Not sure if it goes here, but "Chevy calls out Camry&qu

[RDean58]

GM wants to show both cars in showrooms From the Detroit News

Preliminary specifications * :

Models: Malibu LS, LT, and LTZ

Wheelbase: 112.3 inches

Length: 191.8 inches

Width: 70.3 inches

Height: 57.1 inches

Engines: 2.4L 4-cylinder; 3.6L V-6

Transmission: 6-speed automatic Source: Chevrolet

2007 Camry

Models: Camry CE, LE, SE, XLE, Hybrid

Wheelbase: 109.3 inches

Length: 189.2 inches

Width: 71.7 inches

Height: 57.9 inches

Engines: 2.4L 4-cylinder, V-6, hybrid,

Transmission: 5-speed, 6-speed

* The 2008 model specification are not available but are expected to be similar to the 2007 model.

Source: Toyota

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Car buyers perusing their local Chevrolet showroom this fall may come upon a surprising find: a Toyota Camry.

General Motors Corp. is mounting an in-your-face challenge to rival Toyota Motor Corp., with plans to encourage consumers to compare the Camry -- America's best-selling car for most of the last decade -- to the remodeled Chevy Malibu.

GM is urging dealers to place Camrys in Chevy showrooms across the nation. The automaker also intends to go on the road with both sedans and encourage the public to take a ride in each.

The made-over Malibu goes on sale this fall, and GM is counting on the dramatic redesign to boost its share of the crucial midsize sedan segment.

"The fact is, when you look at the hard data, we have a product that is not only every bit as competitive, but also beats out the competition," GM sales Chief Mark LaNeve said Wednesday. "We want people to have the experience of both vehicles. And we think that can help us."

GM's strategy is similar to Ford Motor Co.'s effort last year to get on more sedan buyers' shopping lists with Fusion Challenge ads.

Inspired by the successful Pepsi Challenge ads of the 1970s, they featured actual consumers test-driving the Fusion as well as the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry in a face-off supervised by Car & Driver magazine.

The U.S. automakers are struggling now to rebuild their presence in the cutthroat midsize car market, dominated in recent years by the Japanese.

Chrysler demonstrated how well the Americans can do in the passenger car segment with the huge success of the Chrysler 300 sedan launched in 2004.

But the competition has grown even fierce because of the gradual decline in the segment, which once accounted for more than 4 million car sales a year, but has settled at around 3 million. Toyota has added a hybrid to the Camry family of sedans, launched in March of 2006, while Honda Motor Co. is preparing to roll out a sportier Accord sedan later this year. The Accord is the second-best-selling midsize car in the U.S. market.

With the new Malibu, GM is confident it can take on the Camry, which has established itself as a reference point for buyers.

"For customers who shopped a Malibu, Camry was the No. 1 cross-shopping vehicle," said Mark McCready, vice president of market planning and pricing at Carsdirect.com, an online new and used car retailer.

By contrast, "Malibu is not on the radar of people considering a Camry. In fact, nearly all the vehicles Camry shoppers are also considering are imports."

Toyota spokesman Xavier Dominicis said there have been many comparison ads that feature the Camry. "We're confident in our product," he said.

Detroit News Staff Writer Christine Tierney contributed to this report. You can reach Sharon Terlep at (313) 223-4686 or sterlep@detnews.com.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artic.../705240375/1148

[gasman]

I do not like the new Malibu, The Camry already has one major thing against the Malibu. a Hybrid. plus I see the Malibu selling to a slightly aged crowd. (and by aged, I mean 80 year olds). car just doesn't look sporty enough for me. plus the Malibu name has the same stigma that the Taurus name has, Rent-a-car. The only car out there that can compete with the Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, and Hyundai Sonota, is the Ford Fusion, and that car does extremely well. looks great, good power, and AWD. GM is still missing the boat.

[Harry P.]

If Chevy has so much confidence in the new Malibu that they're willing to display a Camry in their showroom for consumer comparison, I say bravo, Chevy!

Of course, the real trick is to get all those potential Camry buyers to enter a Chevy dealership in the first place! :wink:

[Mike]

I'll stick with my Camry and buy another when the time comes.

[cruz]

Same old story, American made cars trying to compete against Toyotas, What's funny is that even when you buy an American made plastic kit it still doesn't come close to the Japanese made ones :shock: :shock: I would buy the Camry 100 times over if I had to..................

[jbwelda]

chevy "calls out" toyota?

hope their mommy is home when they get their butts whipped. mommy (usa govt) can impose some trade restrictions so they have a "level playing field" (my a$$).

heres an idea: how about you build a car someone wants to buy? that means value for money, not just talk.

a unique concept, i know.

[lordairgtar]

I really think that Malibu actually looks good (and I ain't 80). The challenge will actually work towards Chevrolets benefit if people will go to the showrooms. The bowtie has a winner here in this sedan. As far as the eighty year old commen t goes, what is a good thing is when the car appeals to a whole range of age and socio-economic demographics like the Camry does now. I do see an awful lot of Malibus around here. Toyota stuck their own badge on a Cavalier and sold it as a Toyota in the JDM.

[Lownslow]

wow GM is really Butt hurt about being in second place, they let me down once but not again im leaving GM for mazda in the not to distant future