Chevrolet Malibu sales jump 51.5%; dealers pleased

"A sign of a good launch is where you go through the first 12 months,
you actually end up making more money on the car 12 months out than
you did in the first month, which is something we like to see."


BY TIM HIGGINS
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

A little over a year after its launch, the redesigned Chevrolet Malibu
is a bright spot for troubled General Motors Corp.

When industrywide U.S. sales are down 18%, the Malibu -- which
competes in the hyper-competitive midsize car market -- finished 2008
with U.S. sales up 51.5% from the year before.

A new study by J.D. Power and Associates gives GM high marks for the
Malibu launch, ranking it No. 3 among other launches in 2007. (The No.
1 vehicle is another GM product, the Buick Enclave, an important model
for the automaker but one that does not see as high a sales volume as
the Malibu, which is one of GM's best-selling cars.)

Launching a new model is important for an automaker. After a car has
been on the market a year, a company has a good indication of how
successful the vehicle will be over its lifetime.

"It's absolutely critical that you get that first year right because
that's where you're actually going to make a lot of your money and set
the standard for the years to come," said Dave Sargent, vice president
of automotive research at J.D. Power. "Something like the Malibu --
which launches very well, has very strong quality, very strong appeal
and the financial metrics look very good in the first year -- one can
anticipate that as the vehicle continues into its second, third and
fourth year those will tend to continue."

The redesigned Malibu launched in November 2007 but, as is normally
the case, took several weeks to roll out to all of Chevrolet's
dealerships across the country. The new Malibu didn't hit its full
stride until January 2008, according to GM.

In 2008, GM's U.S. dealerships sold 177,088 Malibu sedans -- 60,209
more than in 2007.

GM saw its overall U.S. sales drop 22.7% in 2008.

The automaker is racing to complete a plan to present to the federal
government showing how it can become viable long term as part of the
$13.4-billion loan-rescue plan to keep the company afloat.

"I think we had a very well-coordinated effort," said Mike Weidman,
Malibu's marketing manager. "We knew going into it that we had a big
social-acceptability issue to overcome. We knew that a lot of import-
type buyers wouldn't trust what we had to say as the manufacturer."

Because of that, GM made a big public relations push, along with a
strong effort to train dealers on how to sell the new vehicle's
features.

The vehicle won several industry awards, including 2008 North American
Car of the Year. Last summer, the Malibu also won the award for best
initial quality among midsize cars from J.D. Power, beating the Toyota
Camry and Honda Accord. (Last year, Camry sales were down 7.7% and
Accord sales were down 5%.)

According to GM's numbers:

# The 2008 Malibu's retail share increased 3.9 percentage points over
the 2007 model.

# Its residual value, which estimates the vehicle's future resale
value, increased 9 percentage points.

# Customers' opinions of the vehicle improved by 13 percentage points.

Edmunds.com estimates that GM's average incentive spending on the
Malibu dropped in 2008 by $278 to $1,438 per vehicle, another sign of
the vehicle's strength.

Dealers rave about how the Malibu is doing so far.

"It was a well-orchestrated introduction," said Ken Thompson, fleet
and commercial manager at Classic Chevrolet in Grapevine, Texas. "The
whole thing was timed very nicely. We didn't run out of product."

Paul Stanford, president of Les Stanford Chevrolet in Dearborn, echoed
those thoughts, praising the design and quality.

"It's a great, great value vehicle," he said.

Some, however, have questioned the timing of the vehicle, suggesting
the car could have done even better in a more healthy economy.

The Malibu is built in Orion Township and Kansas City, Kan. A 17-day
labor strike at the Kansas plant pinched supplies of the Malibu last
spring.

The new J.D. Power study, called the Vehicle Launch Index, looks at a
variety of factors and measures performances against industry and
segment benchmarks.

"They didn't run up a high inventory on the vehicle. They managed to
keep demand and production pretty well in line," Sargent said. "In
fact they added a third shift at the Orion plant to satisfy demand."

GM also did a good job holding the price the manufacturer charges the
dealer for the vehicle.

"In fact, it improved over the 12 months of the launch. They weren't
having to discount the vehicles to the dealers, if anything they were
actually charging more," Sargent said. "A sign of a good launch is
where you go through the first 12 months, you actually end up making
more money on the car 12 months out than you did in the first month,
which is something we like to see."


http://www.freep.com/article/20090205/BUSINESS01/902050392/1014/Chevrolet+Malibu+sales+jump+51.5+++dealers+pleased

 

<snip...>

Gee - no surprise that Higgins didn't re-post this news like he does
everything he can find that derides GM.

 

Never buy a car where you have to remove part of the bumper and the tire
in order to change a headlight bulb. I thought changing a bulb on the
Accord was hard when I had to remove the battery to get to the left
bulb, then remove and replace three screws by feel.

