Chevrolet News:2012 Chevrolet Malibu Outselling 2013 Malibu Eco Thanks To Discounts

[William Maley]

William Maley

Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com

June 31, 2012

From the "we shot ourselves in the foot again" file; Automotive News reports that sales of the 2013 Malibu Eco have been abysmal. Only 7,000 Malibu Ecos have left dealers from March to June. That's a stark contrast to the 2012 Malibus which have sold almost 100,000 in the same time.

"I can't really say a whole lot about how well the Eco has taken off because all of the focus has been on pushing the '12s'. There's cash on the hood" said Jim Stutzman, owner of Jim Stutzman Chevrolet-Cadillac in Winchester, Va.

How much cash on the hood for the 2012 Malibu? Automotive News says it can be as high as $6000, making the 2012 Malibu the more tempting choice.

GM CEO Dan Akerson order the Malibu Eco to be launched ahead of the redesigned Nissan Altima, Ford Fusion, and Honda Accord as a way to leapfrog them. Also when the Eco was launched in March, GM was counting on a ad campaign during NCAA Basketball tournament to bring awareness to it.

Later this year, GM will launch the rest of the Malibu lineup including the 2.5L and 2.0L Turbo models. Chevrolet is trying to clear out as many of 2012s to make for these upcoming models.

So how Chevrolet feel about this? They seem ok with numbers. Russ Clark, Chevrolet's director of marketing for performance and mid-sized cars and crossovers said the Eco has been meeting expectations.

"So far it's been well received and well supported by the dealers. The car's performing about where we thought it would," Clark said.

But you do have wonder if GM was secretly wishing sales of Eco were higher.

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)

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[G. David Felt]

Yea of course they want the sales higher, but when you are discounting so heavily the old model and in this current depression we are in, people will always take the low ball priced model for the most part. The numbers will shot up big time as all they will have to sell are 2013 models soon enough.

[smk4565]

I think people just don't want to pay $25k or more for that Malibu Eco, especially when it looks similar to the current car that costs much less. Even after the '12 Malibu is gone, I think customers still won't want to spend over $25k for a Malibu eco and will just go to Ford, Hyundai, Nissan, or Toyota.

[ocnblu]

I knew it. The Malibu Eco is a car nobody wants. And now the real, competitive drivetrains will have to be relaunched... a huge expense. Horrible. The whole eek-Assist concept is LAME-O.

[daves87rs]

Ha Ha! That's what happens when you try to release the high end model first.

No duh here...most people are going to pick the new model when they are giving away the old one....

Even I'm tempted at the 129 a month leases here...

[regfootball]

passat sales increased when they dropped the price.

no $h! price matters.

eco only launch gave malibu 6 months to sell the 12's at, let's face it, big discounts that were going to happen anyways. it allowed a slow ramp up on the new design, and to sell them at much higher prices....prices you can only justify with 'something extra' like the ECo.

now that the non-eco's are out and the 12's are gone, they can slap rebates on the Eco's and move them out.

i don't see the problem. work the kinks out, amortize the eco...... eventually, stop / start will be on many cars, might as well get some of them out in production. Let the early adopters pay for it.

someone i know had an acquaintance who has(had) an eAssist LaCrosse and they were loving it.....getting like 30 mpg city.

part of me thinks the magazines and journalists drive the piss out of these cars in a way not representing how people drive normally....

[smk4565]

The Eco isn't even the top model, they said the turbo will start at $27,900, nearly $3k more than a Sonata Turbo (the best car of all time). I think Eco is wasted hype also, it gets worse mileage than a base Altima and gives up a lot to the Passat diesel. If people are frugal on money, they can just buy a cheaper car, and if they are frugal on gas because they want to protect the environment, the Sonata/Optima/Camry/Fusion hybrids all beat the Malibu there.

[regfootball]

as preposterous as throwing too much money at a malibu is something like spending 35g on say, a fully loaded kia optima turbo

[pow]

No rear seat legroom, poor outward visibility, overstuffed seats, intrusive footwells, 400 lbs overweight, numb steering, wallowy suspension, and whiny engines... of course it won't sell for a premium.

