smk4565

300 hp in a front drive car is too much. The 252 in the Malibu is fine, but the 17/26 mpg is not when the Accord is 19/29. GM should have gotten better mileage out of it, or made a new 3.2 liter DI V6 with 250 hp that could get 20/30 mpg. I think the 2.0 turbo is underutilized also, 260 hp and 22/31 mpg, that is tough to beat. They have to try something, they are still chasing the competition, which they can't do forever.

The Malibu looks nice, I really like the styling, but I think the interior (the gray and cloth ones) will be a let down compared to other cars in the class. 4-cylinder refinement and the V6's power/fuel economy doesn't match the other cars, plus the Japanese have the reputation for reliability that Chevy doesn't have. It is shame too, the Malibu looks great, but I fear they missed on some details and people will select the Accord and Camry over it. GM still plays catch up in a lot of segments, even if they build a car equal to the Accord, why would Accord owners trade in on an equal car. To break that loyalty GM needs cars that are 15% better than the next best car in the class.

It was probably costly to do, so I could see how there would be better use of marketing dollars. I suspect the real reason is because they are afraid of the 2008 Accord. The 08 Accord V6 is a tick faster 0-60 than the 304 hp CTS, so it must really blow away a Malibu or Aura. I don't know if GM has what it takes to compete in the small to midsize car segment. To do it right they have to abandon all the old platforms like the W-body and abandon the 4-speeds and pushrods and almost start all over. Even the 252 hp 3.6 liter is lagging in the class. The Accord, Camry and Altima are all near 270, even the Ford 3.5 liter is 263 hp. The Malibu V6 loses the fuel economy battle with the Accord and Camry as well. 250 hp is fine if they were getting 20/30 mpg, but they are getting 17/26.

I like that pricing. GM needs to focus on building a good car, and not worry about being the price leader. The price leader strategy has failed many times over. I think 1LT should be LS and 2LT just LT to avoid confusion, and call the base model nothing. They should work on a direct injection 4-cylinder also, GM is a little behind on good 4-cylinders and they could push the turbo 4s more as a fuel efficient, performance option. It is a shame the 2.0 turbo is only in the Solstice/Sky and HHR. They should use turbo DI 4 cylinders in other cars like the Aura and Malibu.

A hybrid would make sense. This car might struggle some with $3+ gas prices. The G8 seems like GTO part 2. Pontiac has a weak image, getting people to fork over $30-35,000 for one is tough. And I personally the G8 looks bland inside and out, much like the GTO did.

I noticed looking at used ones, the Sky usually is $25,000+ used, while the Solstice is typically $22-23,000. I know the Sky is more new, but it seems that they don't lose value at all and are in high demand. If the Solstice had a Toyota badge on front it would double it's sales easily. Problem is, it's a Pontiac, and most people think of Pontiac as a cheap, plastic inside and body cladded outside rental car. Pontiacs are low priced, mainly fleet cars, that makes them undesireable. Vibe has a base of about $16,000, G5, 15,000, G6 $18,000, Grand Prix and Torrent were around $22,000. Those are rather low considering the average new car sale price is $30,000 and most CamCord type cars are $22-26,000. Pontiac has become GM's lowest end brand really, almost like Plymouth was in the 90s.

Torrana would have been nice. The G6 should not be front drive. The Malibu, Aura, Impala, Lacrosse, Cobalt, Lucerne, G5, HHR, Vibe, etc are all front drive. VS GM's rear drive cars that cost less than a CTS: Solstice, Sky. They have enough front drive rebadges as it is, might as well make a rear drive sedan.

This car is ugly. This is typical Pontiac, they think a bigger grille with more plastic honeycomb, hood scoops, and tacked on spoilers look good, but it mostly looks tacky and cheap, much like the plastic body cladding of the 90s cars. The other problem is will people want to pay near $27,000 for a car that has a $18,000 counter part that is on Avis and Alamo lots. The G6's interior is very rental car like, big wheels and a spoiler don't help that, plus 250 hp isn't that great, a Camry is 268. The Malibu is way better than this car, it looks classier, looks more expensive, better interior, same powertrain. I think someone would be nuts to buy this over the Aura or Malibu. If Pontiac were smart (which they are not) they would have put the 2.0 liter turbo four in this car. Then they have 260 hp, 260 lb-ft and about 4 mpg better than the V6 makes. Otherwise this is just an Aura XR rebadge with a far worse interior and uglier exterior. This is why Pontaic's image is in the toilet, and the Solstice is losing sales. If the Solstice had a different badge on front it would sell better.

The lower grille is too big, and it looks a little like a jelly bean, but other than that the car looks fantastic. The headlights are great, looks a lot like the Mondeo in front which is a good thing. This car and the Mondeo both look more expensive than they are. Ford could have some success with this styling theme, I don't know why they don't style some cars like this here, the Fusion looks pretty good, but the Focus and Taurus are ugly. I am not a big Ford fan, but I'd like to see them improve, rather than Toyota and Honda just continually crushing them.

