SMALL hatchbacks, crossovers and pickup-based SUVs may dominate the Philippine auto market, but a few car makers still include in their lineup an executive sedan model.
Chevrolet Philippines is one of such companies. It introduced the 2018 Chevrolet Malibu earlier this month, bringing back the latest version of a nameplate it first released locally in 2014. The new Malibu, according to the company, is lighter, leaner and longer than the model it replaced — itself a dynamic performer. So no “Yank Tank” this new car is.
“The all-new 2018 Chevrolet Malibu delivers more efficiency, connectivity and advanced safety features than ever, along with more rear legroom and interior space,” Chevrolet said in a statement. It added the model was named the 2017 Best Midsize Car in the U.S. News and World Report’s annual Best Cars for Families survey.
Among the car’s features are an inductive mobile charger that allows for wireless connection to mobile devices, a nine-speaker Bose audio system, and Chevrolet’s Mylink, which integrates phone functions and provides access to some apps via an eight-inch touch screen panel. The system also offers voice-command functions.
Semi-automatic parallel and perpendicular parking, adaptive cruise control, and ventilated front seats are some of the car’s premium items.
Meanwhile, included in the new Malibu’s list of safety-related technologies are lane-keep assist, lane departure warning, front collision alert, front pedestrian detection, forward automatic braking, side blind zone alert and rear cross traffic alert. The car also packs eight air bags around the cabin.
In 2018 new-generation form the Malibu (in the Philippines, at least) is powered by a smaller — but gutsier — engine than that found in the previous model. Where the old car was propelled by a 165-hp, 225-Nm, 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine, the new one relies on a 2.0-liter four-pot mill that, through turbo-charging, makes 250hp and 353Nm. Paired to this engine is a six-speed automatic transmission.
Now sold solely in LTZ trim level, the Malibu is priced at P2,131,888. — BMA
