Report: New Malibu Refresh Will Address Rear Seat Room

[uvikrama]

Buick Lacrosse

Platform GM Epsilon II platform
Wheelbase 111.7 in (2,837 mm)
Length 196.9 in (5,001 mm)
Width 73.1 in (1,857 mm)
Height 59.2 in (1,504 mm)

2013 Chevrolet Malibu

Platform GM Epsilon II platform
Wheelbase 107.8 in (2,738 mm)
Length 191.3 in (4,859 mm)
Width 73.0 in (1,854 mm)
Height 57.6 in (1,463 mm)


The ideal solution seems to be is to right size the car ( move wheelbase to somewhere 109.8 range or even to 111.7, if they can leverage from lacrosse. Keep the length and other same ) than all the penny pinching excesses and get more bad name.

Bringing Clues from Impala is a wrong idea in my view. They will be finally similar sized cars and the main distinction should be style( like Hyundai Sonata and Kia Optima ). The clue bring up just will create internal competitions and not bring any external customers based on style.

In my view they should the refresh look modern, elegant, global looking car . For traditional customers , Impala will serve. The new look can hunt for some new people.

[BlackGTP]

Which likely means a shorter, flatter cushion and less generous padding all 'round in the rear. It will help a little, I suppose, but I really think the Malibu's problems go well beyond the back seat. In my own opinion, it's an overall design issue. The low and rakish C pillar is limiting to rear seat space (ask the ATS).

I wonder if the appearance of the new Impala might help Malibu sales? Once the current Impala is gone, screaming bargain that it is, the Malibu might look better (?)

The new Impala is going to send the Malibu sales a lot higher. I bet most of the fleet sales that go to the current Impala will shift to the Malibu due to the lower price. Then I bet a lot of the retail sales that now go to the cheap Impala also shift to the Malibu.

[BlackGTP]

So GM moved up the MCE, what will they now do for a refresh in 2 or 3 years?

[emh]

A lot of this is also the tail wagging the dog.

If you compare the rear seat metrics for vehicles in this segment, the Malibu is average. Sales volumes for other leading offerings with less rear seat space have not been affected.

I've said this in other threads but rear seat room by itself is not a problem. Vehicles like the Altima and the Sonata have about the same rear seat room (even less in some cases) *BUT* those cars deliver class-leading (or near) gas mileage. People are willing to give up space in return for better gas mileage.

With the Malibu, you give up rear room and still end up with near-worst-in-class gas mileage (especially in the mainstream trims -- i.e. non-Eco). That combination is the problem.

What that also means is that a marginal increase in rear seat leg room by itself will probably not be enough to greatly improve sales (unless it's going to have near-class-leading rear seat space, which I think is safe to say won't happen). This change in seating will have to be coupled with significant mileage improvements to make areal difference. I hope that's in the works as well.

[Elvisuperman]

Most people I've shown the new Malibu to aren't even aware its been updated. When I show them the previous gen-Malibu to show them it has been, they all ask "Whats the difference?"

(In defence of the Malibu, I get the same reaction with the new GM pick-ups too...)

[majicbz07]

This makes sense, because the other way, to actually lengthen the wheelbase, would be a long expensive change, while thinner front seatbacks andmoving the rear seat backs and other tweaks could help quickly. GM screwed up on this and is reacting quickly to change perceptions.

I don't think GM really screwed up on this with the Malibu, the whole point of this new Bu is to take it global and a lot of places outside of North America have smaller road ways and streets. Thats why this Accord and the last couple of gnerartions was deisigned mostly for NA and i want to think the Camry is as well. I don't think you can get this Accord anywhere outside the USA.

[spd98]

They need to find a few mpg when they open up the back seat!

[ne_one]

So GM moved up the MCE, what will they now do for a refresh in 2 or 3 years?

They're not classifying this as an MCE, it's damage control.

I don't think GM really screwed up on this with the Malibu, the whole point of this new Bu is to take it global and a lot of places outside of North America have smaller road ways and streets.

Early reports maintained that the Malibu would have different proportions for the domestic and international markets. It's very common among manufacturers to design different versions of the same vehicle to address specific markets. A "one size fits all" strategy simply doesn't cut it.

[sfdenny]

Isn't the rear seat room problem because of the Regal bones? That's where they went wrong. Couldn't they have updated the old platform until a new one was ready? Or is that the new Impala's intended role? "Ya want something roomier? Step over here lady, and try the back seat in this Impala..."

[yello430]

Automotive News

January 17, 2013

Article Quotes

DETROIT (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Co., seeking to revive sales of its new Chevrolet Malibu, is working on speedy design changes to the sedan -- including the rear seating -- to make it more competitive with other midsize models, two people familiar with the effort said.

Updates will make the back seat feel roomier and the front end will gain some styling cues from the new Chevrolet Impala, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans are private. The revamped version would reach showrooms in the third quarter, the people said. Swift improvements are needed to compete in the segment that includes five of the 20 most popular vehicles in the U.S.

While Mary Barra, GM senior vice president of global product development, said that some consumers were complaining about the back seats, she declined to comment on what’s being changed with the Malibu. CEO Dan Akerson told Automotive News in an interview late last year that changes were being made without elaborating.

“We’ve got some tweaks that we’ve made, that we already had planned, that will be coming out in the not-too-distant future that I think will assist,” Barra said this week in an interview at the Detroit auto show.

Be interesting to see how they increase rear legroom/volume/perceived space without an increase in wheelbase.
Altering/hollowing out the front seatbacks,clipping off the leading edges of the rear seat,etc.can give some relief,but the avg. buyer will hardly notice IMO

[All Star]

Third quarter....this year? This is going to be a 2014 model then? Interesting.

