|
Browse by Tags
All Tags » Chevrolet » ChevyMalibu ( RSS)
-
|
Filed under: Sedans/Saloons , Plants/Manufacturing , Chevrolet , UAW/Unions General Motors has been dealing with a lot of strikes lately. The United Auto Worker union's strike against one of its main suppliers, American Axle, has been reducing the General's inventory of trucks and SUVs for about a month now, and also threatened production of the Chevy Malibu before the automaker found more parts to keep production going. Just yesterday the UAW walked out of GM's Lansing Delta Township plant where the Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia and Saturn are built. The latter strike is over what the UAW has only referred to as "local contract issues". Whatever those are, they are important enough to come back today and threaten GM with a walk out at its Fairfax plant, one of the two facilities that builds the hot-selling Chevy Malibu. The union has set a five-day ultimatum, and says it will walk out on Malibu production next Tuesday, April 22 if an agreement isn't reached. The other...
|
-
|
Filed under: Sedans/Saloons , Chevrolet , GM , UAW/Unions The five week-old strike at American Axle is finally starting to wear on GM, and the General has decided to move a small but crucial parts contract over to rival supplier Dana to help get its truck plants moving again. The 30,000-unit prop shaft contract for light pickups is considered a small deal, but the fact that GM is beginning to move on shows that the strike, which began on February 26, is beginning to take its toll on the giant automaker. The move is going to anger the striking workers, but it will also likely help get American Axle management back at the bargaining table. Recent events show that still more GM plants are being hurt by the strike, as the plant that builds the Buick Lucerne and Cadillac DTS was shut down last Friday, and Automotive News reports the Chevy Cobalt plant could idle this week. Perhaps the biggest news of all is that GM is running out of rear suspension knuckles for the hot-selling Chevy Malibu....
|
-
|
Filed under: Car Buying , Sedans/Saloons , Marketing/Advertising , Chevrolet , Honda The 2008 Chevy Malibu has already taken home some prestigious hardware in the form of the 2008 North American Car of the Year award, and now it seems to be winning over midsize car buyers in an important metric. The Malibu has attracted so many vehicle prospects that, according to compete.com , it has been the most shopped midsize vehicle in the U.S. three months in a row. The Bu's accomplishment is the first time a domestic automaker has ever lead this metric in the hotly contested midsize segment, dusting domestic competition like the Ford Fusion by a 5 to 1 ratio. Over 236,000 shopped the Malibu in December alone, which is a 247% increase over October, and more than twice the shopping rate than the all new 2008 Honda Accord . The Accord is still winning the actual sales battle at dealerships, and the data shows that nearly 80% of Malibu shoppers are just browsers, as opposed to just over 50% for...
|
-
|
Filed under: Sedans/Saloons , Chevrolet click above to view high-res gallery of the 2008 Chevy Malibu They're not quite done putting it through the paces, but Consumer Reports for the most part is liking Chevy's new Malibu . They've opened up the car's logbook on the magazine's blog , and here are a few of the positive quotes they shared: "Wow. Impressive to drive, even in the four-cylinder version." "Best normally-aspirated Ecotec (four-cylinder engine) application out there." "Distinctive dashboard - definitely not a 'me-too' design." This is a heavy hitter that competes head-on with Camry, Accord, and Altima." Luckily for Chevrolet, the positive comments so far are in the lead, and most of the negatives are for relatively minor things like: "hard to reach seat levers " "I do not like the interior trim. The dash has a pink tone to it, whereas the other browns are more orange." "I'm disappointed...
|
-
|
Filed under: Car Buying , Sedans/Saloons , Chevrolet , GM The Chevrolet Malibu continues to do better than GM expected: the General moved 12,172 of the new model in December 2007, a 6.7% improvement over the same month last year. There are two factories currently building the car, and demand for the 2007 North American Car of the Year finalist is such that dealers still can't get enough of them. It's a long way from the " we only expected to sell 500 Malibus in November " malarkey. The mid-sized segment champions probably aren't worried just yet, but they'll be watching. In December of '07, Toyota sold 38,831 Camrys, Honda sold 31,255 Accords, and Nissan sold 25,171 Altimas. The lack of Malibu inventory makes a good marketing and perception case, but GM won't want it to go on too long. The segment -- represented by what one Autoblog commenter called the "Camcordimabu" -- is highly competitive, and those buyers don't like to be told "Try...
|
-
|
Filed under: Car Buying , Sedans/Saloons , Chevrolet , GM GM spent $150 million on the ad campaign for the new Malibu. Intriguingly, though -- and after all the work that went into the car, all the hype, all the ads (we dig the one with the jogger running into the car , even though it's not a new Malibu), and all the great reviews -- GM only expected to sell 500 of them in November, the car's first full retail month. That's right: GM sent 3,500 of them to dealers. And they only expected 500 of them to get off the lot, down the road burning gas. Well, as George W. Bush said, GM "misunderestimated." GM's on track to sell nearly the entire allotment, with 3,000 cars looking to be on the move. Lutz said dealers don't have any because they keep selling out of them. The same phenomenon is being reported for the Buick Enclave. which is not only exceeding sales expectations, but swiping the expected younger buyers from the Saturn Outlook. Hey Mr. Lutz: that's because...
|
-
|
Filed under: Car Buying , Etc. , Chevrolet , GM click above image for more high-res pics of the 2008 Chevy Malibu The media is giving the new Chevy Malibu more love than any midsize product donning the bow tie has gotten in years. As it turns out, there are a few people in the market for a new car that are just as excited. Maximum Bob Lutz was nice enough to share on his FastLane Blog a story about how much one man likes the new Malibu, and he's going through great lengths to get one in his garage. The guy in question hadn't given a GM product the time of day since 1979, but the new Malibu looked so good to him that he was willing to purchase one from a dealer friend in California. Since he lives in Michigan, he plans on flying out to pick up his new ride and then driving it nearly 3,000 miles back to his home.The part of the story that undoubtedly has Mr. Lutz the most giddy is the fact that the gentleman in question is currently driving a Lexus LS and had been driving several...
|
-
|
Filed under: Garage , Sedans/Saloons , Chevrolet , Driving click above image to view a new high-res gallery of the 2008 Chevy Malibu var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/motorsport/First_drive_of_2008_Chevrolet_Malibu_suggests_best_U_S_car_ever'; Autoblog gets numerous comments saying that the domestic automakers could easily sell more products if only they would make them good enough to buy. We agree. With the introduction of the 2008 Chevy Malibu , it could very well be time for us all to put up or shut up. GM knows the midsize sedan segment is dominated by the Toyota Camry and has taken direct aim at that very car with the new Malibu. The car's measurements come close to the Camry in almost every category, including length, interior space, trunk size and engine displacement. Where they differ is in design. The Camry provides the automotive appliance for those who don't really want a car, but need to go places. The Malibu brings style to the game at a competitive price. GM invited us to spend...
|
|
|
|