something original for once.

I bet that thing costs as much as a base GT with the same gas mileage.

At least it's domestic but I do wish somebody at GM could spread a little imagination from the concept cars to the production models

jsaylor

Its very nice for what it is. That said the only way it will ever rival Camry and Accord sales is if this effectively replaces the Impala and the old Malibu in GM's lineup. And to their credit GM is apparently thinking much the same given recent reports. The Aura brought the same basic goodness to the market wrapped in a prettier skin and that model has been a bit of a sales disappointment thus far tracking somewhere around ten thousand units less for the year than GM had hoped. Perhaps the formula will fare better with a Chevy badge on the grille. Either way I still think facing the Japanese on their own terms in this segment is the 'hard way' to do it for any of the big three.

TomServo92

If I remember correctly, GM wanted to sell around 100K Auras. Based on the October sales numbers, it's tracking to sell around 60K.

Cheese302

i am interested to go drive one of these malibu's. i still prefer the look of the accord though.

Slims00ls1z28

Base price is 19k fully loaded ones go up to 26K. Even if that cost the same as a base GT more than likely someone in the market for this is not in the market for a 2 door 2+2 (barely) Mustang. This is more Taurus territory if you want to speak equivalents.

Hollywood_North GT

And the overall proportions of the Malibu design are far better than the 500...Taurus...what's it called this week?

On the other hand, I sort of like what Ford did with the Freestyle. I like the three bar grille and the Taurus X. It's a great take on the traditional station wagon.

But does Ford need an Expedition, Explorer, Flex, Edge, Escape, Taurus-X...? Isn't this overkill?

elcaminoguy

Yeah, that's nice but I never assumed an equivalence between the two I just wish someone would get some imagination. It's like everyone thinks the Japanese model of sedans is the benchmark.

I'd like to see something different. This country used to be able to do that. I mean, the coolest most practical non sports car I ever saw was a guy who had a 70 Hurst Olds 2 door wagon. You got the go and the room all at the same time. I know there's Pacifica's and such out there but they all look like variations on the same theme. I just can't get excited about yet another updated bubble.

The G8 and the Grand Prix are kinda bubbles too but I think they're on the right track.