General Motors has been systematically trimming its lineup for 2010 to better meet customer demands and the weak-selling Malibu Hybrid is the next to go on the chopping block. The move hardly comes as a surprise, considering the “mild” Hybrid’s fuel economy rating was only marginally better than the six-speed, traditional four-cylinder Malibu LT and LTZ.
Sales for the Malibu are fairly hot – significantly outpacing industry trends by being down only 14 percent this year – but the Hybrid variant, sold only in a handful of markets, has never really taken off. Priced about $2,000 above a conventional Malibu LT with the optional six-speed automatic, the Hybrid offered a 4 mpg higher in-town rating (26 mpg) and a mere 1 mpg higher highway rating (34 mpg). That doesn’t compare very well to Ford’s Fusion Hybrid, which is rated at 41 mpg in the city and 37 mpg on the highway.
GM says the base four-cylinder, which makes up the vast majority of Malibu sales, is now E85-capable and that the six-speed automatic will now be standard on all but the entry-level LS model. The six-speed’s extra cogs give it a 3 mpg highway advantage over the four-speed.
06/10, 11:40 AM
posted by:
Infiniti4ever
I remember when the redesigned Malabu came out, GM gave a free publicity to Honda and Toyota by comparing the Malibu to the Accord and Camry……as we all know, the Accord and Camry outsold the Malibu by a huge margin.
06/10, 11:41 AM
posted by:
bigs4610
GASP
hybrids aren’t as superior to internal combustion engines as people think????
OMG
06/10, 11:48 AM
posted by:
johnnycanuck
Someone should take the time and figure out how many advertising dollars were spent on this model per car sold. For what they undoubtedly doled out they could have made a real hybrid instead of this wannabe. And all in the name of getting the “H” word into the collective consciousness. Like the billboards plastered over all their behemoth SUVs wasn’t enough.
06/10, 11:54 AM
posted by:
Fletch
Such a disaster. GM had the EV in the early 90’s, they should have been so far ahead of the competition, yet they are not.
06/10, 12:10 PM
posted by:
A4
GM’s hybrids suck, thank god they’re leapfrogging the trend with the Volt though.
06/10, 12:40 PM
posted by:
idrinorbarsaku
thank god, it’s USELESS!!!!
06/10, 1:58 PM
posted by:
Blakkarr
A4,
Agreed. Half measures really are not going to cut it.
I actually foresee a bigger VOLT and that will be the new Malibu. That however is no for a few years yet.
06/10, 5:11 PM
posted by:
TomF
The LTZ comes with a six, it’s the LS and LT that come with a 4cyl.
06/10, 6:37 PM
posted by:
oldraven
bigs4610, you do know that Hybrids use Internal Combustion Engines, just like conventional powertrains, right?
Anyway, this is a good thing. The ‘mild’ Hybrid concept did the Malibu more damage to its name than good. They attempted to give the car a token Green sticker, but I guess they weren’t planning on anyone actually comparing it to any other hybrid car on the planet.
06/10, 8:01 PM
posted by:
olds307
At least the Malibu hybrid put Chevy sedans back into the NYC taxi fleet.
06/11, 12:37 PM
posted by:
global_lightning
Well, GM deserves this for pairing their advanced hybrid engine to a weak-sauce 4-speed slushbox. Yet another case of good engineering foiled by stupid accountants.