For over a decade, American automotive manufacturers have all but ignored the car business, instead pursuing high-volume, high-profit trucks and SUVs. While that has made them money, Japanese manufacturers like Toyota have gobbled up market-share. In the last couple of years, Toyota has passed Chrysler and Ford to become the number two seller of automobiles in the U.S., based on the strength of its best-selling Camry. Number one, General Motors, has heard the footsteps.
Bob Lutz, GM’s head of product development, decided to “massively over-correct” the situation by pouring the best engineering and design technology at GM’s disposal into the re-design of the vehicle that takes on the Camry head-to-head in the marketplace: the Chevy Malibu. In this webisode, Lutz reviews the new Malibu, and top automotive writers weigh in on the Malibu’s chances in the highly competitive mid-size passenger car segment.
