GM To Halt Production of Iconic Malibu After Six Decades
A General Motors spokesman says that the retooling ‘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.’

General Motors is set to stop production of the iconic Chevrolet Malibu — the brand’s only remaining passenger car in production besides the Corvette — in preparation of retooling its Fairfax Kansas plant for production of the electric Bolt.
The Detroit News reports that Chevrolet has confirmed its decision to stop Malibu production, though the company says it is still planning to make its Cadillac XT$ SUV at the Fairfax plant until the plant is shut down to make the necessary changes for Bolt production.
“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,” GM spokesman Kevin Kelly said in a statement.
The new Bolt, unlike previous generations, is based on an Ultium battery and GM is planning to invest $390 million in the Fairfax plant to move production there. Previous generations of the Bolt have been made at the Lake Orion assembly plant.
Mr. Kelly added that the retooling “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,” Mr. Kelly said.
In December, Chevrolet announced that it was halting production of another model, the Camaro, fawned over by teenagers for 57 years for its high performance and sleek lines. The end of the Camaro era also was attributed to the need to shift production over to electric vehicles.