Auto News 5

A tough act to follow -- and a tough road to get here
If you read enough car reviews, you'll probably notice that many for domestic passenger vehicles start by telling you about the woefully awful product that the new edition is replacing. Not this time. The current-generation Chevrolet Malibu, which debuted for 2008, represented a watershed moment for General Motors in terms of design, interior quality, and overall competitiveness. It went toe-to-toe with the best cars in America's toughest segment and often won, as evidenced by the All-Star awards this magazine gave it in 2008 and 2009. Unfortunately, it proved too little too late to save the ailing automaker from bankruptcy. Neither could the Malibu completely escape the shockwave from the eventual implosion, soldiering on longer than planned and with few changes even as the segment grew tougher than ever. The redesigned 2013 Malibu, which goes on sale early next year, thus has the dual challenge of living up to the hype of the last new model and, of course, matching competitors in efficiency, refinement, and performance. We headed to GM's Milford Proving Ground to see just how well the 2013 model meets those challenges.