Chevrolet Is Killing Off the Malibu as Its Focus Shifts to EVs

• General Motors has confirmed it will kill the Malibu sedan as the company continues to transition to a more EV-focused lineup.
• In a statement to Car and Driver, Chevrolet confirmed the Malibu will end production in November 2024.
• The change follows a 27-year run since the Malibu’s resurrection in 1997, and it will allow GM to retool the Fairfax Assembly Plant while it prepares for the return of the Bolt EV.

Few vehicles in history can claim to have had a longer or more successful life span than the Chevy Malibu. Today, Chevrolet confirmed to Car and Driver that it will kill off the Malibu for the second time in the car’s history.

According to a statement given to Car and Driver by the automaker, the change comes as the automaker invests $390 million at its Fairfax Assembly Plant in Kansas. Production will officially end in November 2024.

2021 Chevrolet Malibu

Along with the death of the Malibu, GM will also pause production of the Cadillac XT4 in January, allowing the company to retool the facility and begin production of the Ultium-based Bolt EV. Production there is expected to resume in late 2025 with the XT4 and Bolt EV to be built on the same assembly line.

Despite Chevy falling in line with industry trends and shifting towards crossovers and SUVs in recent years, the Malibu has been a stalwart, if unexceptional, mainstay in the automotive landscape. Chevrolet says it has sold more than 10 million units of the sedan throughout its nine generations.

Despite the Malibu’s previously displayed staying power, the change comes as a bit of a shock given GM’s recent struggles in launching its new Ultium platform. The company fell short of its goal to sell 400,000 EVs between 2022 and the middle of 2024 and confirmed in February that it will bring plug-in-hybrid vehicles back to North America.

We’ve been somewhat lukewarm toward the Malibu in recent years, but we’ll certainly lament the passing of such a longstanding nameplate. Who knows? Maybe GM will revive it as an EV in another 15 years.