The Car You Never Expected (to disappear)
May 16, 2024 2:35 PM   Subscribe

Last week, General Motors announced that it would end production of the Chevrolet Malibu, which the company first introduced in 1964. Although not exactly a head turner (the Malibu was “so uncool, it was cool,” declared the New York Times), the sedan has become an American fixture, even an icon [...] Over the past 60 years, GM produced some 10 million of them. With a price starting at a (relatively) affordable $25,100, Malibu sales exceeded 130,000 vehicles last year, a 13% annual increase and enough to rank as the #3 Chevy model [...] Still, that wasn’t enough to keep the car off GM’s chopping block. [...] In that regard, it will have plenty of company. Ford stopped producing sedans for the U.S. market in 2018. And it was Sergio Marchionne, the former head of Stellantis, who triggered the headlong retreat in 2016 when he declared that Dodge and Chrysler would stop making sedans. [...] As recently as 2009, U.S. passenger cars [...] outsold light trucks (SUVs, pickups, and minivans), but today they’re less then 20% of new car purchases. The death of the Malibu is confirmation, if anyone still needs it, that the Big Three are done building sedans. That decision is bad news for road users, the environment, and budget-conscious consumers—and it may ultimately come around to bite Detroit.
Detroit Killed the Sedan. We May All Live to Regret It [Fast Company]
posted by Rhaomi (53 comments total) 8 users marked this as a favorite
 
As a driver of a Hyundai Accent, I have to say the size of most vehicles on the road is pretty terrifying. And I say that also as someone who drove a Chevy Express Van or Chevy Express Box Truck for work for 20 years. Even in those larger vehicles, the size of other vehicles was astonishing.

I don't understand the need to have a passenger vehicle that seats at least five also be a large hauling vehicle with a full length truck bed. People don't know how to park them, and they're very much a specialty vehicle. If you're driving one of these to WalMart by yourself to pick up a few things you need for dinner... you're doing it wrong.

Anyway, don't listen to me. I have PTSD from driving and I'm probably spouting nonsense.
posted by hippybear at 2:44 PM on May 16 [14 favorites]


Guess I'll keep voting with my dollars for options I don't get to have!

Oh wait...

Markets are perfect indeed.
posted by jellywerker at 2:46 PM on May 16 [9 favorites]


Going the way of the American station wagon, apparently.
posted by sagc at 2:48 PM on May 16


Visiting my aunt in Montana, and we went to a lake to do some lake things. My dad drove one car, my aunt handed me her keys and said "here, you and your brother take my car." Dark blue Malibu, think it was a '69? Some prior owner had put in 5 point harnesses and had juiced the engine a bit. Jesus H. Christ could that car go. At one point I looked down at the speedometer and realized I was doing 90+ MPH. Car was purring like a kitten. Handled like it was glued to the pavement, even when it was flying. 16 years old with the paint not yet dry on my driver's license, that was a fun car to drive.

She said she would have sold it to me, if I could have gotten it home to Michigan. Honestly, I am probably lucky I didn't have a way to do it. I was too young to drive a car with that much muscle. So I went back to my beat-up boxy but beloved road service orange Ford van (a 73 Custom Club Wagon, complete with shag carpet). I didn't have a sweet ass classic Malibu but I also survived my youth without any speeding tickets. I call that a win.
posted by caution live frogs at 2:48 PM on May 16 [17 favorites]


That look on the rental counter representative's face when I say “no thanks” to a free “upgrade” from a Malibu/Focus/Corolla sedan to *insert shitty boxy high sided SUV of choice here*.

Subaru announced no more Legacy Sedan as of end of 2025 as well. Which makes me sad (though my current Crosstrek is doing well I always wanted a higher end Legacy)
posted by inflatablekiwi at 2:54 PM on May 16 [5 favorites]


Repo Man - especially this scene- introduced me to the Chevy Malibu.
posted by rongorongo at 2:57 PM on May 16 [5 favorites]


Going the way of the American station wagon, apparently.

