Chevy Malibu sheds weight, gains room with sculpted 2016 makeover

NEW YORK -- The next-generation Chevrolet Malibu will be larger, lighter, packed with new safety gear and wrapped in sculpted sheet metal that signals Chevy’s ambition to turn the heads of midsize sedan buyers.

The 2016 Malibu, unveiled at the auto show here today, looks to be an all-out bid by General Motors to elevate the Malibu’s also-ran status in a fiercely competitive segment, one in which every automaker must bring its A game.

“It’s nice to see what GM’s A game looks like,” said Karl Brauer, senior director of insights at Kelley Blue Book, after previewing the latest Malibu at a recent briefing. “This appears to be a transformative release for a car that has struggled. It should get a whole new set of people to consider that nameplate.”

Creating a compelling exterior design was the top priority when GM set out to develop the car, GM engineers and executives say. The design is a departure from past models, with some styling cues adopted from the current, stylish Impala large sedan. (The same design team worked on both cars.)

The car is nearly 4 inches longer in the wheelbase and grew by about 2 inches in overall length. The hood and the cowl -- where the windshield meets the hood -- are lower, allowing for a longer, sleek daylight opening that gives way to a fastback roofline and short rear deck lid.

GM will build the Malibu on a new global platform that sheds nearly 300 pounds, taking the sedan from among the heaviest in the midsize segment to the lightest. The lengthened wheelbase alleviated the problem of a cramped rear seat, a main gripe of current Malibu owners.

It gets an overhauled powertrain lineup, with a significantly downsized base engine -- a 1.5-liter turbo, from a 2.5-liter naturally aspirated engine. A full hybrid model -- GM’s first for a car -- will have fuel efficiency that beats hybrid versions of the Ford Fusion, Toyota Camry and Hyundai Sonata, GM says.

The Malibu has been the weak link in Chevy’s revitalized car lineup. After gaining some respect with a vehicle that ran from the 2008 to 2012 model years, Chevy took a step backward with the current Malibu, launched in the spring of 2012.

Although aspects of the current car improved on the older one -- better fuel economy and power, for example, and an exceptionally quiet interior -- the Fusion, Nissan Altima and other rival sedans simply improved more, industry watchers say.

“We all know the story of Malibu today. It’s been difficult to win in this segment,” said Steve Majoros, director of marketing for Chevy cars and crossovers.

The sales numbers tell the tale. The Malibu’s share of the U.S. midsize-car market fell to 7.2 percent last year, from 8.3 percent in 2012. Its sales fell 6 percent last year, the lone decline among the top eight midsize cars.

Majoros expects that trend to be reversed when the 2016 Malibu hits showrooms sometime during the fourth quarter.

“We think we are ready to win because we’ve got a car that meets exactly what customer are looking for,” he said.

Full hybrid

The new powertrain lineup is punctuated by the full hybrid model, which borrows some technical underpinnings from the Volt plug-in hybrid, including a version of the Volt’s two-motor drivetrain. The hybrid, which uses a new 1.8-liter engine, will be rated at more than 45 mpg in combined city and highway driving, GM said.

The base 1.5-liter produces 160 hp and 184 pounds-feet of torque, mated to a six-speed automatic transmission That’s down from the 196 hp and 191 pounds-feet on the Malibu’s current 2.5-liter base engine, but fuel economy is improved.

A stop-start system helps the 1.5-liter engine return an estimated EPA rating of 27 mpg in city driving. The 37 mpg on the highway matches the top rating of the Fusion and edges the highway ratings of the Camry (35 mpg) and Honda Accord (36) but trails the Altima’s 38 mpg rating.

Chevy will continue to offer a 2.0-liter turbo engine and will connect it to GM’s first-ever front-wheel-drive eight-speed automatic transmission.

The 2016 Malibu will be the first car to be built on GM’s new global Epsilon 2 architecture, which also will serve as the bones for the next-generation Buick LaCrosse and Regal, Opel Insignia and Impala. GM said the Malibu’s body is made of high-strength steel designed with thinner components in some spots, reducing mass.

The car’s exterior styling shows how adventurous design has permeated the midsize sedan market, which until a few years ago was marked by plain-vanilla offerings. The Malibu’s front end features a broader, deeper version of Chevrolet’s signature dual-port grille. The headlamps are thin and swept back. Three prominent creases run along the side panels for a sculpted look.

“This design is going to be cutting edge for a few years,” Kelley Blue Book’s Brauer said.

The 2016 Malibu will be sold in L, LS, LT and Premier trim levels. Premier is Chevy’s new top-level package, replacing the LTZ trim.

The car’s longer wheelbase enables a roomier interior, with about 1.5 inches of extra rear seat leg room. The center stack is all new and less cluttered, with clearer separation of the climate and infotainment controls. A dedicated storage slot for mobile phones includes wireless phone charging on higher trim levels.

GM says the 7-inch MyLink color touch-screen infotainment system -- standard on all but the L base car -- is twice as fast as the current system. An 8-inch screen is available on higher trims.

GM has packed the 2016 Malibu with nine safety features not available on the current sedan. For example, a new front pedestrian alert system warns the driver of a pending accident and can fully apply last-second braking automatically. A lane-keep assist feature will alert the driver when the car drifts and nudge it back on track with an automatic counter steer.

The Malibu will continue to be built at GM’s Fairfax assembly plant in Kansas City, Kan., which underwent a $600 million makeover in 2013, including a new paint shop.