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2012
Chevy Malibu
Review and Prices
We're taking another wild guess,
partly because the on-sale date is so far off, but also because GM
has learned how to build better products for less money and still
make a profit, and who knows how much more efficient they might be
by the new decade. So, gazing hard at the proverbial crystal ball:
$22,500 for a base four-cylinder model and up to $30,000 before
options for a line-topping Two-Mode Hybrid.
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Chevrolet
execs must be beaming these days. Not only has their midsize
Malibu sedan won
the 2008 North American Car of the Year award, it outpolled out a
key rival, the also-redesigned 2008 Honda Accord. That's an
impressive turnaround from the dishwater-dull Malibus of recent
years, considering that the NA COTY is chosen by a select group of
hard-headed automotive journalists.
Then again, the 2008
Chevrolet
Malibu has been winning rave reviews
since it first broke cover, and that's been very good for sales,
which must please bow-tie bigwigs even more. In fact, demand is
currently so strong that General Motors is talking about more
production to keep up.
But awards and buzz quickly fade from memory, and
there's no time to rest in today's fast-paced automotive world.
That's why Chevrolet
is already working on the next-generation
Malibu, which is
expected for model-year 2012, possibly 2011. Is
Chevy rushing
things? Hardly. It still takes four to five years for most vehicle
makers to take a new model from first thoughts to final assembly,
about three years once the basic design is locked-in. With
competition so fierce these days, it's never too early to start
thinking about tomorrow. |
2012 
