2008 Chevrolet Malibu

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This is supposed to be the next interior for the Malibu.
Nothing amazing, but a vast improvement. (Then again, what wouldn’t be…)

By 2008, the whole car is supposed to be new.
Let’s hope they get it right this time. No matter how good a car is, it needs to be at least semi attractive for people to want one… It will come a couple of years after a new Camry and Altima, and about the same time as the new Accord.
It’s a tough world for GM out there…

In other, related “interior” news. The Chrysler 300 is supposed to get an all new interior “soon”.
How soon? I don’t know. But it will be before the car is redesigned.

Conversation 17 comments

  1. The “architecture” of the doors look a lot like the Aura.
    Armrest etc…
    I wonder if they’ll share a lot…

  2. Chevy needs to get the details right this time. The current Malibu is so bad from a design perspective that it’s almost pointless to discuss how bad the switchgear, air vents, hazzard button and material choices are. This design appears to be better. But let’s hope the tactile qualities will be completely upgraded.

  3. It’ll look ALOT better than the current Malibu if they use some decent materials. The G6 has a pretty well designed dash but, as most of you know, it has piss poor execution in material quality and looks like crap as a result.

  4. Of course if this was the interior of some upcoming Toyota, Honda or Nissan product, the jap-car bootlickers would already be pissing themselves with glee.

  5. D-bag, the Malibu isn’t better than the LAST Camry, much less the new one, except for the fact that it is the darling of rental lots which kills its resale value, and allows you to buy one for dirt cheap on the used market.

    It has a pushrod 3.5 liter V-6 that makes 200 horsepower in the Malibu. The Camry’s engine displaces the same amount (3.5L)and has 268 horsepower!

    The Camry is better than the Malibu indeed.

  6. Regarding the above statement…

    The current Malibu is not sold heavily to rental lots. That’s why the last gen “Malibu Classic” still exists. I’ve actually rented more Camrys in the past year (three) than any other model. The current generation Malibu that we’re talking about has amongst the highest customer satisfaction ratings in the midsized car category. That said, there is a lot of room for improvement. Especially when it comes to the interior. Actually, the clock-radio green transluscent plastic of the Camry dash isn’t so appealing either, so it won’t be difficult for Chevy to do better.

  7. I know of the “Classic” you are talking about, but around the Birmingham Airport rental-car stores, the current-gen Malibu and Malibu Maxx are prevailent. While they are much better than the “Classic”, they still feel a generation old in comparison with the Accord, which is technically older than the current Malibu.

    different areas of the country will have different rental car biases, I guess. The Malibu and new Hyundai Sonata are very popular rentals here in the South.

  8. This is a badly-colorized verson of a CAD-mockup that is floating around out there, so while the layout is correct, the colors are *way* off, so the interior could end up looking considerably different.

  9. D-bag, the Malibu isn’t better than the LAST Camry, much less the new one, except for the fact that it is the darling of rental lots which kills its resale value, and allows you to buy one for dirt cheap on the used market.
    The Camry is better than the Malibu indeed.

    I don’t like toyota all that much. I do like the new and previous genration avalons, i also like the new rav 4. SO when i heard the new camry was coming out i became very excited, thinking this would be the best thing on the market. What do you know? This thing sucks majorly. I went to toyota to see hwo well the interior was exceuted. The japs did a poor job on this. The CE and LE models look like you can break the door handels off, not to mention they also feel like you can also just see the cheapness. In order to get anywhere you have to jump up to the XLE but thats another 4 or 5 grand on the starting price. Take a look the thing looks like a pos. Did i mention that it is butt ugly. I will admit the previous camry is better tho.

  10. It’s not what’s better, the Camry or the Malibu. It’s which one sucks the least. And in this case, the Camry sucks the least. But it’s certainly not such a good car that it can’t be surpassed.

  11. It’s not what’s better, the Camry or the Malibu. It’s which one sucks the least. And in this case, the Camry sucks the least. But it’s certainly not such a good car that it can’t be surpassed. i still think the 2006 chevy malibu sucks less than the 2007 camry. They are both pretty bad but the camry is worse, i swear. I still haven’t figured out why they sell so many camrys and corallas. To me toyota means, mediocrity at its best. The only good models they have are the avalon and the new rav4. Take a look where the 2006 camry ranks in other family sedans. https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/comparison-test/a15387669/2006-mid-size-sedans/

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