Review: 2010 Chevrolet Malibu 1LT

Filed under: Budget, Sedan, Chevrolet, GM, Reviews

Can This Aging Sedan Hold Out Until Help Arrives?

2010 Chevrolet Malibu

2010 Chevrolet Malibu – Click above for high-res image gallery

The year was 2007. The top-selling mid-size sedan, the Toyota Camry, was garnering a lot of praise from its most recent refresh, and automakers were furiously scribbling on notepads trying to get their next round of competitive vehicles out the door. General Motors had been going through a long string of bad press due to lackluster quality on the vast majority of its vehicles, and a big change needed to take place.

Enter the 2008 Chevrolet Malibu. When it launched, GM was proud not only of its design and engineering, but of the improved quality and higher-grade craftsmanship that had been put into its new mid-sizer. The new Malibu made a big splash – so much so that it was named the 2008 North American Car of the Year, and the well-to-do sedan started selling in droves.

But now it’s 2010, and since the Malibu’s launch we’ve seen new versions of the Mazda6, Ford Fusion, Hyundai Sonata and Subaru Legacy, not to mention first-time entries into the segment like the Suzuki Kizashi. The initial praise that the Camry enjoyed in 2007 is now fading fast, and the Malibu has two more years left until an all-new model arrives. So with all the stiff new competition on the block, does the Malibu still lead the pack, simply keep up or something worse?

Gallery: Review: 2010 Chevrolet Malibu