Chevy's new Malibu grabbing sales from foreign car buyers

We all knew that Chevy had a hit on their hand with the new Malibu. What we didn't know was how would the public react? Would it be just another failed attempt from a domestic automaker at winning back foreign car buyers? Or, is this baby the real deal?

Well, early results seem to indicate the latter, J.D. Powers and Associates (via Winding Road) is reporting a fair number of import buyers are trading in their old cars on the new Malibu. In fact nearly one-fifth (19.8 percent) of all trade-ins for the new car were imports. That compares to 12.5 percent for the last model.

Full story here.

Posted by Bob Apr 30, 2008 4:00 am

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Categories: Chevrolet | Trends | Sedans


Comments

picswim - Apr 30, 2008 5:36 am (#1 Total: 11)  

 
 
Shocking!
 
Another study said something like 1% of trade ins are accords and camrys though.
 
Must be a bunch of people trading in their POS Passats.

flicmod - Apr 30, 2008 5:38 am (#2 Total: 11)  

 
 
Those "imports" could be Yugo's for all we know.
 
Where are the real numbers?

estreka - Apr 30, 2008 7:07 am (#3 Total: 11)  

 
subarctic north - Great Falls, MT  
Or luxury cars. I'm sure some people have had to bite the bullet on their Bimmers.

kurtamaxxxguy - Apr 30, 2008 7:13 am (#4 Total: 11)  

 
portland or  
If you like Sedans, the new Malibu's a nice improvement over the older model and definitely worth considering. Ironically, the 'Bu's interior is superior to the upscale Aura's!
 
If you like hatches/Wagons, you can now forget Malibu as they've dumped the Maxx. A pity, as the Maxx, apparently very popular in Texas, was ahead of its time and would have been really nice with the improvements the 'bu now has.

jerrywimer - Apr 30, 2008 8:41 am (#5 Total: 11)  

 
United States of America, loud'n'proud!  
I'd love to see a wagon variation. Or rather, now that I've bought the sedan, I'd have loveD to see one. ;)
 
As far as where they're coming from flic, other sites seem to be indicating that Camry owners make up a decent portion of the conquest sales. I haven't done any digging to see why the studies quoted here and those at the other sites disagree, so that's purely informational, rather than a statement of fact.

flicmod - Apr 30, 2008 8:56 am (#6 Total: 11)  

 
 
Meh, wherever they're coming from, the new Accord is still whooping it in sales (at least for the last month). Plus, how OLD were these imports that were being traded in? They could be 10+ years old.

bepperb - Apr 30, 2008 10:58 am (#7 Total: 11)  

 
 
Aren't we to the point now, that if a mid sized car is traded in it's likely foreign?
 
What I mean to say is, if half the midsize cars out there are foreign, than this number should be 50%. Looking at it that way, this isn't at all impressive.
 
What would really help would be to see the numbers for Accords/Camry/Altimas.
 
My feeling is that the older model only had 12.5% because rental fleets don't trade in cars!

2002blksle - Apr 30, 2008 3:01 pm (#8 Total: 11)  

 
United States of America  
kurtamaxxxguy-
 
I agree the maxx was ahead of it's time. IMO there were also some strange design cues as well which may have had an impact on sales.
 
First full sized SUVs were popular, now crossovers. The station wagon will make a comeback in the next 10 years.

stovt001 - Apr 30, 2008 6:40 pm (#9 Total: 11)  

 
 
They really do need to make a Malibu and Aura wagon. Yes the G8 wagon was a bad idea, as I really can't imagine much of a market for a hot-rod wagon (hence the death of the Magnum) but I bet a lot of younger buyers would be willing to consider one over the CUVs and SUVs that their parents loved so much.
 
One poster mentioned people could be trading luxury cars. I remember Bob Lutz mentioned one of the first Malibus went to a guy who traded in his Lexus for it. Everyone called it a lie until the guy showed up on GM's Fastlane blog to confirm it. It never occurs to people that a huge portion of luxury buyers are people with average incomes who will stretch themselves to the point of financial ruin to just lease a luxury car. Of course when bad times hit and all that credit and equity they were counting on dries up, they're scrambling to get something they can really afford.

technetium99 - May 1, 2008 9:03 am (#10 Total: 11)  

 
 
This goes to show that most Americans prefer style over substance. The old Malibu had more interior room and got better gas mileage, but the new one is better looking.

ateixeira - May 2, 2008 11:57 am (#11 Total: 11)  

 
Recife, PE, Brazil  
This is better, but they still have a ways to go.






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