As reported by Autoblog the Malibu has led this segment for three months now. However, it is worth mentioning that those shoppers aren't yet turning into buyers with Malibu sales for the month of February hitting just 12,460 units, an improvement from last years numbers but down compared to January and still well behind the established players. In fact, the combination of so many shoppers with so few actual buyers doesn't seem like good news.

I think we're seeing my earlier prediction playing out before us. Malibu is good enough to warrant interest from Joe consumer but once experienced is not proving sufficiently different or better than Camry, Altima, or Accord to sway the faithful. If Ford and GM are to gain any serious ground here within a reasonable time frame they have to do something compelling which the Japanese aren't already doing themselves.


http://www.autoblog.com

 

Going to look pretty bad if that massive marketing campaign doesn't turn into massive sales, but that appears to be exactly what we're seeing.

 

sorry but every time I see or hear Malibu I think of

 

No, you'd LIKE to think that. The fact is that GM has made progress with this car, but you're spinning it as some big negative because import buyers aren't IMMEDIATELY switching sides...which no reasonable person ever predicted.

The North American automakers gave up ground to the Japanese after 25 years of laziness, greed, arrogance, complacency, failed strategies and lack of vision. Making up that ground will take a while; conquest sales will come in time. The important thing is for GM to regularly update and refine what is proving to be a good platform.

The Malibu is a big step in the right direction, like many of GM's other products, and the fact that so many people are cross-shopping the car against imports (when they never would have even CONSIDERED a Malibu in the past) is proof that the General is doing something right.

Meanwhile, people like you want to take that away from them because you'd rather see GM fail than have your anti-GM arguments proven wrong.

 

What I want has nothing to do with it. The reality is that the Malibu is being heavily shopped, but a surprisingly small amount of those folks are actually buying. This car is a serious step up from the old Malibu, but it doesn't do enough to differentiate itself from the crowd and we're seeing the results in lackluster sales figures. As I've stated before both Ford and GM have to do something which sets their offerings apart from the crowd if they are serious about stealing significant sales from the competition within a reasonable time span, and neither is in a position which allows them the luxury of taking their time regarding these things at the moment. Building American Camcords just isn't going to cut it, a reality Ford discovered with the Five Hundred/Taurus and Fusion and which GM is now discovering with the Malibu.

 

Believe it or not, I actually I agree with your point. All American automakers need to be pushing the envelope with design and technology more than they have. It's the fastest way to decisively steal sales from the imports. It's another argument in favor of Euro Fords being adopted into the lineup of North American Ford cars. And I think it will work for the new Global Fiesta, which shows a much higher specific content level than any of its chief competitors, including Yaris and Echo. Ford needs to adopt this strategy across the board.

As to the Malibu, I have seen a few on the road, and the car looks very, very sharp - particularly for a bread & butter sedan. I do believe that the platform and design are sound...what GM should do is quickly refine and augment the car without necessarily waiting for the next logical product cycle change. In other words: keep what the public and the critics are responding positively to, and fix or refine the rest.

As I said before, it's far too early to expect widespread adoption. American automakers have eroded so much good will over the past two decades, it will take a while for Malibu's reputation to build.

Meanwhile, from the quick research I just did, Malibu is driving strong increases in the mid size segment with overall Malibu sales up 163.6% over the previous model.

I'd call that pretty good for a first year effort against a sea of entrenched import love.

 

The Malibu advertising and Media push are obviously working. The car is being heavily 'shopped'

How long between 'shopping' can we expect to see heavy buying?

 

That's the $24 question....

 

Malibu sales are up 163% over last year's model. So the buying is a lot "heavier" than last year. You can't expect this car to steal all Hondoyota sales straight out of the gate; that's not realistic.

 

I don't think it takes a whole lot to beat the previous model Malibu sales. But GM marketing does deserve a lot of the credit.

 

GM's marketing is much better...the car is a lot better.

Given that the new Malibu has only been out for a very short while, it's much too early to make any meaningful assessments about its long-term success. The best marketing in the world is personal word-of-mouth, and that will take time, just as it did for the Japanese.