2008 Chevrolet Malibu

Meet the poster-child for the age-old automotive truth that good design doesn't cost any more than bad design. While we're still trying to get over how much Saturn's styling has improved, Chevrolet replaces the Malibu with a car that makes segment-leader Camry and the just-launched Accord look decidedly lumpen.

The 2008 Malibu sweeps out all those ungainly 2007 Malibus and Maxxes in November with a car on the Maxx's longer, 112.3-inch-wheelbase, a mild-hybrid version, and more emphasis placed on the four-cylinder engine-a 164-horsepower, 2.4-liter Ecotec. This is the latest iteration of the Epsilon platform and also of GM's interior design and quality improvement program. The preproduction interiors don't quite match the "wow" factor of the Detroit show Malibu concept's interior, but final judgment should be reserved for a full production drive.

The top-shelf LTZ (others are LS and LT) shown had the two-tone dash and leather seats of the concept, but its combo of thin chrome accents, brushed-chrome center stack accent, and woodgrain is a bit much, especially in a brown-and-beige two-tone. Other color combos might work better, and chrome accents with no woodgrain actually looks clean, if stark.

Interior door panels are designed as the reverse of the Toyota Camry's (GM thoughtfully provided examples of our 2007 Car of the Year for comparison), with the upper part of the door panels thinly padded in the Malibu, and the lower part, where you put your elbow, in thin, hard plastic. The flocked, padded lower panels in the Camry look and feel richer. But the Malibu is good enough, and expressive enough inside and out (we're restricted by embargo from talking about dynamics), to be a credible competitor for the Camry.

You can drive a Saturn Aura today, though, and have a good idea of what the handsome new Malibu is like. Differences? The four-banger Malibu launches with a four-speed automatic, but graduates to a six-speed auto (as in the V-6) when production ramps up early next year. But the Aura will get this and other improvements -- the Ecotec four, for one -- for 2008, too. The biggest difference is that the Malibu is tuned for a slightly less-stiff ride, making the Chevy more mainstream, like non-SE Camrys, while the Aura retains its sport-sedan pretensions.

More important than anything is what Malibu can do for the Impala. Chevy sold 290,000 front-drive Impalas and 164,000 Malibus last year. If it can reverse those numbers, there's a better business case for a RWD Impala.