Why GM Discontinued The Chevy Malibu In 2024
The Chevy Malibu is done, according to a report by Reuters, and will officially end production in November of this year. As to why Chevy has ended the nameplate of one its longest-running cars, there are a number of reasons. First, American automakers sell very few sedans nowadays. Ford axed all of its cars in 2018, Stellantis (the owner of Dodge) will only have the Dodge Charger in the future, and Chevy discontinued the Impala and Volt a number of years ago, leaving the now-deceased Malibu as the only contemporary Chevy sedan. Only Cadillac is still clinging to sedans.
Secondly, the Malibu is not part of General Motors' plans for an electrified future. There was briefly a hybrid version of the Malibu, but that wasn't enough to stay its sentence. General Motors is reportedly dumping $390 million in to its newly electric-vehicle-focused plant in Kansas. The Fairfax Assembly in Kansas City, KS, will be the final home of the Malibu, before the plant is converted and retooled to build the next Chevy Bolt.
The Malibu will not be part of the EV future
No matter how you swing it, the Malibu wasn't going to be around for much longer, as GM's customer base clearly favors crossovers instead of sedans. The Malibu has been around in some capacity since 1964, and Chevy has sold well over 10 million of them in that six-decade period. It's had a good run. Chevy hasn't updated the Malibu much since 2019, meaning the writing has been on the wall for at least a few years. The Malibu was a nicely appointed car for the price and generally a really good value, it's just unfortunate it had to meet its end.
Automotive trends rise and fall over the decades, and while American automakers are firmly within the Age of the Crossover, that doesn't mean the American sedan is dead forever. Cadillac is still holding the sedan torch for GM, and it doesn't look like Cadillac sedans are going away anytime soon.