These are now called "crossovers" which are designed to look sportier; I'm pretty much guessing sedans are also being replaced by crossovers, which are mostly a sedan with a hatchback that sits a bit taller on the road.

I used to drive a early 2000s F250 pickup, and the things called "pickups" today look like they'd dwarf it. Also today pickups have huge cabs and tiny boxes, I don't understand why someone would buy one other for the privilege of getting 8 miles to the gallon.
posted by AzraelBrown at 2:59 PM on May 16 [3 favorites]


When I was a teen we had a 1980 Chevy Malibu station wagon. It looked like this.
That thing smoldered so much and burned so much oil we called it the Exxon Valdez.
I never cease to wonder at how much safer and better cars have gotten in the last 44 years.
posted by poe at 3:03 PM on May 16 [1 favorite]


In my teenage years in the Eighties, we had a Ford Courier pickup truck. Honestly it was the most useful thing ever. It was tiny, it got great gas milage, it could hold three people and had a full pickup bed... If they built something like that again, I might buy one! Make it electric with all that torque!
posted by hippybear at 3:03 PM on May 16 [4 favorites]


As a driver of a Hyundai Accent, I have to say the size of most vehicles on the road is pretty terrifying.

Amen. We have an Accent and a Honda Insight. Both look so tiny in parking lots surrounded by the behemoths that it seems impossible that they were in fact perfectly normally sized cars 15 years ago when they were new.
posted by hydropsyche at 3:04 PM on May 16 [6 favorites]


Hm, the article I saw on this said GM was transitioning the plant that built Malibus over to making EVs.
posted by LionIndex at 3:04 PM on May 16


Yes. The FP article says that. The new EV will be an SUV, though, not a car.
posted by hydropsyche at 3:07 PM on May 16


Subaru announced no more Legacy Sedan as of end of 2025 as well. Which makes me sad (though my current Crosstrek is doing well I always wanted a higher end Legacy)

Subaru is probably discontinuing them because fewer people want them, year over year.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 3:08 PM on May 16


I'm completely happy with my Mazda 3. Just enough tech to be useful without killing the price, and the ride is fine.

I kind of wish Mazda wasn't aspiring to be a near-luxury brand these days but when you have Kia/Hyundai soaking the economy market up and the Chinese are coming up quickly, I get it.
posted by JoeZydeco at 3:14 PM on May 16 [3 favorites]


Generally good article, but it left me with questions. It's been my impression that for last ~20 years or so that a significant number of the Malibus sold were fleet sales to rental car companies and the like.

Broken Google isn't very helpful for confirming this.
posted by Anoplura at 3:14 PM on May 16


When I was shopping for a car a few years ago the Malibu was the same price as a Civic but worse in almost every way.

Tiny trucks are de facto illegal now, the footprint model means that car manufactures would only be able to sell a tiny number of them, or would have to make them so fuel efficient they couldn't tow anything. The major car manufacturers warned about what would happen when the regulations were changed.

Unfortunately the new 100% tariffs on Chinese EV's mean that it's going to be a while before we get a small cheap car again.
posted by hermanubis at 3:14 PM on May 16 [3 favorites]


When renting a car, especially if I'll be in a city, I always try to get a sedan because the SUV/crossover/stationwagons that the rental car agencies mostly have now never come with one of those retractable luggage covers. With a sedan, the trunk is closed and no one can see anything in there. Makes it tough to park in a city if I can't hide my bags or the photo equipment I often travel with.
posted by msbrauer at 3:18 PM on May 16 [4 favorites]


If it's only foreign car companies going to be making sedans anymore... I assume the Civic is going to survive? And I don't think the Hyundai line of sedans is going anywhere. Volkswagen? No clue. Who else is making sedans? Suzuki folded a while ago...

