General Motors will soon bid farewell to one of its long-running nameplates, the Chevrolet Malibu. This week, the automaker announced it will stop building the sedan this fall. The Malibu is built at GM's Fairfax Assembly Plant in Kansas City. The automaker's plan is to retool the facility to build the next-generation all-electric Bolt.
GM confirmed this in a statement to CarPro, saying:
"As previously announced, GM is investing approximately $390 million in our Fairfax Assembly Plant for production of the new, Ultium-based Chevrolet Bolt EV to deliver one of the most affordable all-electric vehicles with an improved driving, charging and ownership experience.
To facilitate the installation of tooling and other plant modifications, after nine-generations and over 10 million global sales, GM will end production of the Chevrolet Malibu in November 2024 and pause production of the Cadillac XT4 after January 2025. This will result in a layoff until production resumes for affected employees. Affected employees will be supported according to the provisions of the UAW-GM agreement.
When production resumes in late 2025, Fairfax will produce both the Bolt EV and XT4 on the same assembly line, which gives GM flexibility to respond to changes in customer demand. "
Photo: GM employees on the assembly line on April 26, 2019 at Fairfax Assembly & Stamping Plant in Kansas City. Credit: GM.