Malibu

Make
Chevrolet
Segment
Sedan

Another Chevrolet Malibu generation is supposedly in the works despite earlier rumors indicating its imminent demise. With declining sales and no direct successor announced since the Malibu was refreshed in 2019, it has been widely reported that 2024 would be the final year for the stalwart sedan.

However, GM Authority claims to have learned that there will be a next-generation Malibu arriving in 2025. We've reached out to Chevy seeking clarification and will update this space if we receive a relevant response.

According to the report, the next generation sedan has the internal code 9DSC-L, with the "9D" referring to the platform it's to be built upon, and the "S" indicates that it will be a sedan. The platform being reported underpins the Chevy Trailblazer and Trax crossovers and is designed for a transversely mounted gas-powered engine.

That means the next generation Malibu will not be electric although a new hybrid version makes sense. The report also states that Chevy will build the next generation Malibu at the GM Fairfax plant in Kansas, where the current generation is built. That tells us that this isn't a Chinese market-only model, despite that being where the Malibu is currently most popular.

The decision to push forward with a next-generation sedan flies against conventional thinking for mainstream sales in the US. However, the fact that the automaker is still making a mid-size sedan when its main competition, Ford, has axed all of its passenger cars in favor of crossovers tells us there is still a market.

The Malibu's biggest strength appears to be fleet sales, where trends aren't as important as economy and practicality. If a vehicle only has to transport people and a few bags around, a crossover is a slightly less inefficient and more costly way to do it.

Chevrolet might also be hedging its bets as brands like Toyota, Honda, and Hyundai. All three are still selling sedans, and the next generation of new-car buyers are beginning to come of age. It's unlikely they will want to drive the same style of cars as their parents, as we saw happen with the station wagon and then the minivan. Whatever the reasoning Chevy is applying, the good news is that the affordable Malibu sedan looks like it will be with us until the end of the decade.