oh, Audi? Mercedes but that's a luxury brand... anyway. We need to make small cars again. They're better for everyone as long as we have to have cars.
posted by hippybear at 3:19 PM on May 16 [1 favorite]


I can't tell the difference between the newer autos on the road anymore. They all look the same to me. And what happened to color?..It's all black, white, greyish, or maybe a few greenish ones.
posted by Czjewel at 3:19 PM on May 16 [5 favorites]


My mother’s light blue 1978 Malibu Classic station wagon replaced the Volkswagen squareback that she was driving when she was t-boned by a mid-day drunk uninsured pickup truck driver. It offered a deluxe upholstered seat for the young passenger to do all the neck turning required for years of merging and lane-changing.

The car lasted nineteen years. The paint job, about five.
posted by Ice Cream Socialist at 3:21 PM on May 16 [2 favorites]


And that horrible burnt orange that was around for a while. WTF?
posted by hippybear at 3:21 PM on May 16 [1 favorite]


And what happened to color?..It's all black, white, greyish, or maybe a few greenish ones.

Here in Japan, they say it’s for resale value, since the big market for used vehicles here is for company cars and rental fleets.

Which is honestly baffling because resale value is dogshit here anyway. Get some color back on the roads, people! It’s worth a few yen for several years of being happy stuck in traffic in your pink Pri (mind the stickybombs).
posted by Ice Cream Socialist at 3:29 PM on May 16


Came here for Repo Man, was not disappointed.
posted by chavenet at 3:33 PM on May 16 [3 favorites]


first they came for the Riviera now they come from Malibu.
posted by clavdivs at 3:34 PM on May 16


Who else is making sedans?

Nissan makes the Sentra, Altima, and Maxima. and Toyota makes the Camry, Corolla, Crown and Mirai. The Prius remodel in ’23 definitely pushed it from hatchback to sedan (or close enough as far as my fragile ego is concerned) and I’m planning to get a Prius Prime this summer.
posted by Ryvar at 3:35 PM on May 16 [1 favorite]


Is Mazda still doing the 3, 6 and the other one? I remember when they were the 323 and then 626.
posted by hippybear at 3:36 PM on May 16


President says F china

And why so many big cars? hella good perks and protectionism.
posted by Jacen at 3:40 PM on May 16 [2 favorites]


Biden's moves are strictly protectionist, as China was about to dump cheap cars onto the US market, cheaper than our own industry could produce them for. Doubling their price means that US made product will be able to find a market that could have become dominated by China before it even had a chance to get truly started.
posted by hippybear at 3:43 PM on May 16


I own, because I am an idiot who likes old cars, a 1999 Land Rover Defender. It was then and remains a very large car; it’s designed for 4WD and we take it camping as often as we can. You could easily live out of it for weeks.

I had occasion to drive a ‘new’ four seater cross-over SUV and had a moment of shock when I realised that this new Ordinary Car was longer, wider, and nearly 2x as heavy in GVM as a truck from the 90s.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 3:47 PM on May 16 [1 favorite]


Is Mazda still doing the 3, 6 and the other one?

The 3 is around, the 6 is currently gone, and then there is a spray of crossovers and SUVs. And the Miata (cough, sorry, MX-5) is still kicking.
posted by JoeZydeco at 3:47 PM on May 16 [1 favorite]


I drive a Prius C, which despite everything, has more actual cargo space than some "compact SUVs."

The parking garage at work is difficult to navigate because of all the oversized trucks and SUVs that don't fit in spaces. And it seems like at night, 1 in 4 vehicles behind me are shining their headlights directly into my rear view mirror.
posted by Foosnark at 3:51 PM on May 16 [3 favorites]


Volkswagen? No clue. Who else is making sedans?

