Agreed. The more I see the new Malibu's rear, the less I like it. Two generations in a row now that Malibu's design team has more or less knocked it out of the park up until the point where they styled the rear, where it gets a little goofy.

 

I thought the new Malibu grew in every dimension compared to the previous model so it would slot closer to the old Impala. Why would they cut wheelbase?

 

I've seen the new Malibu in person and I think it's way better looking than the outgoing one. And that's not easy to do when the outgoing one was good looking.
I don't have a feel for interior dimensions because I haven't compared them side by side.

But to say it's the most disliked vehicle? What a load of crap. Nothing but hyperbole to sell a magazine or get a click. What was their scientific method to determine it is the most disliked vehicle? We'll see what the public thinks. That's what counts.

 

I sat in one of the New Malibu's. Looked good in and out.

 

You are talking about the Malibu itself.

They are talking about the wisdom of the "Eco" version.

The Malibu itself has actually gotten quite a bit of praise.

The Eco version has not.

Unfortunately, the Eco version was the only model of the Malibu that GM offered when production started, and it has gotten a lot of grief.

That grief is 100% deserved.

When you compare the Eco model of the Malibu's mileage with lower priced conventionally powered competitors (or possibly even the lower priced version of itself), or to other Hybrids going for barely much more, those car magazines got it right.

Most disliked vehicle I think is a little overboard IMHO. But quite frankly, when you look at all cars (even ones you or I wouldn't be caught dead in), and take that car into the context of what it's trying to do, or what market it's aiming at, I really can't name a car on sale in the US that misses it's target by as much as the Malibu Eco, nor a car that is so maddeningly superficial about what it's trying to do as the Malibu Eco.

I dislike the Beetle and the Fiat 500 (though I kinda like the interior). I also all but hate Prius and Versas. However, they do hit the mark as far as the target they are hitting and I completely understand why they were made and people buy them.

You can't say this about the Malibu Eco, and although the wording is a bit extreme, there's no doubt I can understand why they reach that conclusion.

I will almost promise you that as soon as we start seeing tests of the non-Eco turbo Malibu (or even the 2.5) you aren't going to see the word hate anywhere in any articles about it.

 

I wonder how much a Voltec Malibu would cost.

Saw Bob Lutz on Jay Leno's Garage showing off the Via Motors Silverado with a 4.3L hooked to a generator with a 400HP electric motor, 24kWh battery pack, and 4WD. Supposedly 100MPGe and still full size payload and towing. Downside is that it costs near $79k supposedly.

 

This article does a good job summarizing what I've seen in the press about the new Malibu Eco.

What it doesn't mention that many of these articles have also pointed out is that the Malibu Eco's real world MPG are even more disappointing. When these mags are driving the Eco on the same test course as its competitors, it's returning significantly worse real world numbers relative to its EPA ratings than the other vehicles are.

So you have a mild hybrid with extra weight, extra cost and reduced room that already gets disappointing EPA numbers and gets even more disappointing real world numbers.

This is pretty embarrassing for GM. Hopefully their all new 2.5L I4 will at least be able to hang with the rest of the crowd.


As mentioned, that's the current Malibu's rating. The 2.5L is an 'all new' motor from what I've read. Not just a tweak of the 2.4. And the new Malibu is smaller and has direct injection where as the old one doesn't.

So 22/33 would be surprisingly bad. Really I think 24/35 is going to be the bare minimum to even be considered competitive, and again we'll have to see what it gets in the real world, too.

 

I like the front end, but not the back. And the mpg numbers are so disappointing for a supposedly re-engineered vehicle. The 2013 Impala looks so much better. Where are the guys that are supposed to help all of Chevy's cars look like the same brand? It's like they didn't do that for the '13 Malibu and '13 Impala.

Put this next to a '13 Fusion and its simply no contest. At least Impala and Taurus look like real next-gen vehicles.