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Author	Topic: Mild-hybrid Malibu is tough sell for Chevy	Post a Reply Back to Topics

MrGasKGB Veteran Author St. Louis Posts:390 Points:147,325 Joined:Dec 2012	Message Posted: Jan 29, 2013 8:19:35 AM Ignore MrGasKGB Report Abuse DETROIT -- Most prospective Malibu buyers at Castle Chevrolet in suburban Chicago quickly decide that they don't want to pay nearly $3,000 more for the Eco mild-hybrid version. "For most people, it's hard to justify the extra money based on the extra fuel economy" of a combined 3 mpg more than the base model, says Jeff Tuckman, the dealership's inventory manager. "You've got the base LS model sitting next to it that's just as nice and luxurious." Visit Automotive News for full article

MrGasKGB

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Message Posted: Jan 29, 2013 8:19:35 AM

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DETROIT -- Most prospective Malibu buyers at Castle Chevrolet in suburban Chicago quickly decide that they don't want to pay nearly $3,000 more for the Eco mild-hybrid version.

"For most people, it's hard to justify the extra money based on the extra fuel economy" of a combined 3 mpg more than the base model, says Jeff Tuckman, the dealership's inventory manager. "You've got the base LS model sitting next to it that's just as nice and luxurious."
Visit Automotive News for full article