One journalist from Fortune called the 2013 Malibu one of the most disappointing new vehicles he has ever driven.

Oh, and it's fugly, too, with massive overhangs, awkward rear tail lights, and a weird interior. The new Impala, on the other hand, is a looker... shame that it's equally space inefficient.

[regfootball]

so, the journalist said that, did you drive it yourself?

[G. David Felt]

No rear seat legroom, poor outward visibility, overstuffed seats, intrusive footwells, 400 lbs overweight, numb steering, wallowy suspension, and whiny engines... of course it won't sell for a premium.

One journalist from Fortune called the 2013 Malibu one of the most disappointing new vehicles he has ever driven.

Oh, and it's fugly, too, with massive overhangs, awkward rear tail lights, and a weird interior. The new Impala, on the other hand, is a looker... shame that it's equally space inefficient.

So have you actually gone and looked at one in person, sat in the back seat and truly checked it out yourself or is this just part of the reposting of other comments?

[hyperv6]

The new Malibu will be fine once the LTZ and other models hit. The Eco is just not a top line car and is not even close to a sports sedan. I hate to say it but GM came with the weakest model first and it hurts.

Now on the old one sell so well what do you expect. THe old model was a damn good car and a damn good value even before the sale. I got a LT2 V6 with everything but the sunroof for $19,000 in 08. Not many cars offer that kind of value for that price. Only things is the V6 MPG but overall it is a very good car and the best Chevy small FWD sedan till the Cruze.

Once the old car is gone soon and the LT and LTZ hit the market we will see a greater take rate on the Bu.

The Malibu is not a car for folks like us here but it is a car the general public will love and buy in great numbers.

After being in the Kia it is crap. Just slam the rear door shut vs my 08 Bu and you can hear the tinny quality difference. The Kia will be a great lease car as once they start to get older no one will want to pay what it cost to fix where the Bu will just keep plugging away. We have seen this same story at Hyundai. We have no old Hyundai's here in Ohio.

[Robert Hall]

No rear seat legroom, poor outward visibility, overstuffed seats, intrusive footwells, 400 lbs overweight, numb steering, wallowy suspension, and whiny engines... of course it won't sell for a premium.

One journalist from Fortune called the 2013 Malibu one of the most disappointing new vehicles he has ever driven.

Oh, and it's fugly, too, with massive overhangs, awkward rear tail lights, and a weird interior. The new Impala, on the other hand, is a looker... shame that it's equally space inefficient.

So have you actually gone and looked at one in person, sat in the back seat and truly checked it out yourself or is this just part of the reposting of other comments?

I sat in one...the rear door openings seem rather narrow and not much legroom with the driver's seat all the way back. But that's not surprising since they cut they wheelbase by about 5 inches when they moved to Epsilon II.

[smk4565]

Even with the other trim levels, I can't see the Malibu outselling the Fusion, Camry, Accord, Altima and Sonata, even with the Malibu's heavy fleet sales. At retail it will be lucky to outsell the Optima even. Based on the reviews they brought a knife to a gun fight, and there are a lot of big guns in that fight.

[regfootball]

the malibu's fatal flaw is the rear seat and rear door access. it doesn't make it a bad car, but it is a fatal objection in the showroom for some. after all, family cars are about room.

I like the new Bu, hate that it has no backseat but if the deal was sweet enough, i might overlook the flaw. If it drives nice, i would compromise......as long as there was not a better deal / car combo out there to compete.

for some reason, many of the cars in this class need $$$$ on the hood or low prices to move. we recently had an almost new 12 mazda6 we couldn't get rid of on the lot even after price gashing.

look at fusion. 25k units in one month but the rebates and lease deals that were incentivized were obscene.

Edited August 2, 2012 by regfootball

[smk4565]

Mazda6 and Fusion are both being replaced with new models in the fall also, new Accord is on the way soon too. The new models probably won't need as many rebates, but at the same time, in a weak economy with 6-7 strong players in one segment, the incentives may be what sway people to pick one car over the other.