ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, March 1, 1997 TAG: 9703030018
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: DETROIT
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
STAFF WRITER JEFF STURGEON CONTRIBUTED TO THIS REPORT.
Chevrolet, the biggest division of the world's No. 1 automaker, has lagged for years in one of the largest segments of the car market: small midsize sedans.
It's a segment long dominated by the Japanese with the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry. Until recently, Chevy's entry against those two well-built kings of the road was the lowbrow, uninspired Corsica.
Today, the General Motors Corp. division begins its television campaign to introduce what many analysts say may be GM's most important new car this decade: the Malibu.
``It's positioned to get Chevrolet back into the biggest segment of the industry,'' said analyst Chris Cedergren of Nextrend. ``From that standpoint, it's critical that the Malibu be successful.''
The Malibu, which began arriving in showrooms earlier this year, has received good reviews from analysts and the automotive press.
"The number-one advantage this car is going to have over its competition is price," said Steve McDaniel, sales manager at Pinkerton Chevrolet-Geo in Salem. Fully equipped, it will cost $20,000, compared with $23,000 for the Camry and $24,000 for the Accord, McDaniel said.
"You can get the same ride, pretty much the same room, the same size car for thousands less," he said. "Every one we've had we've sold inside of a week."
Priced starting at $15,995, the Malibu fits in Chevrolet's lineup between the compact Cavalier and the larger midsize Lumina, which competes more directly with the top-selling Ford Taurus.
The car the Malibu replaces, the Corsica, was a large-volume model only because of low-profit sales to rental fleets.
``About 75 percent of its sales were to fleets,'' Cedergren said. ``So from a retail standpoint, Chevrolet really hasn't been in that segment.''
Chevrolet is targeting the Malibu for buyers of compact and midsize cars, segments that combined account for sales of nearly 4 million cars annually.
The Malibu will have to lure the loyal owners of some of Japan's most popular, reliable and best-designed models. Chevrolet obviously was targeting them when it designed the Malibu.
The Malibu offers all the standard convenience features, the quiet ride and room for a family of five that midsize-import buyers have come to expect. Its clean, conservative styling with minimal chrome is reminiscent of the previous-generation Camry. Like the Camry, Accord and Nissan Altima, the Malibu doesn't draw attention to itself.
Its advertising, however, draws attention to the fact that the Malibu is, above all, an American car. Its nationalistic theme: ``The car you knew America could build.''
The initial 60-second TV spot features fast-moving, wide-angle scenes of Americans and some of their cultural icons - Mount Rushmore, the moon landing, Rocky Balboa. The background music is the Staple Singers' 1972 hit, ``I'll Take You There.''
The Malibu name itself is a throwback to the mid-1960s, when American cars ruled the road and Japan was a new, minor player. The nameplate appeared on a series of Chevys into the early '80s, from station wagons to muscle cars - about 6.5 million in all.
The irony in Chevrolet's emphasis on wrapping the Malibu in the American flag is the fact that its major Japanese competitors - the Camry, Accord and Altima - are all built in the United States.
Chevrolet is not predicting the Malibu will overtake the Camry or Accord in sales, but it expects it to rank high at 250,000 to 300,000 units a year. By comparison, Honda sold 382,298 Accords in the United States last year.
Analyst Jim Hall of AutoPacific Inc. said the Malibu is a far better car that he expected, given that many of its components came from previous GM car platforms. Designing a new model from borrowed parts saves an automaker money.
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Chevy begins an ad campaign today for the Malibu,by CNBwhich starts at $15,995, fully equipped for $20,000.