- GM President Mark Reuss recently revealed that an electric Chevy sedan is being developed for China. first reported by the GM . Agency.
- Ruess says the new Ultium-based EV is still in the early stages of development and hints that it could arrive in the US as a Malibu replace.
- With the Chinese launch of the Chevy FNR-XE concept car (shown here), we think its design could preview a Malibu EV.
As SUVs and crossovers have grown in popularity over the past decade, Chevrolet’s previously healthy sedan lineup has shrunk down to a single vehicle, the Malibu. The mid-size sedan is in long-term development, having been on sale since 2016 with a slight refresh in 2019. However, there is now hope for the future of the Malibu, as General Motors president Mark Reuss detailed. revealed during a recent Investor Day presentation in China that Chevy is working on a “low-roof” EV that will have sedan-like proportions, according to a GM Authority report.
The upcoming electric sedan is only in the early stages of development, but Reuss calls the design “quite impressive” and says the EV will dominate the same mid-size segment as the current Malibu. This potential replacement has already been confirmed for the Chinese market, where sedans are still in high demand, but Chevy could eventually offer EVs in the United States. Reuss appeared to leave the door open to a US presence, saying at the event, “…we’ll see the level of desire as we explore this.”
Chevy recently launched an electric sedan concept car in China called the FNR-XE (pictured above). Its design can provide a preview of the EV referenced by Reuss, and the concept is based on the Ultium battery platform. The overall shape is similar to the Honda e:N2 concept that was introduced in China in November, and Honda and GM have collaborated on the production of an electric crossover, with Chevy Blazer EV and Honda’s Prologue share the same platform.
Malibu’s potential all-electric replacement will hit the Chinese market by the end of 2024, so US sales if GM decides to bring it here likely won’t start until at least. is the year 2025.
Although many customers have been attracted to SUVs in recent years, the Malibu still represents decent sales for Chevy. After a severe drop in 2021, falling from 102,651 units sold in 2020 to just 39,376 units, Malibu rebounded in 2022 with nearly 80,000 units sold in the third quarter.
There’s still a market for sedans in the US, so an electric Malibu might make sense for Chevrolet to bring to our shores as the company moves away from gas-powered vehicles.
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This content was imported from a poll. You can find the same content in a different format or you can find more information at their website.