 

What car needs a bumper and tire removed, Removing a battery is they
way they have been for years, as a matter of fact I have to do it and
am pissed, I feel like using duct tape and turning on high beams.

 

2008 Chevy Malibu/Saturn Aura.

Remove the front tire and wheel assembly.
Remove the front compartment sight shields.
Remove the front bumper fascia upper bracket.
Remove the headlamp assembly.

Replace the bulb.

Replace the headlamp assembly.
Aim the headlights
Replace the front bumper fascia upper bracket.
Replace the front compartment sight shields.
Replace the front tire and wheel assembly.

See
"http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/f53/removing-08-malibu-headlight-housing-62951/"

I go on long road trips into areas with no car dealers and no parts
stores. I remember being in Yosemite, and someone telling me that a
headlamp was out. I went into the back, go a replacement bulb, and
replaced it in about three minutes with no tools. This was on a 4Runner.
A decade or so earlier, I was driving up to the Sierra's and a headlight
went out on my '85 Land Cruiser. I stopped at a supermarket, bought a
sealed beam, and put it in the parking lot of the store in about five
minutes with a #2 Phillips screwdriver.

Whoever designed this part of the Malibu/Aura should be disciplined.

 

Wish everything GM did only had this problem ...

 

I doubt it's even a problem. Probably BS by non-mechanically inclined
ricer kids putting HID bulbs in.
Doesn't even make sense removing a tire unless you also remove the
wheel well liner.
The whole "removing the bumper" is pure BS, and the fascia bracket is
removed by unscrewing 2 little bolts.
But hardly any maintenance is as easy as it was 20 years ago.
I'd want to see the shop manual procedure before I believed any of it.
Even then there's sometimes a shortcut.

--Vic

 

I've rented one twice on trips. Nice car but not perfect. Interior a bit
cramped and gaudy. Seemed that they copied the Accord but made it smaller.
Would have been better off copying the Camry.

 

I replaced 3 out of 4 2005 Accord hybrid bulbs without looking at the manual
(upgraded them to HIR). Got stuck on the 4th one and looked at the manual
and found that all were easier than what I did.

 

That's why I provided the link that shows the procedure.

 

I said shop manual, not some internet bullshit with no reference to
where it came from.

--Vic

 

<Snip bogus information>

This is from the owners manual of the 2008 Malibu:
1. Open the hood. See Hood Release on page 5-11 for more information.
2. Remove the two bolts attaching the headlamp assembly to the vehicle.
3. Remove the headlamp assembly from the vehicle by pulling it forward. Use
care not to scratch either the vehicle or the lamp.
4. Remove the dust covers (A, B, or C) from the individual bulb sockets.
5. Disconnect the wiring harness, then turn the bulb socket counterclockwise
to remove it.
6. Remove the bulb from the bulb socket.
7. Replace the old bulb with a new bulb.
8. Turn the bulb socket clockwise and reconnect the wiring harness to the
bulb socket.
9. Return the headlamp assembly to its original position. Be sure to line up
the holes in the lamp assembly to the round ends of the mounting pins.
10. Reinstall the two bolts attaching the headlamp assembly to the vehicle.

You can read it for yourself if you want: http://www.gm.com/gmownercenter/

No, whoever posts inaccurate information should be disciplined.

 

=========
Perhaps GM is now improving quality to be competitive and getting away
from the old idea of planned obsolescence.
From a simple point of observation, the paint work on the new Buicks
seems to indicate a marked improvement.

 

I just put this automoblie on my left shoulder.




C'Mon, Jimbo!!!!


Knock it off!!!!!!!!!!!!



I dare you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

The car looks good.

 

Nor when the trunk opening is so small you have to fold your suitcases
to fit them into the nice sized trunk.

 

On my fathers 2000 Malibu you have to remove the exterior brake lamp
assembly to change the bulb! And there's no drain hole for water to
exit which means more burnt out bulbs in rainy season.

 

I just had to change a brake light bulb on my wife's 1996 Camry. First
time I had to change a rear bulb of any kind in 13 years! I was
surprised to have to use a wrench rather than just a screwdriver, but it
was still pretty easy to change.

I need to complain to Toyota that a bulb burned out after only 13 years.
That's the first problem we've had with that vehicle.

 

SMS turned on the Etch-A-Sketch and wrote:

Yeah, the mid-90s Camry cars were pretty good. They had no guts but decent
legroom. I have a buddy with a '95 model. Another buddy has an '05, which
has no legroom whatsoever.

 

One would think that the replaceable bulb non-sealed headlight housing
would mean changing a burnt-out bulb easy as pie. Not in this crazy
world. I just replaced my son's bulb in his Nissan and it involved
removing the headlight housing secured by 3 nuts that required undoing
the fender liner. What a drag.

OTOH, people don't buy or not buy cars based on headlights. Or do they?