General Motors will officially end production of the Chevrolet Malibu this fall, The Detroit News reported Wednesday, after years of uncertainty and rumor following GM’s quiet acknowledgment that it was getting out of the four-door business for good. Cruze production ended in 2019 and the Impala bit the bullet in 2020, Even its small hatchbacks weren’t safe; the poor Sonic and Spark both met similar fates.
But the Malibu managed to stick around about as long as GM had originally predicted, despite the aforementioned uncertainty. A quick glance at the sales charts explains why: the midsize family sedan was one of Chevy’s best sellers in 2023. The only two models that outsold it were the Equinox CUV and the Silverado. While we suspect many of those Malibus were going to fleets, an annual volume of 130,000 units is nothing to sneeze at.
The Malibu is one of Chevy’s oldest nameplates and dates to 1964, however it took a hiatus from 1984-1996. Filling in during its absence were the front-wheel drive-Chevy Celebrity and later the Lumina. The latter overlapped with the revived Malibu for several years before itself being killed off in 2001.
The sedan’s departure will make way for a new vehicle — another small one, in fact. The Fairfax Assembly facility in Kansas will be retooled to build the replacement Chevrolet Bolt. Fairfax is also home to the Cadillac XT4; production of the small Caddy crossover will be put on hold during retooling as well, but it will resume alongside the Bolt once the upgrade is complete, a GM spokesperson confirmed to the News.
Autoblog reached out to GM for comment. We will update this post if we hear back.