[Martinjlm]

Originally Posted by 90503

Attachment 1151316

Ahhhh, Sedans, one of my favorite topics. I always thought they were under rated and ignored intentionally by the makers and others to promote EVs and SUVs.

"It's a dying segment", even though, for instance, last quarter the Malibu nearly outsold the entire Cadillac line-up. Sure sedans from gm will die off. Every time one is cancelled even though sales weren't that bad, like the Cruz (well you can get an Impala or a Malibu!), then the Impala (well you can get a Malibu, its almost the same now as the Impala), now the Malibu itself is gone. No wonder sedans are touted as un-popular. Hard to buy one if they don't make one and the manufacturer (gm) portrays it as a turkey for many years that needs to go. A big reason gm and chevy brand loyalty is a waste of time and brain-power. Prior customers are just saps who kept buying cars they want to get rid of.

Oh well. I don't buy the sales excuse or any of the other so-called rationale for ending cars like the Malibu. GM used to be able to have the most models and types of cars for sale, now they could care less, even though its sales are decent, the trend card and "we made plans to use the plant for something else" doesn't always pass the smell test. Build another plant for Pete's sake, and stop eliminating others like Lordstown.

My Chevy and gm brand loyalty days are over and done. Nothing they do surprises me anymore or gets my interest.

But, I love my '17 Impala! Last of the Tried and true 6speed auto and V-6 as well as no start-stop or cylinder de-activation. Runs like a top, trouble free for over six years now. I love it. Too bad they are all gone now.

In many ways the internal workings of the auto industry don’t parallel real life. It would make sense that the car with the best fuel economy and decent sales should stick around and the larger, more fuel consuming model get canceled. But that’s not what happened. The reason Cruze died and Malibu and Impala lived is due to the smaller shadow area (wheelbase x track) of Cruze compared to the other two. Shadow area is also the reason trucks keep getting bigger. These aren’t the real numbers because I don’t care enough to actually look them up, but because of their comparative shadow areas, Cruze would have had to achieve over 50 mpg whereas Impala may have needed to achieve 38 and Malibu 44. Again, those are numbers I pulled from the air, but they are directionally and proportionately correct.

So, Cruze drops and Impala and Malibu are left standing. So what does GM do next? Increase the shadow area of the Malibu to almost the same as Impala and then drop Impala. Because Malibu is much lighter than Impala and has almost the same shadow area, it will have a much easier time meeting the CAFE curve than Impala.

Your point that since Malibu sold almost as many cars as all of Cadillac in 2023 GM should have kept it is interesting, especially knowing how you feel about electric vehicles. So using your logic, Model 3 should be allowed to stick around. After all, it is a sedan. And it sold almost as many units in the US in 2023 as Malibu and all of Cadillac combined.

I’m not sure when and where GM “proclaims it [Malibu] as a turkey”. Malibu had its place in the portfolio. It did its job. Now sales are dropping and there’s no motivation to invest in a replacement. Equinox does the job better. And Trailblazer, and Trax. That’s what’s replacing the Malibu volume.