2021 Chevrolet Malibu Reviews, Pricing & Specs

We are now entering the 25th year of this second coming of the Chevy Malibu. (Prior to its reintroduction in 1997, there was the 1964-1983...

We are now entering the 25th year of this second coming of the Chevy Malibu. (Prior to its reintroduction in 1997, there was the 1964-1983 iteration.) Today, the Malibu is Chevrolet’s only sedan offering.

The Malibu got a mid-cycle refresh in 2019, and for 2021, it carries over with only minor changes, such as a new (extra-cost) exterior color called “Cherry Red Tintcoat” and a handful of previously optional features made standard for 2021.

The 2021 Chevrolet Malibu is available in five trim levels: L, LS, RS, LT, and Premier. Both LT and Premier get LED taillights; Premier adds LED headlights as well. LT gets heated front seats, while Premier gets heated and ventilated front seats plus heated outboard seats and a heated steering wheel (which is available as an optional upgrade on the LT).

Aside from the new color, the only notable exterior difference for 2021 is the available Sport package, which can be selected in the LT trim. This blacks out the logos and grille and adds black 19-inch wheels sporting all-season tires.

There are two engine options for the 2021 Malibu, both turbocharged inline-fours. The base engine, standard on the first four trim levels, is a 1.5-liter with a continuously variable transmission (CVT). The top Premier trim gets a 2.0-liter engine and a nine-speed automatic. All Malibus are front-wheel drive. The EPA estimates fuel efficiency at 29 city/36 highway for the smaller engine and 22 city/33 highway for the larger.

Inside, RS trims and above feature an eight-way power-adjustable driver’s seat, and the Malibu provides 15.7 cubic feet of cargo space. The easy-to-use Chevrolet Infotainment 3 system is standard, accessed via an 8-inch touchscreen. Keyless open and start and a built-in Wi-Fi Hotspot are also standard, and, as of the 2021 model year, so are wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity.

A rear vision camera is standard across the Malibu lineup, and every Malibu also gets Chevy’s Buckle to Drive feature, which prevents the driver from shifting the car out of park until their seatbelt is buckled. Many other driver-assistance features are offered through the Driver Confidence packages, which can be added on LS trims and up.

Driver Confidence I is available for LS, RS, and RT trims and includes rear park assist, lane-change alert, and rear cross-traffic alert. Driver Confidence II is also available for LS, RS, and RT trims; it includes all the features of Driver Confidence I and adds Intellibeam, lane-keep assist with lane-departure warning, following distance indicator, forward-collision alert, automatic emergency braking, and front pedestrian braking. To all this, the Enhanced Driver Confidence package, available only for the top Premier trim, adds adaptive cruise control, automatic parking assist, electronic parking brake, and more robust versions of the other packages’ driver assistance features.

The 2021 Chevrolet Malibu is on sale now. Pricing starts at $23,265 for the base L trim and goes up to $34,495 starting MSRP for the Premier trim.