Impala

[biff]

I'm sure it's on this site somewhere, but since RWD is killed does anyone know what the plan is for the Impala? LW EPII? Are they going to keep building the current one until no one buys it anymore? Ford has a good 1 - 2 punch with the Fusion and Taurus. Chevrolet's sales will continue to decline if they do nothing.

[gm4life]

I'm sure it's on this site somewhere, but since RWD is killed does anyone know what the plan is for the Impala? LW EPII? Are they going to keep building the current one until no one buys it anymore? Ford has a good 1 - 2 punch with the Fusion and Taurus. Chevrolet's sales will continue to decline if they do nothing.

Sounds like it will be EP II LWB and with six cylinder motors, possible AWD, and I doubt an SS powered V8 verison will be out, but with the new SHO you never know. It will come about 2011 I think. The new Fusion will not hurt Mailbu sales that much and the Taurus will be more upmarket and expensive than the current Impala witch really isn't worrying me. Impala sales will take a hit sure and Malibu sales to lesser extent, the only reason to get a Fusion is for the new 2010 Hybrid which is impressive. I am sure GM has something up their sleeve, Ford might have beat them to the battle but GM won't let Ford win the war.

Edited February 14, 2009 by gm4life

[daves87rs]

It's done.

With the new Mailbu out, there is no point to it anymore.

And with Chevy getting smaller, I doubt that there will be a car bigger than the Malibu.....

Unless GM feels the need to compete with the new Tarus, it's just another model cut at this point.....

[biff]

I went from a Impala to a new Malibu. Malibu is just a little small, I miss the extra space for haulin kids but I'm not into a CUV. The 3.6 gets slightly lower mpg than the Imp but the driving dynamics are improved. I would have got an Impala again but the Malibu was much more impressive.

I think there's market for the Impala if it's done right. My old man is shopping for one so I've been checking them out lately. Had a few Avalons as rentals, they look nice put are put together very poorly. Not hard to improve on. It will be interesting to see how Taurus does.

[cire]

This is just a prediction about the next gen versions of the Malibu and Impala based on 2 factors:

1) GM's desire to merge Chevrolet's products on a global scale.

2) GM's fear and subsequent abandonment of most of their future RWD projects.

Malibu: The next gen Malibu will merge stylistically with the next gen global Chevrolet Epica/Daewoo Tosca on the SWB Eps II platform. The next gen Malibu may be slightly smaller than the current version (maybe losing an inch or two in length), but will be packaged to offer interior room on par with the current car as well as the rest of the mainstream midsize sedan segment. If the next gen Malibu merges with a global midsize SWB Eps II based Chevrolet/Daewoo sedan, my hope is that the U.S. design team takes the lead on the design and comes up with something as visually appealing as the current Malibu. I would hate to see the next gen Malibu turn out looking anything like the current Epica/Tosca. As far as engine choices, I would expect it to mirror the 2 DI engine offerings of the upcoming 2010 Equinox (2.4L DI 4-cylinder as a base engine and 3.0L DI V6 as the optional engine). A possible SS version might offer a turbocharged version of the 2.4L DI 4-cylinder engine with AWD?

Impala: The next gen Impala will be built on the LWB Eps II platform that underpins the upcoming 2010 Buick LaCrosse. I would expect the next gen Impala's dimensions to be similar to those of the upcoming LaCrosse (which is around 197 inches long), which would be substantial enough to position this car as a class above the next gen Malibu (if GM packages it correctly). Like the next gen Malibu, I would expect the next gen Impala to be a global vehicle that may possibly replace some of the Zeta based products currently available in foreign markets (such as the Holden Commodore). Even if the next gen Impala is based on a FWD platform, it needs to be a killer design. So far, GM has created some great looking sedans on Eps II (Insignia and 2010 LaCrosse); hopefully a future LWB Eps II Impala will continue the trend. As far as engine choices, I would expect it to offer the 3.0L DI V6 as a base engine and the 3.6L DI V6 as the optional engine. A possible SS version might offer a turbocharged version of the 3.0L DI V6 with AWD?

Edited February 15, 2009 by cire

[ZL-1]

If Chevy engineers two Epsilon 2 models, they can offer both SWB and LWB Epsilon 2 models in the US. The Epica can be called Malibu in the US (or use the Malbu name worldwide) and the LWB can be the Impala, sold only in NA.