REPLIES (newest first)Ignore Short Messages

blupupher Champion Author Houston Posts:3,566 Points:750,970 Joined:Feb 2011	Message Posted: Jan 30, 2013 9:08:22 AM Ignore blupupher Report Abuse Yup, in order for hybrids to be successful, they need to be cheaper and offer more improvement in MPG.
TruthMatters Champion Author New Jersey Posts:2,525 Points:536,460 Joined:Oct 2011	Message Posted: Jan 30, 2013 8:10:35 AM Ignore TruthMatters Report Abuse Yes, that's a no-brainer! Why Chevy would set up their line to compete with offerings from other manufacturers in the most competitive segment of the automotive market just beyond me!
Ahking Champion Author Orange County Posts:3,522 Points:606,375 Joined:May 2011	Message Posted: Jan 30, 2013 2:52:04 AM Ignore Ahking Report Abuse the first version often costs more.
FluffyDogAttack Champion Author Riverside Posts:1,088 Points:97,170 Joined:Oct 2012	Message Posted: Jan 30, 2013 1:57:06 AM Ignore FluffyDogAttack Report Abuse GM = tough sell? Hardly. Over here it equals NO SALE.
rcornel All-Star Author San Diego Posts:734 Points:230,020 Joined:Jun 2012	Message Posted: Jan 30, 2013 12:38:02 AM Ignore rcornel Report Abuse Interesting.
Tacodan Champion Author Cincinnati Posts:2,342 Points:656,385 Joined:Apr 2011	Message Posted: Jan 29, 2013 9:36:48 PM Ignore Tacodan Report Abuse anything GM is a tough sell for me
Mystikal1 Sophomore Author Akron Posts:229 Points:605,105 Joined:May 2011	Message Posted: Jan 29, 2013 8:54:47 PM Ignore Mystikal1 Report Abuse No V6 equals no Malibu. Eco not even in the equation.
MadFueler All-Star Author Winston-Salem Posts:941 Points:175,435 Joined:Sep 2012	Message Posted: Jan 29, 2013 6:36:50 PM Ignore MadFueler Report Abuse The best way to sell this, evidently, is not by any economic payoff from the slight fuel economy increase, but by touting the extra power when needed, appealing to general desire to conserve in the aggregate, and other non-economic factors. Surely dealers know how to do that after doing it for so long.
SVmike Champion Author California Posts:1,569 Points:319,195 Joined:Dec 2009	Message Posted: Jan 29, 2013 2:44:23 PM Ignore SVmike Report Abuse If you average ~30 mpg and drive the car for 100K miles you would use 3333 gal of gas. Saving 3 mpg wold save you 10% or about 333 gal for 100K miles. Thus a savings of about $1000 for $3/gal and $1333 for $4/gal gas. So you'd have to drive the car about 250K to 300K miles to break even
ceklea Veteran Author Twin Cities Posts:358 Points:1,290,645 Joined:Dec 2008	Message Posted: Jan 29, 2013 1:19:03 PM Ignore ceklea Report Abuse The Malibu Eco gets 25 mpg in city driving and 37 on the highway, compared with a 22/34 rating for the 2.5-liter model.
jeffbone Champion Author Virginia Posts:1,366 Points:401,810 Joined:Mar 2011	Message Posted: Jan 29, 2013 1:16:08 PM Ignore jeffbone Report Abuse Wow, people voting with their pocketbooks...for as long as the gummint will allow them to, anyway...
eric_tdi Veteran Author San Jose Posts:326 Points:168,030 Joined:Jan 2010	Message Posted: Jan 29, 2013 12:12:56 PM Ignore eric_tdi Report Abuse Not Ready for Prime time !! People aren't all dumb !!
YumaFellow Champion Author Arizona Posts:1,300 Points:624,545 Joined:Jan 2011	Message Posted: Jan 29, 2013 11:55:29 AM Ignore YumaFellow Report Abuse Looks like this needed more engineering and design work. Just 3 mpg doesn't make a case for hybrid even if one likes them.
YaBassa Champion Author Michigan Posts:2,445 Points:520,025 Joined:Nov 2011	Message Posted: Jan 29, 2013 11:15:59 AM Ignore YaBassa Report Abuse Wait for the next-generation eAssist system and re-evaluate then
highdesertman Champion Author Albuquerque Posts:2,494 Points:1,720,030 Joined:Mar 2005	Message Posted: Jan 29, 2013 11:12:55 AM Ignore highdesertman Report Abuse The biggest problem with these is that the battery takes up about a third of the already undersized trunk. That's a non-starter for me.
humblepie Champion Author Toledo Posts:34,333 Points:2,374,295 Joined:Mar 2006	Message Posted: Jan 29, 2013 10:58:34 AM Ignore humblepie Report Abuse what a complete piece of crap
Norm10 Champion Author British Columbia Posts:3,342 Points:163,050 Joined:Dec 2010	Message Posted: Jan 29, 2013 10:48:21 AM Ignore Norm10 Report Abuse No surprise here!
fora_7 All-Star Author Montreal Posts:872 Points:208,455 Joined:Sep 2012	Message Posted: Jan 29, 2013 10:32:10 AM Ignore fora_7 Report Abuse Hybrid or electric cars are OK but only in states or countries not stuck with cold weather a third of the year. Not only the battery looses most of its strenght in cold weather, but the heating system is also wearing down the battery faster. Here in Canada, hybrid and electric cars are hopeless.
bigt61 All-Star Author Virginia Posts:655 Points:203,475 Joined:Jul 2008	Message Posted: Jan 29, 2013 9:51:26 AM Ignore bigt61 Report Abuse Imagine that, customers don't want to go "green" unless it makes just a little economic sense. I wish Obama would think that way. But what does he care, it's not his money.
Skunk63 Champion Author Phoenix Posts:2,567 Points:561,220 Joined:Oct 2011	Message Posted: Jan 29, 2013 9:39:20 AM Ignore Skunk63 Report Abuse Not that I even would consider buying another GM product, but most buyers are either not willing to pay more upfront for lower operating costs because they feel it is not worth the payoff over time, or the just don't car about fuel economy so much that they want to deal with complicated features.
Buckeyee Champion Author Maine Posts:4,621 Points:902,550 Joined:May 2010	Message Posted: Jan 29, 2013 9:36:51 AM Ignore Buckeyee Report Abuse Sounds like GM needs a little hand out from you know who !! We have to protect those union people and bad management at all cost to you.
bisonjim Champion Author Florida Posts:1,070 Points:209,155 Joined:May 2012	Message Posted: Jan 29, 2013 9:36:14 AM Ignore bisonjim Report Abuse $250.00 sounds more reasonable, but $3000.00 for 3 mpg, don't think do.
fuel2use Champion Author Seattle Posts:3,497 Points:734,555 Joined:Dec 2010	Message Posted: Jan 29, 2013 9:29:22 AM Ignore fuel2use Report Abuse See where it goes.
GingoutMD Champion Author Maryland Posts:3,495 Points:713,305 Joined:Jan 2010	Message Posted: Jan 29, 2013 9:25:26 AM Ignore GingoutMD Report Abuse Definitely not worth the price for only a 3mpg improvement.
RAJNY All-Star Author New York Posts:575 Points:434,020 Joined:Oct 2011	Message Posted: Jan 29, 2013 9:11:13 AM Ignore RAJNY Report Abuse right
BurntOrange Champion Author Austin Posts:8,743 Points:1,585,940 Joined:Nov 2007	Message Posted: Jan 29, 2013 8:44:17 AM Ignore BurntOrange Report Abuse The payback for most hybrids, given that gas prices stay about the same, is between 6 and 7 years.$3K for 3 MPG? You will never get it back.
angel4me Champion Author San Jose Posts:2,814 Points:796,045 Joined:Dec 2010	Message Posted: Jan 29, 2013 8:27:28 AM Ignore angel4me Report Abuse money is still tough these days.........
Rockyguitar Champion Author Tampa Posts:2,577 Points:1,205,495 Joined:Sep 2008	Message Posted: Jan 29, 2013 8:25:22 AM Ignore Rockyguitar Report Abuse Where the hell does GM come up with these ideas? Hey, dudes, ever hear of cost / benefit ratio?
lcleveland Champion Author San Antonio Posts:2,671 Points:653,300 Joined:May 2011	Message Posted: Jan 29, 2013 8:21:34 AM Ignore lcleveland Report Abuse yep.....not worth it