Why is GM only spending $3 billion on fuel cells and hybrids? Unless they mean $3 billion a year for the next 10-15 years. Toyota's yearly R&D budget is about $15 billion.

They will sell over 60,000 a year. Year 1 might be tough depending on battery supplies, but no doubt they will sell everyone they build. The Prius has horrible handling, acceleration and braking, and it is about $23,000 yet they sell over 200,000 a year, it is the 6th or 7th best selling car on the market. Gas mileage sells.

I agree with the LT thing, Chevy does this on every model, some have LT 1, 2, 3. Cars should be base (which has no label) then LS, LT, LTZ. That is 4 trim levels with no repeats. On cars with 2 trim levels they can use just LS, LT. The 4 cylinder should be base, LS, LT. The hybrid should be LS, LT, LTZ. V6 they can limit to LT, LTZ. They messed this all up though, what about people that want a luxury interior and high gas mileage? The hybrid has the low end interior only, and the nicer cars are 17/26 mpg V6 only. Personally I like power, but some people could care less and buy based on gas mileage, and Toyota offers leather and XLE trim with a fuel sipping 4 cylinder.

This car looks more proportional than the CTS, without the bulky high trunk and from the side looks a little more expensive than the CTS does. The tail lights and spoiler look cheap though, and the car is still to bland looking, the grille helps, but the rounded headlights and overall shape disappear into the crowd. The interior is not up to par, too many big gaps, and the materials aren't nice enough. This car was doomed from day 1 when they went for a base price of $43,000, they had to cost cut too much. The Mercedes E-class base price is nearly $8000 higher, no wonder they have a richer looking car. Cadillac has to get their lineup straightened out fast, this car and the DTS aren't going to make it past 2009, they are both losing sales and the DTS is over 30% fleet sales, image is shaky there. Once that happens, Cadillac has the CTS, BRX, Escalade and aging XLR, sounds like a slightly nicer version of Lincoln's MKZ, MKX, and Navigator lineup. Audi, BMW, and Mercedes have a big product assault coming, Lexus has a sports car, and new RX350, Cadillac needs better stuff soon, I really don't want them to become the next Lincoln.

The base wheels and gray plastic cover instead of fog lights is really bad. They shouldn't even make that model, it looks like a renal. This car should have a $1000 higher base price, so they can make them all look good. I like the overall look of the loaded model, but the trunk still looks a bit high and bulky to me.

This car shouldn't even have fleet sales. That is what the G6, Malibu Classic, Impala, etc are for. If Avis wants one, make them buy the LTZ at sticker price, then the resale value won't get wrecked. I have seen 06 Malibus for $12,900 and 07 Malibu V6s for $14,900 or so. Yet an 02-03 Camry 4 cylinder will sell for $13,000. Given that big a gap in resale, why will people buy a new Chevy. I wish they would stop the fleet sales of their good cars.

Carbiz is right. They need less dealers, and to execute cars like the Malibu well to keep sales and profits up. Obviously GM can't close 4 brands, but they could close 1 or 2 and limit Pontiac and Buick to three models each. They have to cut down the number of brands and models to market. Not massive cuts, but enough that allows them to develop more class leaders, less of the losers. The Camry and Corolla are going to combine to sell over 800,000 cars this year. So I don't see why if they scrap the G6 and G5 and make the Malibu and Cobalt best in class they can't get 650,000-700,000 sales. The Malibu will likely be the best family sedan GM has ever built, I hope they don't neglect it like they did with the Trailblazer or some other cars.

This I disagree with. Saab has lost money 15 of 17 years, why keep them. Pontiac and Buick are losing sales fast. If the new Malibu is better than a Camry or Accord, why would a GM fan want a plastic piece of junk G6 over a Malibu? 4 great cars will always outsell (in retail) 8-10 mediocre ones.

In response to Caddy XLR-V, it would be nice if GM could make 3 excellent Pontiacs, 3 excellent Buicks, and make them what they intended, but they have failed badly over the past 10 years to do that. Instead they have made rebadges and tried to use smoke and mirrors marketing to say how it is better than a Chevy. Problem is GM doesn't have the money to do what they want. Toyota spends about $15 billion a year on product development, GM spends about $14 billion. GM has 8 brands, Toyota 3. GM can't outspend Toyota, that is why they have the current gen Malibu, G6, and W-bodies that are all average cars that rely heavily on fleet sales, and Toyota dumped all their money into one car and made a winner. I don't see GM, which currently 25% fleet sale, cutting to about 10% fleet sale. So they might as well make one brand that is a fleet brand that has more dated cars, then the other brands can get better resale values. They can cut brands and boost sales, it is very possible. They had 40% market share, added Saab, Saturn and Hummer, and now have 24% market share. If they narrow their focus and build world class cars they will gain sales. If they function the same as they did in the 80s and 90s and rebadge like crazy and use dated platforms or leave a car on the market for 8 years (Trailblazer) then the imports will keep cutting into their market share. Thegriffon is right, everything at GM is value priced, and that hasn't helped. Especially with Cadillac, who wants a luxury car with "costs less than a BMW" as it's #1 feature.