This is clearly the missing link when Chevy talks about the umpteen amount of new models for this year.

[cdp326]

Read the reviews -- the basic bones of the Malibu actually are potentially competitive. The product just seems to need a bit more polishing to push it towards the front of the competitive set.

QFT, most of the good parts seem to be there, it just needs to be refined some. Many of the complaints with the old Malibu were fixed (like the feature set and trunk access), but they didn't improve some areas enough along the way.

I agree on the whole. Perhaps the trouble with the Malibu seems so wrenching because such situations have become far more rare with GM as in the past? I do applaud them for the Mea-Culpa and the swift effort to address the issue.

On the other hand, I am surprised and disappointed that it happened at all, given the new momentum of the company, it's lighter-meaner stance, and the incredible talent that work there.

As I've written, I feel the Malibu suffers from overall design issues, but that's a subjective matter. Others think it's beautiful.

Yes, building on that I think it's disappointing coming off their recent, successful introductions. Malibu seems out of step with them.

Most of their lineup tends to be heavy for the respective segments, but Sonic and Cruze also have as large or larger interiors than their competitors, match them in efficiency (or better depending on trim), and still offer good value and refinement. Actually mileage of the Cruze was initially a criticism especially in light of the 40 mpg (at the time!) Elantra, but they improved the '12 Cruze. But then, the new Malibu came out behind competitors in mileage as well - only a slight improvement over the mileage rating that was top of the segment, with the 6-speed auto '08 Malibu.

They've barely touched Equinox which is entering its fourth model year, but it still compares reasonably well with brand-new competitors, while brand-new Malibu fell short against brand-new competitors.

Some claimed the negative reviews were media bias, but the same reviewers generally had high praise for the Sonic in the year before, even ranking well in comparison tests with two 2nd place finishes. That's a segment GM had a tough time winning critics (and buyers, which have gone on to buy lots of Sonics), while the outgoing Malibu had been well-received in '08 (even voted NACOTY) and so shouldn't be at a disadvantage.

Bringing Clues from Impala is a wrong idea in my view. They will be finally similar sized cars and the main distinction should be style( like Hyundai Sonata and Kia Optima ). The clue bring up just will create internal competitions and not bring any external customers based on style.

In my view they should the refresh look modern, elegant, global looking car . For traditional customers , Impala will serve. The new look can hunt for some new people.

Cues from Impala should just mean it will be brought in line with the newer family look, the Impala is just the most obvious example. The same will be true of the Cruze.

So GM moved up the MCE, what will they now do for a refresh in 2 or 3 years?

Probably see a full redesign then.

With the product cycle that could give it a boost so nearly all of the redesigns don't go on sale within the same ~2 years time like they just did.

I've said this in other threads but rear seat room by itself is not a problem. Vehicles like the Altima and the Sonata have about the same rear seat room (even less in some cases) *BUT* those cars deliver class-leading (or near) gas mileage. People are willing to give up space in return for better gas mileage.

With the Malibu, you give up rear room and still end up with near-worst-in-class gas mileage (especially in the mainstream trims -- i.e. non-Eco). That combination is the problem.

What that also means is that a marginal increase in rear seat leg room by itself will probably not be enough to greatly improve sales (unless it's going to have near-class-leading rear seat space, which I think is safe to say won't happen). This change in seating will have to be coupled with significant mileage improvements to make areal difference. I hope that's in the works as well.

Agreed, rear seat room in and of itself isn't "the problem," it's one spec on the chart - it doesn't compare well in price or mileage. Sonata uses value and (love it or hate it) styling, Altima uses mileage and innovation/convenience. A huge interior for Malibu would be a way to offset those factors, but that wouldn't happen short of a redesign. It doesn't need to be class-leading in every area, but it should compare more favorably in several in order for somebody to find out its other advantages in person, like the oft-cited quietness/refinement. Mix in some more value for the money, and it will be more appealing.

Oh, quality marketing too. No holograms of people surfing superimposed on the body panels of the Malibu...

[andretti]

I don't think GM really screwed up on this with the Malibu, the whole point of this new Bu is to take it global and a lot of places outside of North America have smaller road ways and streets. Thats why this Accord and the last couple of gnerartions was deisigned mostly for NA and i want to think the Camry is as well. I don't think you can get this Accord anywhere outside the USA.

The 2013 Malibu and Accord are almost identical in exterior dimensions (the only thing that matters for small roads) However, the Malibu is smaller in virtually every interior dimension (exception it has a slightly larger trunk)

[1487]

Good, now everyone here can know what to complain about next, the thin front seats of course!! Also, of course the re-design will add too much legroom in the rear, so people here will also be able to complain about how GM is out of touch making land yachts with huge back seats like if was the 70's or something....


If you get a chance to talk to Reuss again, tell him to slap some rear a/c vents back there too.

Rear vents are nice but adding ducts through the center console makes for anemic storage. The regal has rear vents and its console storage bin is pretty small and only deep enough for a CD.

I dont think these changes will satisfy people here or make a major dent in sales. The BIGGEST thing they could do improve sales would be to add more standard kit and leave base prices the same. Increase the value and reduce the number of options at every trim level. Make memory and HIDs standard on the LTZ for example. Make the LTZ 2.5 top out at $30k vs $34k.

[1487]

The 2013 Malibu and Accord are almost identical in exterior dimensions (the only thing that matters for small roads) However, the Malibu is smaller in virtually every interior dimension (exception it has a slightly larger trunk)

accords and camrys typically are not world cars, they are for the US market only and tend to be larger than their counterparts sold overseas under the same brand name. Malibu is slightly smaller than Accord, the gap isn't huge. It has 100 cu ft of interior space.