Comments on: New Malibu almost got name change

By: chevy490

chevy490 — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 01:04:12 +0000

i like this car!

By: CTS DRIVER

CTS DRIVER — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 23:05:28 +0000

dang gm they ruined my whole life, if it wasnt for them i would be happy.

By: Piablo

Piablo — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 05:28:38 +0000

PrimeGTP – what else is new? Doesn’t matter what GM product it is, it’s going to be bashed by the same usual suspects.

By: PrimeGTP

PrimeGTP — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 02:36:44 +0000

I find it amusing that Malibu is bashed so easily for being characterless. What character does Camry have? Accord? Five Hundred/Taurus?

By: GarbageMotorsCo

GarbageMotorsCo — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 18:16:02 +0000

http://www.fleet-central.com/af/t_inside.cfm?action=news_pick&storyID=26266

They should call it the Caprice.

By: PrimeGTP

PrimeGTP — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 17:32:15 +0000

Impala is slated to move to the Camaro/G8/Commodore Zeta platform in 2009/10.

By: Brendino

Brendino — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 16:33:54 +0000

Good point. The Impala doesn’t have any kind of bad rep that I know of…maybe rental fodder, butt less so recently and it does sell really well.

But the current Impala is gonna stay around, right?

By: MyGodBeatsYourGod

MyGodBeatsYourGod — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 14:45:15 +0000

‘Impala’ would have been better than ‘Malibu’

By: GarbageMotorsCo

GarbageMotorsCo — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 14:35:46 +0000

Maybe they should call it the Corsica. And then a 2 door called the Beretta. In the end it will still end up a “Classic” dumped on the rental lots.

By: bb_454

bb_454 — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 14:32:43 +0000

The Chevy II became the Nova, right?

By: gotsmart

gotsmart — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 14:25:23 +0000

They were thinking of dropping the “Malibu” name?

I hope they were considering calling it the “Lumina”. Or maybe the “Celebrity EUROSPORT”.

That would have been *hilarious*!

By: HoosierHero

HoosierHero — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 14:10:48 +0000

Wow, the Malibu finally did something newsworthy… *yawn

By: buenos

buenos — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 13:35:12 +0000

There are lots of re-naming items in GM’s history.

The Pontiac Acadian (twin of the Chevette) became the ALL NEW T1000
The Pontiac J2000 became the Sunbird/Sunfire
The Pontiac LeMans became the Pontiac LeMans (mid size to a really bad Deawoo)
The Oldsmobile Cutlass became the Oldsmobile Cutlass (twin of the first Gen Malibu)

to name just a few…

By: Saud

Saud — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 13:23:39 +0000

Well the point is they didnt change it

By: europerspective

europerspective — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 08:05:52 +0000

Wow, maybe I should start reading Automotive News, they seem to get a scoop on all the really hot stories. If I ran a car news for enthusiasts site I would definitely reprint stories like this, rather than writing my own editorial.

By: Ricardo Head

Ricardo Head — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 07:43:13 +0000

If this were a Ford it would be a Falibu.

By: Manster

Manster — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 07:19:02 +0000

Well, at least they are not doing what they are doing over at Lincoln with that “MK” nonsense!

It used to be that a cars name evoked and emotion, a feeling. Cars such as Barracuda (’CUDA), Camaro, Firebird, Stingray, Mark Series (Mark VIII), and so on.

Now we get MKS, CTS, CLS,CRV, DTS, V70, MLO, DIK, SUX, ETC, ETC, ETC,

Where’s the connection? The new names are great for a lot of people as they really don’t require knowing how to SPELL@!

Jeez…….

By: S-60-driver

S-60-driver — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 05:07:56 +0000

hey, since we’re on the name changing, anybody remember the move that Chrysler pulled on the LHS with the Concorde? They dropped the LHS name and moved the Concorde name on the LHS body style.
.
Just saying that Ford isn’t alone with this kind of move. Anybody else know any more similar moves by any car company? I can’t remember anything else.

By: tristanw

tristanw — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 03:39:50 +0000

I like the comment from Jeff from Canada… I would sign myself uder that too (if he doesn’t mind).

By: brcart3r

brcart3r — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 03:19:54 +0000

Its smart for them to keep the name on it, renaming the car wont net them any profits. someone needs to scratch their heads over at chevy and create something that looks good on the interior like the milan. they need some good looks somewhere so people dont think its just the old malibu junk.

By: PrimeGTP

PrimeGTP — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 23:55:38 +0000

Whatever the name, it’s the car that matters in the end to educated consumers.

Malibu seems like a fairly plain, but capable mid-size FWD sedan.

By: bb_454

bb_454 — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 22:46:55 +0000

The all new 2008 Chevrolet Unicorn. Does that sound better? lol

By: TOZO

TOZO — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 22:20:46 +0000

Pontiacs need to be named after ferocious animals, disasterous weather phenomena, and mythological beasts. G5, G6, G8… goes nowhere.
Malibu – Malibu’s good for Chevy, but Taurus is tarnish – a dead old lackluster name without market value.

By: Jeff in Canada

Jeff in Canada — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 21:28:45 +0000

Slow news day indeed, Extra Extra! Something un-interesting almost happened!! You heard it here first!

I agree with some of the points so far, the Malibu name was not damaged as badly as the Grand Prix or Cavalier. However, I think the name of the product is one of the least important aspects of the product. A truly great product can have any name on the back and people will notice.
All the attention on Ford for reviving the Taurus won’t overshadow an inferior product. Call it what ever you want.

By: bb_454

bb_454 — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 20:25:18 +0000

You can tell its a VERY slow news day!

By: Matt

Matt — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 19:55:14 +0000

did they? oh dear(!)

By: buenos

buenos — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 19:37:04 +0000

GM abandoned the Cavalier name in favour of the Cobalt beacause it was felt that the name (brand) had been very damaged by the less than good product with which it was associated. The Grand Prix suffers from the same stigma, and with the introduction of the G8 goes in an entirely new direction, therefore the name change makes sense. The Malibu has not had the same stigma attached to it, and therefore is a name with more equity.

By: GarbageMotorsCo

GarbageMotorsCo — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 19:20:49 +0000

Malibu, GrandPrix, Taurus, their all the same.

Rental fodder.

By: F451

F451 — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 19:15:32 +0000

I fear that GM has promoted Mr. Potato Head, who is charge of the GM Rebadging Department. When will GM ever learn?

By: illwill

illwill — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 19:13:26 +0000

But the redesigned car is pretty sweet regardless of the name.

By: illwill

illwill — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 19:12:55 +0000

I dont like the name malibu, i’d much prefer it if they change the name into cavalier.

By: A4

A4 — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 19:09:19 +0000

the G8 is such a different car than the grand prix that it was necessary for a name change anyway…