The first new Chevrolet Malibu is built in Korea

The first production unit of the new Chevy Malibu was built in GM’s Bupyeong #2 plant in Incheon, South Korea and to mark the momentous occasion, General Motors of Korea President/CEO Mike Arcamone was in attendance along with Korean labor union Chairman Ki Min. The new Chevrolet Malibu is planned to be a global competitor in the mid-sized sedan segment and in the same way that it was first introduced in Korea; it will first be offered to the Korean market starting in November before branching out to other parts of the world.

“The new Malibu is our most important product introduction of the year,” Arcamone said. ”It will play a significant role in enabling us to attain our goals in the domestic market while ensuring that GM Korea becomes an important part of Chevrolet’s success in its second century.”

General Motors states that the exterior design of the 8th generation Chevrolet Malibu was derived from the popular Chevrolet Camaro and Corvette; drawing on their sporty heritage to bring a sleek, exciting look to the mid-sized sedan segment. As you can see in the images on the right, the new Malibu features a front end design with an angular nose and stretched headlights that wrap around to the sides of the car in a very aggressive look…very unlike what we have seen from the Malibu in prior generations.

The Chevrolet Malibu has long been a major player in the mid-sized sedan segment (especially in the United States) but in past generations, Chevy’s midsized contender was very bland. At one point, this made no difference as the entire segment was filled with the uber vanilla Camrys of the world but as competitors like the Ford Fusion and Dodge Avenger have made strides to offer a sportier look from their midsized sedans, it makes good sense for the Malibu to go the same direction. The new Malibu looks great and the new exterior should help GM continue to keep up with the Jones’ of a very tight American mid-sized sedan segment.

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GM introduces the incredible 2013 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Convertible
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The Camaro ZL1 stakes its claim as a supercar on the Ring
Camaro outsells the Mustang, Challenger, 370Z in September