GM to Discontinue the Chevy Malibu, the Brand’s Last Sedan, After 60 Years

General Motors said on Wednesday that, after selling more than 10 million Chevy Ma;ibus worldwide over several decades, it would cease production of the sedan in November.

The move leaves the Corvette as the last petrol-powered Chevrolet automobile as production of the Camaro is already slated to end this year.

The General said it was taking  this step in order to make room in its Kansas City, Kansas, plant to make electric vehicles. It is making a $390 million investment in an updated Chevrolet Bolt EV, the very vehicle it said it would stop producing in April 2023, only to shift into reverse and reintroduce it three months later.

GM also said it would pause production of the Cadillac XT4, a gas-powered model, at the same Kansas plant starting around January 2025. When production restarts in late 2025, the Kansas City plant will produce both the Bolt and the XT4. The automaker said that this move would give it “flexibility to respond to changes in consumer demand.”

The instrument cluster on a 2016 Chevrolet Malibu LT

Introduced in 1964, the Malibu is a mid-sized auto that was manufactured from 1964 to 1983, with production restarting in 1997. Named after the coastal beach city of Malibu, California, the Malibu was primarily marketed to auto buyers in North America, although the eighth generation Malibu was sold internationally.

GM produced nine generations of the vehicle. The original Malibu was an upmarket subseries of the Chevrolet Chevelle, available in a full range of body styles including a four-door sedan, two-door Sport Coupe hardtop, convertible, and two-door station wagon. The Malibu interior was more lavish than the lesser Chevelle, and a Malibu SS performance package was available as a two-door Sport Coupe hardtop or convertible and equipped with bucket seats, a center console, optional four-on-the-floor or Powerglide automatic transmission, engine gauges, and special wheel covers. The original Malibu appeared in numerous films including “Pulp Fiction” and “Repo Man.” The 1989 film “Say Anything” starred John Cusack, a boombox, and a 1977 Chevrolet Malibu.

The car was also the subject of a number of forgettable songs by seemingly forgotten bands including “Chevy Malibu” by  Dingees, “Chevy, Take Me to Malibu” by Kaylin Sahs, and “Heavy Chevy Malibu” by Kurupt.

(Photo: Accura Media Group)