[rockitdoc]

Have you seen the commercial where they unbadge the thing and people try to guess what it is? Funny as hell. Since the car looks like everything else on the road, except BMW, they can't figure out what it is. I wonder if this is a new marketing technique?

[shortseller]

Don't know about folks confusing it for a BMW, but it's a lot of car for little money and looks nice. Competition does work!

[Sahbatage]

my favorite part is when they try selling you on the feature that turns off the music until the seat belt is buckled... who the hell would want that!!??

[auf Deutsch]

So sick of these Chevy series commercials. There's like 8 of them.

"How much do you think you'd pay for a car like this?....50-65k", responds the scripted actor. GTFO!

[jmmoore3]

Hahaha I saw this and almost made a similar post. I do like that leather color they used and cars has nice tech options but no appearance or driving experience appeal in my opinion.

Lady said 80k when asked about price, that was a laugh wonder what she drives now.

[RickFLM4]

To me, it looks like a GM rental car and I think it is weak for a brand to try to sell cars this way. If the brand wants to stand for value then reinforce value for features received instead of trying to create the perception customers will confuse it for a BMW, Lexus or any other brand people said. Does it look like a good value vs. cars that cost $30K? Yeah probably. Is it something someone would buy when shopping for $50K+ cars? I don't think so.

[FriskyDingo]

Let's get something out the way- these commercials are stupid, and the actors are obviously just that.

That said, I have driven the new Malibu in both 1.5 and 2.0 guises, and the car is sublime. It is hand down the best all-around midsize family sedan I've driven. I strongly considered leasing one for my wife, but put her in an AWD CUV, instead.

Don't knock one until you try one. In all honesty, it drives just as good as a base 320/328i w/out Sport Pkg and all the goodies, and is substantially less money.

[gtron]

when they drive it and it feels like a toy they will no longer think it's more than $20-30k. if they do, they're going to get hustled. then again, it's all just a script and they can say it looks like any number they want.

now here's a malibu worth their current msrp:

[FriskyDingo]

It doesn't feel like a toy at all. My only criticism with the car is that dual-zone climate should be standard at a lower trim than what it is.

[Jamesons Viggen]

They don't need to be actors. They are focus groups. They record tons of reactions and cherry pick the ones to make a commercial out of. It's cheap and effective.

[Jamesons Viggen]

Originally Posted by FriskyDingo

Let's get something out the way- these commercials are stupid, and the actors are obviously just that.

That said, I have driven the new Malibu in both 1.5 and 2.0 guises, and the car is sublime. It is hand down the best all-around midsize family sedan I've driven. I strongly considered leasing one for my wife, but put her in an AWD CUV, instead.

Don't knock one until you try one. In all honesty, it drives just as good as a base 320/328i w/out Sport Pkg and all the goodies, and is substantially less money.

Do not confuse people with first hand experiences, let them be the experts on how cars drive that they have never driven.

[RickFLM4]

I'm sure it's a fine car and we will all find out when we next rent one from Avis. However, debadged or not it is quite clearly a GM product to anyone that actually reads or thinks about cars. This marketing approach communicates embarrassment about their brand to me more than it communicates quality or value, which is unfortuante for GM.

[Haywood]

Originally Posted by FriskyDingo

Let's get something out the way- these commercials are stupid, and the actors are obviously just that.

That said, I have driven the new Malibu in both 1.5 and 2.0 guises, and the car is sublime. It is hand down the best all-around midsize family sedan I've driven. I strongly considered leasing one for my wife, but put her in an AWD CUV, instead.

Don't knock one until you try one. In all honesty, it drives just as good as a base 320/328i w/out Sport Pkg and all the goodies, and is substantially less money.

Hmm. Never drove one, but the word 'sublime' might be a bit much!

[CirrusSR22]

Originally Posted by Sahbatage

my favorite part is when they try selling you on the feature that turns off the music until the seat belt is buckled... who the hell would want that!!??

Parents of teen drivers. There's a number of teen driver monitoring functions on the new Malibu. Very good ideas, IMO.

[04gto]

Originally Posted by FriskyDingo

Let's get something out the way- these commercials are stupid, and the actors are obviously just that.

That said, I have driven the new Malibu in both 1.5 and 2.0 guises, and the car is sublime. It is hand down the best all-around midsize family sedan I've driven. I strongly considered leasing one for my wife, but put her in an AWD CUV, instead.

Don't knock one until you try one. In all honesty, it drives just as good as a base 320/328i w/out Sport Pkg and all the goodies, and is substantially less money.

I drove a loaded 2016 Malibu about 3 days ago. I cannot speak for the lower trims, but the interior is just as nice as my 2010 C300. The car is also way roomier inside. In fact it has almost exactly the same interior and cargo volume as a new 5 series. It is also equipped like a $60k 528i sedan, yet only costs about $34-35k. Am I saying it is as good or better than a 5 series? No. Is it a far better value? Not even close, way more for your dollar. Does it drive as good or better than my C300? Yes, it drives better and again is way roomier. Styling is subjective, but the Benz is still a lot better looking. The Malibu drives great, looks nice and has a great interior. Also, at least here in LA, if you drive one of these you will stand apart from the endless Mercedes and BMW's that are everywhere you look. Smart choice I think.

[boxxa]

The commercial cracks me up. At one point I had a Chevy and a BMW and not once did I get into a car and think, "shit. what car am I in?"

[Jamesons Viggen]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

I'm sure it's a fine car and we will all find out when we next rent one from Avis. However, debadged or not it is quite clearly a GM product to anyone that actually reads or thinks about cars. This marketing approach communicates embarrassment about their brand to me more than it communicates quality or value, which is unfortuante for GM.

A commercial like that is not targeted at you or me, guys on car forums, people dialed in. We make up a VERY small percentage of the car buying public and we are not buyers for the car in question.

Shit, poll data from a couple years ago found that many BMW 1-series owners did not know their cars were not FWD. In summary, the bulk of people out there don't know shit about cars lol.

[FriskyDingo]

Originally Posted by Haywood

Hmm. Never drove one, but the word 'sublime' might be a bit much!

Meh. I'm not gonna lie and tell you that it'll set your pants on fire if you're an enthusiast. But it's an extremely competent car, that does what it's supposed to do very, very well. I couldn't really find any fault with the car, which is saying a lot, because I'm pretty damn hard to please.

[VB5ER]

Rode with a coworker in his new Ford Taurus, the one that has the m5 vents in the fenders. It was pretty impressive and I was surprised at the overall comfort and ride quality. Haven't been in the new Malibu though.

[FriskyDingo]

The Taurus is terribly packaged. Decent looking and driving car with the right powertrain, but outward visibility is abysmal and it's cramped inside. SHO's make for some pretty killer used car values, though.

[DieGrüneHölle]

The new Malibu looks good, they did a much better job with styling.

[E90SLAM]

We've only seen one group of guests in probably hundreds of focus group sessions.
Some might never sat or driven a real luxury car or a luxury sports sedan.

Anyhow, for the price of around 22k, it might have better interior than the lowest trim 320i. Competitors are improving, and throwing more technology, and on the other hand, BMW is taking toys away and makes cheaper interior.