Possible New Chevrolet Malibu Patent Designs Surface

GM's duplicate brands has been wacked for decades, but in some cases making three versions of something would enable them to outsell (let's say) Ford in a particular segment. When GM was on top of the world, the UAW negotiated an amazing contract. Then GM needed to decrease assembly time to keep the margins it was accustomed to. Quality tanked and you have a couple of generations of Americans that won't consider US cars. Even if you want to buy one, you need to endure the dealership experience. GM going bankrupt may be the best thing that's ever happened to them. I think the Volt technology and ten years of good products may give them a shot.

you need to get your facts straight. GM has owned OPEL for decades. Therefore GM paid for Opel's engineering & research budget and that makes the platform GM's platform not Opel's. GM like Toyota and VW among others builds several cars from the same platform and its a smart move that saves money by spreading out the development cost for vehicles. Lastly, Opel has lost money the last few years ( widely reported in the news ) and parent company GM had to absorb the losses and pay Opel's bills. As of now Opel is starting to regain market share and return to sustained profitability...but Opel needs GM as a parent in order to maintain economies of scale in manufacturing, resources, product development and purchasing to name a few otherwise the cost for these areas would be extremely high for a small stand alone company like Opel. This arrangement is mutually beneficial to Opel in the same way that Audi, Seat, Skoda etc benefit from parent company VW or the way Lexus & Scion benefit from their relationship with parent Toyota. I also agree with The Car Guru 4 that is vehicle is most likely a Chevy Impala based on retaining the defunct Pontiac G8 platform in the US which is based on the rear wheel drive GM Australian Holden Commodore.

Exactly. Everyone knows that the pulse-pounding resonance of 'Toyota Camry' doin' the slap-and-tickle on your eardrums is far more effective at inducing a gratifying level of phallic swellage than 'Malibu' could ever hope to achieve.

...I think that diesel technology or diesel+Hybrid is a better choice...the Volt/Ampera is a revolutionary step forward PAST the technology of the Prius. GM's Volt technology is a generational advancement of hybrid tech but the problem is the cost of hybrids are expensive to the average buyer...while several diesel engines offer comparable fuel economy. As to GM and Opel..................it really is about time to stop painting GM as the crappy company it had become...there is a new GM now and their products are vastly better and stand with the best automobile companies. The New GM makes very good vehicles and with the change in Management & the Board I doubt very much they will endorse manufacturing crappy products that don't sell or fail to leverage the benefits that Opel offers. I think and hope that the New President of Opel and the new CEO of GM will allow Opel the freedom to make the cars that suit the European market and work together successfully like VW has with its brands. The one thing I do know is this...IF I owned Opel I wouldn't have sold it either and I wouldn't care who didn't like my decision. IF GM runs Opel into Bankruptcy it won't be the first car company to close and it won't be the last, the other alternative is that GM learned it's lesson and just might be a smarter, better company...why don't we give it some time rather than just venting about the past. We have all made bad decisions and some of us have gone through bankruptcy and none of us wants to hear another person remind us of our mistakes constantly...sort of like the litany everyone starts when talking about GM...and frankly it smacks a little too much of nationalism and anti-americanism rather than people actually making or understanding the business case involving Opel & GM.