About the 3 amigos, they could probably make Pontiac 100% fleet sale for the next 5 years and kill the brand. The Solstice can move to chevy, the would be rear drive Alpha car can be a Saturn designed to compete with the Mini, VWs, Volvo C30 or whatever that ugly thing is. The G8 would not be needed because the zeta Impala would take care of that. If they wipe out Saab and Pontiac, they could divert resources to Cadillac and Chevy where they need it. Cadillac is the last high end American brand, if they fall like the rest have, GM and American cars will lose credibility, just has imports have gained credibility because so many high end cars are imports. Cadillac doesn't have enough in the pipeline right now to keep up with MB, BMW and Lexus. The Malibu could be great, but I worry GM will hold back on technology and penny pinch, and fleet sell it, and prevent it from being a great car.

Right now Pontiac is basically a $16k to $29k brand, Buick has 2 models that base under $26,000 and always have a discount on top of that. They overlap Chevy already, one of them should die or become the fleet sale brand. Saturn should probably move up $1500 in price and put better interiors in there, because the Euro-style buyers are more demanding and aren't going to be impressed with the base Aura. The Camry and Accord can run to the high $20s. I Malibu LTZ with the wheel upgrade and sunroof and all options is $26,000 or so now, so I don't see a problem with a base Malibu being $19,500 and the LTZ with every option box and destination charge being $27,980 or so. The Malibu for the last 10 years has been cheaper ("the value alternative") than the Camry and the Camry has crushed it in sales every year. Price doesn't matter at all. They will never beat Toyota on price, they have to beat them on gas mileage, fit and finish, reliability, quality, resale value and image. Those are the hard ones, beating them on driving dynamics should be simple. GM has tried the "value alternative" for years and they have built junk. The whole w-body lineup is a joke, their minivan was about $4000 less than the Honda, yet the Honda outsold it with ease. All "cheaper than a Camry" car are good for is rental sales, that is why so many Chevy's and Pontiacs 30-60% fleet sale and the Camry is 7% fleet sale. People won't buy junk just because it is cheaper, they are going to buy a good vehicle that is built to last.

I second that, every Malibu should be 6-speed auto standard. The hybrid has a 4-speed auto, so I don't see how great the fuel economy can be with an old transmission. The Ecotec family could use an update too do make them smoother, and add direct injection. The Ecotecs aren't that refined, and they don't deliver any kind of spectacular fuel economy numbers, basically average.

The interior is nice, the materials look high quality, and they blend the leather, wood and metal trim all well. I dislike analog clocks in any car, and I don't like the navigation controls, although it isn't as bad as the M45. Other than those 2 things I like the interior, and the engine start button is nice, I wish the CTS had that. The exterior is bad, the G35 front looks ok, but odd since it is so tall, and the back is just horrid. From the side it looks like almost like a tall sedan, but kind of like a wagon, kind of like a Nissan Vera shape, but raised up like a Subaru Outback sedan. Very odd looking.

Chevy is the mainstream brand. Saturn is more of a niche brand that should be made a little more upscale (finer interiors, more fuel efficiency) to get Mazda or VW, or Mini Cooper type buyers. Buick is a old person's car, they would have to spend $5 billion probably to change that. I read the Malibu was going to be around 19 or 20,000 up to 28,000 when fully loaded. This is their car to fight the Camry, they need to invest heavily in it. If they can't sell 350-400,000 a year they are doing something wrong. The Camry is making a run at outselling the entire Buick and Saturn brands combined. Think of the cost advantage that gives Toyota. 1 car to design and advertise, vs 8 cars/trucks for GM to design and advertise to get the same sales.

GM loves to do this. They have too many models to continually advertise, and they change names like crazy, so they advertise a ton when the vehicle is new, then forget about it for 5 years and watch sales die. This is why Saab is a waste of time, the whole brand sells 30-35,000 a year in the US, and they keep putting money into it. That money should go to the Malibu and a new Cobalt that can crush the Civic. They need to sustain Malibu advertising and upgrades to the vehicle. The goal should be 350,000+ sales with only 5% volume from fleets. I'd like to see 400,000 sales a year be the target, but I know that is too lofty for GM to go for.

This car in real life in LTZ trim looks as good or better than the Camaro or CTS. It is a great looking car with the silver wire mesh grill. Fleet sales should be limited to 5%. The Camry and Accord are about 7% and the Malibu should be less. The Impala is already a fleet sale god, the Cobalt isn't far behind, if GM wants Chevy to be a legit brand to compete with Toyota and other imports they need to cut fleet sales and plain white with gray interior super base models that only Avis buys. They can fleet sell Pontiac G6s and G5s and Vibes.