Looks like another GM hit! Especially love the squiggly paint job.

Watch out Accord and Camry… we gonna get you!

GMRules, the Malibu will never be able to compete with a Camry or an Accord in terms of fit, reliabilty or value. Accept it, your fanboi-ism is so pathetic.

its good til the from the front all the way until right before the taillights, lets hope those arent the production shape

If I didn’t know better I would say GMrules sounded sarcastic…

Looks classy, much better than that desguised Focus a few posts down…

Looks bland, like the current Vectra. May be decent for GM but the rest of the design world has moved on. The new Hyundai Sonata has nicer lines. And didn’t they learn from the last one that the truck front end doesn’t sell?

I cant really tell yet ,…But I think those headlights are gonna look outta place.

#3… Sorry… I ragged on GM as much as anyone, but I can honestly say that the Camry and Accord… ain’t all that. Dude… if Hyundai can build a Sonata that can seriously compete with those two, I have no doubt that a we-are-making-the-turnaround GM can too.

And truthfully, if we’re going to be ragging on anyone around here, it should probably be Ford.

So long as UAW is building GM cars, GM will never turnaround.

it’s just more overweight, wallowy crap from GM.

Looks alot better than the one they sell now, I wonder if its RWD?

”the Malibu will never be able to compete with a Camry or an Accord in terms of fit, reliabilty or value.”

yoda: so sure are you?

Still won’t hold it’s own against the far better competition (Accord, Camry, Altima, Legacy, Mazda6, Passat)

accord and camry have boring designs, altima engines catch of fire, legacy is a very nice vehicle and mazada 6 is a ford, and we all know what kind of **** they are putting out. I think if gm keeps putting out better vehicle like they have been the last couple of years they will be back soon.

Is this going to be rear wheel drive? It does not say anywhere.

A very nice Malibu from GM. A big departure from the current boring car. It has nice stance and the body is crisp and clean. It really looks like the new Opel Omega when viewed for the first time. Very UnGM-like. I hope they follow the design lines of the Saturn/Opel design language. I agree, the “Tahoe family look” doesn’t work on cars. It makes the Five Hundred look old LOL…

It is a EPS II platform which is FWD or AWD. Not sure if they will offer the AWD on the Malibu though.

It Does Have A Lot Of Body Mass A Crease Should Fix That. I Wish The Roof Was Alittle Lower. But If Powered Right(250-270bhp) This May Be The Car To Save Gm Or At Least Help. Until Teh Next Impala.

#19 – really?

This is another lame FWD platform? AWD on a FWD platform still sucks.

GM, you are retarded.

It looks better and way more VAG in detail than Hertz like the present model. Will wait to see the production version

It’s clear to me that GM got the hint: styling is an important part of the equation when it comes to building cars. They’ve managed to long work out the bugs in reliability, styling looks like it’s in good hands, and I can only hope they are paying every bit as much attention to interior build quality and fit & finish in general. The thing that irritates me about GM and Ford is that these new cars of theirs look great in photos but don’t stand up to the competition when you get your hands on them – you can always tell where the corners were cut just by touching the dash. If GM follows Ford’s pattern with the F-150, the Fusion, and the Mustang, then I won’t be worried.

Speaking of Ford, chuck (#16) – the Mazda6 is a Mazda. Ford is the one borrowing from them for the Ford Fusion and the Lincoln Zephyr (now known as the MKZ). The CD3 platform, of which is the basis for the Mazda6, was developed by Mazda and is being applied to other cars as Ford sees fit; they can do that because they own Mazda. Your point would be at least half correct had you mentioned a Mazda3. (Too bad we’re talking midsize cars here and not compacts.) The Mazda3 rides on the C1 platform, and that is a design developed by Ford so it can be used in the Volvo S40 and Euro Focus as well. Considering the raving praise lauded on the Mazda3, the Volvo S40, and the Euro Ford Focus, not to mention owning a 3 myself, I don’t have a problem with Ford DNA in my car. The kind of “****” Ford is putting out is “The ****”.

There are going to be some “Going out of business” sales at the Import stores, i can see it now! Everyone would rather have a GM vehicle than some overhyped pile of ****. Time to dump your Accord, Camry, Altima, Mazda 6 and Subaru Legacy for a real car. The 2008 Chevrolet Malibu is going to kill every other vehicle on the road. The American Revolution is in full force and taking names. GM will own ALL of the competition across the globe

I just wet myself laughing at the above comments. I’m all for competition in the market and would love to see rejuvenated GM and Ford products on my shopping list, but having only one car maker would make that maker very complacent and it would start producing **** again. #24 you should love the competition not hate it.

actually GM is planning to make all of their cars RWD, its one of their incentives

I like this, much better shape then the current model. Now if this model gets a better interior along with a more advanced engine and transmisson it could really stack up against the accord and camry.

GM (and Ford, for that matter) really need to shorten their overhangs. What otherwise looks like a nice design here is instantly dated by long overhangs.

The grille, BTW, reminds me more of the recent red swoopy Chevy concept sedan (sorry, I can’t remember the name) than the Tahoe. All the rumors have been saying we’d see the noses of future Chevy sedans inspired by that concept car.

Renton, Every car it is competing against is front wheel drive, so what exactly are you talking about.

The fact that GM is starting to come out with very good, very competitive, very well made and very stylish cars (like the new Malibu here) will come as a nasty surprise to a lot of imports. A very nasty surprise.

