The Chevy Malibu is dead

Malibu production will end in November, making way for the next-generation Chevrolet Bolt, which will arrive late next year.

With the move away from conventional sedans and the use of combustion engines instead of electric drives, the days of the Chevrolet Malibu have long been numbered. On Wednesday, General Motors announced it would end Malibu production in November. The Detroit News reports that the next-generation Bolt will eventually take the place of the Malibu at GM’s Fairfax convention in Kansas.

“To facilitate the installation of tooling and other facility modifications, GM will cease production of the Chevrolet Malibu in November 2024 and cease production of the Cadillac XT4 after January 2025 after nine generations and over 10 million global sales,” a GM spokesperson said Detroit News in a statement.

Due to the Malibu’s sinking, there will be layoffs at the plant until it starts building cars again in late 2025. The factory will build both the new Bolt and the XT4 side by side. We reached out to Cadillac to find out more about what this means for the XT4’s near future.

When Malibu production ends, the Corvette will be the only traditional car in Chevrolet’s lineup. Chevy will be a pure crossover/SUV/truck brand, as is already the case with Buick and GMC. The only GM sedans available in America will be the Cadillac CT4 and CT5 and the upcoming ultra-luxury Celestiq.

The Malibu is one of Chevy’s oldest nameplates. From 1964 to 1978 it was a top-of-the-line Chevelle model, and until 1983 it was its own model. It came back in 1997 and has remained in the Chevy lineup to this day.

The car was also the last traditional sedan from a mainstream American brand. Ford got rid of all of its sedans years ago, and the Chrysler 300 died last year. Despite being a dead man, Chevy managed to sell 130,000 Malibu last year. May it rest in peace.

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