All the sedans you can still buy in Merka
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 3:52 PM on May 16 [3 favorites]


American cars peaked with the 1989 Buick Skylark.
posted by Captaintripps at 3:54 PM on May 16 [1 favorite]


I think I'm holding out to get a Hyundai Ioniq 5. I can put a trailer hitch on the Ioniq, it works with an iPhone, and it isn't sized like an SUV. Hopefully they switch the power connector over from CCS to dedicated NACS so that I have more options for recharging it. A Kia EV6 may work, as well, but that seems more like a "fun" car than a daily driver.

Volvo lost me when they went over to full Google integration. GM/Chevy Bolt for the same reason. My aged Subaru Outback is holding out for now, but their electric option is a rebranded Toyota behemoth and I see nothing but complaints about the in-dash touchscreen across all the non-WRX/BRZ options, including the Solterra.

Just give me a practical and reasonably-sized non-SUV! I'll end up paying a premium for it, regardless, like any car these days. No reason not to make one.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 4:02 PM on May 16 [1 favorite]




Not sure you've read the room properly with that suggestion, but I'm curious to see how it goes.
posted by hippybear at 4:07 PM on May 16 [3 favorites]


I have a Tesla Model V. It was a Model Y, but the stem fell off.
posted by AlSweigart at 4:19 PM on May 16 [2 favorites]


I think Tesla is permanently off my list, until some major changes are made in ownership and management. People can have their own opinions about the guy, but I have no interest in making a rich Nazi richer.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 4:20 PM on May 16 [6 favorites]


Volvo lost me when they went over to full Google integration. GM/Chevy Bolt for the same reason.

My wife's XC40 Recharge uses Google AAOS, which is not the same as what GM is planning to do with their IVI. The Volvo IVI is not that bad, and it works just fine with CarPlay (although not wirelessly, which spoils you once you've used it)
posted by JoeZydeco at 4:26 PM on May 16 [1 favorite]


Made of cardboard was it?
posted by bonehead at 4:26 PM on May 16


Made of cardboard was it?

The Trabant was made of cotton wool soaked with linseed oil, I believe.

Was never sold in the US, however.
posted by hippybear at 4:29 PM on May 16


I don't know if he plans on doing this every year, but I am genuinely interested in hearing what Roman from Regular Car Reviews will have to say about this in a potential future In Memoriam video (ala the 2023 video).
posted by neuracnu at 4:30 PM on May 16


I test drove a 1997 Malibu and it was like a Trabant with a lawnmower engine. Even the salesperson was apologetic in his tone. I came to my senses and got a sedan from Japan.

Now I'm rocking a 3-banger hatchback that gets 35 mpg, and I'll never go back to sedans because I occasionally have to do things like clean out a 10 x 10 storage unit, and I don't need no steenking pickup truck to do it.

I could be convinced to get that VW electric minibus, though.
posted by credulous at 4:48 PM on May 16 [2 favorites]


I hardly ever rent cars, but the only option you get is an SUV now. Glad the last one I had for a week (Kia Seltos) was easy to drive, at least.
posted by jenfullmoon at 4:51 PM on May 16


I had a metallic burnt orange Honda Civic 1200. Leaded gas, even. It was probably as basic a car could be and still be a car, it was tiny, and it was perfectly acceptable to me at 6'4 and 300lbs at the time. I drove it up and down the east coast of the US multiple times. Honestly 95% of all car trips could be done in a vehicle like that. Except make it an EV. It was a great car. Eventually junked it because we had access to cars that didn't poison us.
posted by seanmpuckett at 4:52 PM on May 16 [2 favorites]


Now I'm rocking a 3-banger hatchback that gets 35 mpg
A Chevy Sprint? My family had 3 of those and grandma had another! The four of us moved across Canada with our personal belongings in one of them. I used to take it off-roading. Good times.
posted by klanawa at 4:58 PM on May 16 [2 favorites]


Wish I could get a silence nanocar here in the USA instead of the ridiculously oversized vehicles we are offered now. I hate CAFE standards. I wish we'd just front load the taxes required for pollution and infrastructure damage at the point of sale with some kind of formula proportional to the square of the curb weight divided by miles per gallon (or EV equivalent) with the assumption of 150,000 miles driven over the life of the vehicle. Just give people a fiscal incentive to make smart choices and take out the ridiculous loopholes for "work vehicles".
posted by BrotherCaine at 5:03 PM on May 16 [3 favorites]


Ford only just last week announced it intends to resume making sedans and small cars, partly because it's taking a beating to the tune of an average of a hundred grand per EV it delivers.

