Chevrolet Malibu to Be Built in South Korea

Having presented the new Malibu model earlier this month, American automaker Chevrolet is readying the roll-out plan for the car, a plan that in the end is hoped to bring Chevrolet a fair share of the market, in a huge number of countries.

At the end of this week, GM announced that it had decided to produce the Malibu in South Korea as well, the country thus becoming the third production hub for the model, after the ones in China and the US were announced (production in the US will begin in 2012 and in China by the end of 2011).

In South Korea, the model will be manufactured in Bupyeong, Korea, becoming one of the first cars that will replace the GM Daewoo nameplate with the Chevrolet brand. The assembly lines are expected to roll out the first models this fall.

“Adding Korea as a key sales market for the new Malibu further increases the brand’s global presence and continues our growth path while increasing our car offerings to consumers in Korea,” said Russ Clark, Chevrolet product director.

Compared to the previous-generation Malibu, this new global player will be offered with new dimensions (new version is shorter and wider than the outgoing model). Under the hood, GM will fit at first a 2.5l four-cylinder engine, mated to a six-speed automatic, that develops 190 horsepower and 245 Nm of torque.

GM has big plans for the Malibu, a car that will bring the Chevy name to more than 100 markets on six continents.