Discontinued Chevy Malibu Was Still Third Best Selling Midsize Sedan Last Year

The Chevrolet Malibu was a mainstay in these United States for decades. Generations of Americans grew up riding in them and, later, driving them as the Bowtie built the model from 1964 to 1983 and then again from 1997 to 2024. The sedan’s second lease on life ended when General Motors pulled the plug on Malibu production last November, though a quick look back at last year’s sales numbers shows it was still putting up a fight. In fact, it was the third-best-selling midsize sedan, which is pretty darn good.

With 117,319 units moved, the Malibu outperformed another rental fleet special in the Nissan Altima, which managed to hit 113,898 examples sold. It also far surpassed the Hyundai Sonata (69,343) and Kia K5 (46,311) despite both of those models being far fresher. Say what you will about the Malibu and its plain demeanor, but no one can pretend that it didn’t find buyers. Most that left the assembly line might’ve been white and destined for Hertz, but still, a sale is a sale.

Of course, it’s far off the segment-leading Toyota Camry and its sales total of 309,876 units. Then there’s the Honda Accord, which pulled 162,723 even on a down year as the automaker reworked the Marysville Assembly Plant where the sedan is built. Those two exist in a league of their own, so the fact that the Malibu was the best of the rest still counts for something.

We wrote about the Malibu’s discontinuation when it was announced back in May 2024. At the time, it was Chevy’s third-best-selling model behind the Silverado and Equinox. That wasn’t enough to save the sedan, though, as General Motors decided to sunset the Malibu in favor of a new Bolt EV. We still haven’t heard much about that, but you can bet it’ll be more modern than the car it replaces, as the Malibu went largely untouched for quite some time.

I won’t pretend to be too sad over the Malibu’s fate, but I lament that we’re losing sedans—and fast. Some people still want them despite the huge uptick in crossover and SUV sales over the past decade, and I have a feeling the market will one day trend back in the direction of four-door cars that don’t sit so high up. Maybe I’m wrong, but in the end, it doesn’t matter. The Malibu is dead and it might be taking others down with it.

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