Autoblog

I saw one earlier today at the local Chevy dealer. Wow. I think the General has a sure winner on their hands. I liked the pictures, but like it better in person. Nice interior, nice exterior, very reasonable price. The dealer already had the first month sold out. That's a very nice start for the General.

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I saw a black one coming out the Chevy dealership today here in GA. Didn't have the time to see if it was a customer car or a dealer vehicle. Pictures don't do this car any justice. It looks very striking.

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What import does the Malibu compete with? Passat?

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@ShearbornSean

umm...Accord & Camry...

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The Passat still exists? Sure seems like they don't sell many anymore.

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The problem with the Aura is that, while it was talked about and did win some (not particularly meaningful) awards, it really wasn't that good a car. It's either numb (in XE form) or harsh (in XR), doesn't have great seats, and has some egregiously cheap bits to the interior.

The non-press-release reviews (C&D's, for example) were at most "meh" and read more or less as "It's Saturn's best car, but it's not the best (or even second-best) midsize sedan by a longshot". Heck, C&D had it beat by the Kia Optima.

The Malibu is very close to the Aura. Does anyone think that it'll really be a better car than, say, the Accord? I think GM should be lucky if this car beats the Sonata and Fusion

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psarhjinian @ Nov 3rd 2007 9:07PM
The problem with the Aura is that, while it was talked about and did win some (not particularly meaningful) awards, it really wasn't that good a car. It's either numb (in XE form) or harsh (in XR), doesn't have great seats, and has some egregiously cheap bits to the interior.

The non-press-release reviews (C&D's, for example) were at most "meh" and read more or less as "It's Saturn's best car, but it's not the best (or even second-best) midsize sedan by a longshot". Heck, C&D had it beat by the Kia Optima.

The Malibu is very close to the Aura. Does anyone think that it'll really be a better car than, say, the Accord? I think GM should be lucky if this car beats the Sonata and Fusion

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You are absolutely wrong about the Saturn, they are as good as any car in their class, I don't know where you are getting your misguided information but you are wrong. Also the Saturn is doing well at the dealers, as Saturn get more models at dealerships all of their cars will sell well. The Aura was never suppose to be a big volume car, Saturn is a niche automobile, and a good one.

How do I know, my neighbor owns a Saturn dealership. Also Saturn doesn't have nearly as many dealers as its competitors,.

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Sorry Moonrover, but the Aura, along with the Outlook and new Vue have not sold as well as expected. Apparently, Saturn buyers don't want to spend more than $20K

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First of all, the V-6 is mated to a 6 speed if you prefer one. Also it will not be long before the 6 speed auto hits the lots with the 2.4. Will the five speeds in the competitors cars be ancient artifacts of the LATE 90's when that happens? Likely not... I presume you are simply trying to justify a bias you hold. Below are a few other recent offerings with 4 speed automatics.

Dodge Nitro
Hyundai Santa Fe
Jeep Liberty
Toyota Highlander
Kia Sportage
Toyota Rav4
Mitsubishi Endeavor
Subaru Forester
Saturn VUE
Toyota Tacoma
Toyota Yaris
Scion tC
Nissan Versa
Hyundai Tuscon
Suzuki SX-4
Mazda 3
Mitsubishi Eclipse
Hyundai Sonata
Suzuki Reno
Scion xA
Subaru Impreza
Mazda 5
Hyundai Elantra
Suzuki Aerio
Kia Spectra
Suzuki Forenza
Toyota Corolla
Kia Rio
Hyundai Tiburon
Mitsubishi Galant
Scion xB
Hyundai Accent

And I don't believe any of the above offer a six speed auto as an upgrade. Low tech? Ancient? I guess if all you care about are number of gears! I am more upset at the lack of a manual option than I am about the number of gears.

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You appear to think that comparing some perverse combination of largely dirt-cheap sh!tboxes against the car that's supposed to save GM is going to justify an under-specced gearbox.

I don't think anybody's gonna say "well shoot, the ACCENT has a four-speeder in there, so this-here Malibu must be state of the art!"

The cars you list are largely comprised of cheap econoboxes, cheap SUVs, and models due for replacement. The only cars that matter to Malibu sales - the Accord, Camry, Fusion, and Altima - all have more sophisticated gearboxes on the 4cyl cars. You know, the ones that about 75% of midsize buyers choose.