RWD is great in a 3 series or sporting sedan, but I bet it wouldn’t make any of you guys buy a Malibu or Camry or Accord so stop going on about whether it is fwd or RWD as on a car like this it makes no difference. This looks way better than the current generation and may even be nearly up to Passat standards.

Don’t you mean “Go down” to Passat Standards? I hope not!

#19, this is still Epsilon I. The Epsilon II Malibu will be out in 2010. It got delayed so GM can speed up the Zeta cars. The next Impala should be on Zeta and its styling cues should be from the 60’s Impala.

#26, GM is not dumping the FWD market. The cars that are going to be RWD are the Camaro, Corvette, G8( Grand Prix replacement), GTO( if it comes back. Still a bit iffy), Impala, DTS, Lucerne/Statesmen, and possibly the Velite( if there still funds left over from the other Zeta’s).

I agree that if Hyundai can build a Camry killer, GM can too. But this is not it. Hyundai has a shorter distance to go. When I worked for a Chevy dealer, I owned a 2004 Malibu. I liked it but I can honestly say that beyond having some unique options that the Camry and Accord do not have, there is no way they come close to the quality. The new camry looks and feels like money.

well from what i can tell GM has another great vehicle coming up! How can anybody say at this point if its goin to be the camry or accord killer or not… come on now people.. no body knows anything about this malibu yet! Dont make judgments just because of the past Malibu sucked! They only way anybody can tell if this will hurt the carmy and accord is to wait till the details come out and/or being able to test drive one for yourself!!!

But i do think that the new malibu does look promising!

White trash and car rental agencies, feel free to rejoice! No one with any pride would want to drive something called a “Malibu.” Another pos that will depreciate 50% within one year after purchase.

i like the tail lamps

eww

nicely said jtg.

Renton….there you go again ! Yee of little faith.

Not bad, similar lights as the past Impala and current Cobalt and Corvette.

a step far above the current version. This will sell like hotcakes.

a step far above the current version. This will sell like hotcakes.

That front took its inspiration from the SS concept, some brightwork and a quality interior could make this a winner.

Bla bla bla blaccord yack yack yack yacamrey
When will some of you stop drinking koolaid. Imports are not all that anymore thanany other car company in this day and age. Considering the level of compititon in this terrible economic market your going to tell me GM has a “I dont give a sh#@ throw it together cheap ” attitude. Get your head out of the clouds and look back into reality dudes. Your crazy if you think quality isn’t up to par in all companies. come..on!!

Plus………That car is sweet!!
Don’t lie to yourself!

Can we wait and see this vehicle in production trim before we declare it better than sliced bread?

And all of u who think ToyohonNiss are holy, please think again, tables can Turn..
Just look at the new Hyundai’s GM SUV’s and Cadillac’s, Ford’s Lincolns, Jarguars, etc…

Japanese products are not unbeatable. And only a fool spend thousands of $$$ without cross shopping

So before u buy that Sonata or Accord, please go to your Mazda or Ford Dealer, and test drive the 500 or Milan, and then give Holy Honda your money.

Do not rely on Motortrend to make decisions for u. Nor your folly of brand royalty. You will end up loosing

I like it. Will it be an Accord or Camry killer? Probably not because of all the import lovers (as in this forum) unwilling to even try it. Keep in mind, Toyota has over twice the recalls (talk about quality!)this past year as GM and Honda, well I have nothing on them (although I personally don’t like their new styling trend, just me though). I just hope GM doesn’t go cheap as hell on the interior or put a pansy engine in this thing.

It sure looks better than the Camry but that wasn’t much of a task. That Camry is hideous.

It sure scares the bejezus out of the import bootlickers too, they are falling all over themselves making up excuses.

Time for GM to reclaim the most sold car in America.

This car has always been rental fodder and I’d expect no difference with the next one. Another wonder of mediocrity from the king of mediocrity that is GM.

This exact hype that you GM fans have pined on this next Malibu is no different from the hype that was the current model in 2003. And look how that one turned out.

The 1997 Malibu and its corporate badgemate the Cutlass won “car of the year” from none other than MotorTrend Mbuku Kanyau so you were correct in 1997.

Put a pickup truck bed on the back and then call me…

Front grill looks great! Very aggressive. I hope they change the headlights a bit…..those side markers stick out way too far! (I doubt they are the finished product though). The rest of the car looks pretty good too. A BA-ZILLION TIMES BETTER THAN THE CURRENT VERSION!!!

From what I can tell under the disguise GM may have hired Chris Bangle to design the front of the car. Something so revolutionary that it looks like a 7-series going down the road … in reverse.

It dosent look that bad, at last looks better than the ugly new Chrysler Avenger, lets see how the finalproduct looks

Not bad at all. I was expecting far worse, but this Chevy looks contemporary and confident.

Meeh… I’m not holding my breath.

current and first generation(1998-99) malibus werent bad, and thousands cheaper than overpriced imports. reliable too.

My 05 Malibu LT is 2 years old…great in the snow…never in the shop…peppy V-6… 32-34 mpg on the road and over $5,000 cheaper after rebates/offers than my parents Camry…the 08 in SS form should be a winner…buy american !!!!

SCDD.

Same Chevy; Different Day.

Looks like a direct competitor to the VW Passat.
Very similar.
Except the Malibu will own the Passat on pricing and reliability.
The current Malibu, despite its hideous ugliness, is the most reliable midsized sedan on the market, according to JD Power.

Always a rental, always will be.