There was a period in my lifetime when General Motors absolutely dominated both car sales overall and midsize cars in particular. The Oldsmobile Cutlass was the Toyota Camry of its era and the Chevrolet Malibu wasn’t far behind. While it’s unlikely that the Malibu is going to unseat Toyota’s perennial sales leader any time soon, the all-new 2016 edition is Chevrolet’s best shot at breaking back into the top five in many years.
The current generation Malibu was delayed by more than two years as a result of GM’s 2009 bankruptcy and was then available only with the more expensive mild-hybrid eAssist powertrain for the first six months. Despite a rushed refresh for its second model year, sales never really recovered and it finished 2014 in sixth place among midsize sedans nearly 29,000 units behind the Hyundai Sonata.
As soon as that car was out the door, Chevrolet’s engineering team got started on a complete reboot, aiming to address all of the issues identified in the lackluster reviews. The car being revealed this week at the New York Auto Show is the product of those efforts. The changes are obvious as soon as you lay eyes on the new Malibu but the revamp is way more than skin deep. Almost nothing has been carried over from the 2015 model to the car that goes on sale this fall.
The somewhat frumpy styling of the current Malibu gives way to a sleek new shape that incorporates the now de rigueur coupe-like profile. With a roofline about an inch closer to the ground and bumper-to-bumper span that grows by 2.3-inches, the Malibu looks longer than it actually is. Standing next to it, the size is actually quite trim.
The most important dimension is actually the wheelbase which has been expanded by 3.6-inches with most of that going straight into the back seat. During a background briefing a couple of weeks before the New York reveal of the Malibu, I had a chance to sit in the back and it felt pretty much as spacious as the positively cavernous Hyundai Sonata. Both head and leg room were plentiful and several journalists that are considerably taller than my five-foot-ten-inch frame fit comfortably but I’m getting ahead of myself.
The Malibu’s new skin features plenty of thoughtful detailing including a pair of side character creases that converge as they approach the rear wheel arch. The effect is similar in some respects to the current Mercedes-Benz design language but executed in a more delicate fashion. The face of the car draws on the look of the new Volt and Impala before it with a fresher interpretation of the Chevy dual port grille. The grille itself has been nicely sculpted to keep it visually interesting without being cluttered. Overall, I would class the look a win and much better executed than last year’s refresh of the Toyota Camry.
Inside, the look overall impact of the dashboard is very similar to the second-generation Volt. With the extra room available in the Malibu, the central touch screen which has the appearance of a tablet sitting on the dash in the Volt doesn’t stand out quite as much here. Throughout the cabin, the materials appear to be of higher quality than the previous generation model.
The greasy bits
Under the skin is where things really get interesting. The previous incarnation of GM’s midsize Epsilon platform was designed to be stretched to a variety of sizes for different applications ranging from the Malibu to the Opel Insignia/Buick Regal and up to the Chevy Impala and even the Cadillac XTS. Among other things, it had to accommodate four cylinder and V6 engines which meant a beefier structure.
The new Epsilon architecture will no longer hold any engine with more than four cylinders. That decision helped the engineers take some weight out but that was just the start. The team reporting to chief engineer Jesse Ortega made extensive use of multi-disciplinary optimization (MDO). In short, MDO involves having all the teams including design, safety, body structure, chassis, manufacturing and powertrain collaborating to optimize across what would have traditionally been silos to simulate all the scenarios at once. The result is a more optimized package.
For instance, the decision was made to not support V6 engines for this new platform so the front structure was optimized to reduce weight. Similarly a variety of steel alloys were used throughout the structure in different gauges to provide rigidity where needed without carrying unneeded material. The bottom line is that Chevrolet managed to cut nearly 300 pounds from the curb weight without resorting to expensive or exotic materials.
Go power
The new Malibu will offer three different four-cylinder powertrains. At launch this fall, the base engine will be an all-new 1.5-liter turbocharged and direct-injected four-cylinder. This engine is part of GM’s new small gasoline family with three and four-cylinder engines ranging from 1.0 to 1.5 liters that was co-developed with Chinese joint-venture partner Shanghai Automotive Industries Company. A normally aspirated version of this engine powers the second-generation Volt.
In turbo form, this engine generates 160-horsepower and 184 lb.-ft. of torque. Paired with a six-speed automatic transmission and standard engine start-stop, the 1.5 is expected to hit about 27 mpg in the city and 37 mpg on the highway, about 2 mpg better than today’s 2.5-liter Malibu. The performance option will be the carryover 2.0-liter turbo, now paired with a new eight-speed automatic for 22 mpg city and 32 mpg highway, another 2 mpg improvement.
Those interested in maximum fuel efficiency will want to wait until early 2016 when the Malibu Hybrid goes on sale. This will be the first application of a new strong-hybrid system that shares its architecture and technology with the second-generation Volt. The 1.8-liter version of GM’s new midsize gasoline engine family pairs with a two-motor hybrid transmission and a 1.5-kilowatt-hour lithium ion battery to deliver a GM-estimated 48 mpg city, 45 mpg highway and 47 mpg combined. what GM projects at more than 45 mpg combined. Update: Malibu Hybrid mileage estimate updated based on new GM announcement at New York Auto Show.
Click here to read more about the hybrid powertrain for the 2016 Chevy Malibu
Adding smarts
Chevrolet is also amping up the technology available in the Malibu in the hope of leap-frogging the competition from Auburn Hills, Dearborn, Georgetown and Seoul. Based on what is known right now, the Malibu should have the most complete suite of advanced driver assist technologies in the segment:
- Adaptive Cruise Control with front automatic braking
- Intellibeam headlight control
- Blind zone alert with lane change alert
- Lane keeping assist and lane departure warning
- Front pedestrian alert with automatic braking which should be a segment first
- Forward collision alert
- Cross traffic alert
- Active parking assist for parallel and perpendicular parking
- Plus the usual array of airbags, rear cameras and other safety features
The Malibu will also have the first application of what GM is calling its Teen Driver system. This is basically the same as what Ford has had for several years under the MyKey brand to enable parents to program one or more key fobs to put limits on maximum speed, radio volume, persistent seat belt alerts and prevent disabling driver assists. Going beyond MyKey, Teen Driver also logs data that parents can access such as how many times active safety features were engaged, total distance driven and maximum speeds.
The next-generation MyLink infotainment will also be available along with GM’s wireless charging pad that supports both Qi and PowerMat standards for charging mobile devices. The top two trim levels also include a 110-volt AC outlet and two USB ports in the back seat to help keep the kids devices charged on road trips.
If the new Malibu drives as well as it looks and delivers on the promises of fuel economy and technology, Chevrolet could be jumping right back into the heart of the midsize sedan battle. We’ll find out in the coming months.