The Malibu looks to be a real winner, but make no mistake: that six-speed slushbox can't get under the hood soon enough.

I've made some amendments to your list for your convenience:


Dodge Nitro (universally panned as garbage)

Hyundai Santa Fe

Jeep Liberty (a pretty lame vehicle all the way through, except off road)

Toyota Highlander (5 speed auto standard)

Kia Sportage (you're comparing a Kia to GM's savior?)

Toyota Rav4

Mitsubishi Endeavor (outdated, uncompetitive)

Subaru Forester (pretty lame for not having more gears)

Saturn VUE (a four speed here is just as lame as the one in the Malibu)

Toyota Tacoma (really, an entry-level pickup truck that's four model years old?)

Toyota Yaris (you're comparing a Yaris to GM's savior?)

Scion tC (this car is $5,000 less expensive!)

Nissan Versa (CVT available)

Hyundai Tuscon

Suzuki SX-4 (you're comparing a Suzuki to GM's savior?)

Mazda 3 (5 speed auto on all but "i" base models)

Mitsubishi Eclipse

Hyundai Sonata (this 4 speed is truly lame, same midsize class)

Suzuki Reno (might as well throw a rickshaw in here)

Scion xA (out of production)

Subaru Impreza (this 4 speed is pretty lame too, though most of these come with a stick)

Mazda 5 (5 speed auto for 2008)

Hyundai Elantra (a basic commuter car against...)

Suzuki Aerio (an AERIO!?)

Kia Spectra (Jesus, just pull a Yugo GV out of your arsenal)

Suzuki Forenza (another freakin' Suzuki?)

Toyota Corolla (new model moves to 5 speed auto on upper trim)

Kia Rio (I hear horse-and-buggies only have four-speed autos, why not use that?)

Hyundai Tiburon (this car is old, uncompetitive, and due for replacement)

Mitsubishi Galant (this is a terrible car)

Scion xB (against an HHR, I can see, but against this new "oh my god" Malibu?)

Hyundai Accent (c'mon, an ACCENT?)

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As mentioned there is a 6-speed available. There is still a large amount of new cars with 4-speeds out there, so its not the end of the world.

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The 4spd will be dropped in the spring for a 6spd auto with 4 cyl, this is not a long time and they have openly admitted that this will happen. Customers buying the car a fully aware of what they are buying and if they truely cared they would wait as this info is widely available online. I would rather have GM get it right and take their time instead of rushing something and have quality issues at launch like Toyota has had with their transmissions... refer to consumer reports if you need proof.

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Here's a tip:

Fancy new stuff like 6-speed transmissions come to expensive cars before cheaper ones. So yeah, the sub-$20K version of the Malibu doesn't have the 6-speed yet.

4-cylinder engine don't need a 6-speed transmission as much as a 6-cylinder does. Because the 4-cylinder cannot go to as low a gearing at highway speeds due to lack of torque.

The automatic 4-cyl Malibu already has a lower annual fuel cost ($1674, 22/30) than the 4-cyl Accord ($1745, 21/31) anyway.

Oddly, it's the 6-cylinder that really falls short. The Malibu has a fuel cost of $2093 (17/26), to the 6-cyl Accord's $1904 (19/29). This despite the Malibu's 6 cogs to the Accord's 5. Looks like GM needs to get on DoD for the Malibu V6!

In both of these cases, the car with fewer forward gears is getting better fuel economy. Perhaps there's more to cars than just the number of gears in the gearbox.

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I hope honda and Toyota have a six speed Autos planned for the 4 cyl. models quickly. Once the six speed becomes avaliable on the Malibu 4 cyl. the tide will flow the other way for a while as GM fans deluge Accord and Camry posts with claims of inferiority for only having "ancient" 5 speeds avaliable. And of course the import fans will be claiming that six is overkill... BLAH... BLAH... BLAH.

These debates grow tiresome. The fuel economy in city driving with the four cylinder Malibu is actually better than the city economy of the five speed auto Accord AND the Camry. I think many folks may give up the minimal gains in acceleration to gain the fuel efficiency benefit of the Malibu. If you are truely concerned with acceleration, I doubt any four banger midsize Sedan will be at the top of your list. Chevy is just fine with the four speed even though the six will be a welcome addition... as long as it is tune correctly.

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/byclass.htm

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