I doubt they're just going to dust of the schematics for the Flex and the Focus and start plugging EV or hybrid drivetrains in those, since that's easier said than done, and they probably destroyed/sold the tooling, but damn that's a lot of money to bleeding out.
posted by MarchHare at 5:04 PM on May 16 [1 favorite]


it works just fine with CarPlay (although not wirelessly...

I suspect Volvo and GM are being incentivized to push Android, which I'm just not interested in, even if that's fine for others.

I also suspect that, in addition to Google paying for effective functional exclusivity of this kind — where they make it difficult or impossible to use CarPlay, or to use it without these kinds of crippling compromises(*) — there are data sharing arrangements that appeal to Volvo and GM corporate, so that they can basically track where you go without real, genuine consent.

* : I don't have CarPlay in my old Subie but at least it will let me connect audio via Bluetooth, without nonsense. If you're being forced to pay $35-45k+ for a car, it should work with your phone, whatever you use.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 5:12 PM on May 16


Ford only just last week announced it intends to resume making sedans and small cars, partly because it's taking a beating to the tune of an average of a hundred grand per EV it delivers.

I doubt they're just going to dust of the schematics for the Flex and the Focus and start plugging EV or hybrid drivetrains in those, since that's easier said than done, and they probably destroyed/sold the tooling, but damn that's a lot of money to bleeding out.


that gives me hope for a good replacement for my beloved C-max. It's infuriating because there IS and HAS BEEN demand for compact cars, and they were actually designed well!
posted by ApathyGirl at 5:16 PM on May 16 [1 favorite]


The Trabant was made of cotton wool soaked with linseed oil, I believe.

Ja! Duroplast was a form of carbon fibre, made mostly from recycled cotton waste and phenol resins that were themselves waste products from other chemical processes. This resulted in a sophisticated composite material, light and strong, able to be formed into various shapes using a press. Though disposal was no easier than with many other composites, Duroplast was - in its own way - a far superior alternative to the fibreglasses and carbon-fiber reinforced polymers used in the sportscars of the decadent western bourgeoisie.
posted by MarchHare at 5:21 PM on May 16


I don't understand the need to have a passenger vehicle that seats at least five also be a large hauling vehicle with a full length truck bed. People don't know how to park them, and they're very much a specialty vehicle. If you're driving one of these to WalMart by yourself to pick up a few things you need for dinner... you're doing it wrong.

My favourite part is always them whining about gas prices when they have chosen to drive these behemoths. Like, duh? How thick are you?
posted by Kitteh at 5:38 PM on May 16


inflatablekiwi oh my goodness this is too relatable. I almost always turn down these upgrades, but especially if I'm driving in any large town or city. Why would I want a huge stupid SUV? Ever? Except that one time when they gave us a shock-orange Wrangler, that was too good to resist.

That said, I *need* a smaller car because I have a very narrow driveway that I can't do anything about - there's 79" of clearance house-to-house. My Mini barely squeaks by with both mirrors folded in, and now that I actually need to carry around 2 adults and three kids, there is literally nothing that will fit down my driveway that's been sold in the USA in the last 15 years except for the Nissan NV200, which you can't get in full passenger trim except as a heavily used yellow cab, which thanks but no thanks.

I'm so desperate for a small van that I've been looking at JDM minivans, which seem to seat seven AND can fit basically anywhere.
posted by 1adam12 at 5:40 PM on May 16


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