Chevy Malibu Hybrid Makes Rock ‘n Roll History
Those of us here at Apple Chevrolet know that the Chevrolet brand offers a car experience like few others, but the carmaker recently worked to create a unique rock and roll experience to give its Chevy Malibu Hybrid image a tune-up by getting a few musically-inclined car writers in tune.
For Forbes contributor John McCormick, it all started on a road trip from Tennessee to Muscle Shoals, Alabama, in a 2017 Malibu Hybrid. For Chevrolet, a carmaker that has experienced a rare and valuable number of run-ins with celebrity music endorsements over the years (the classic “American Pie” by Don McLean, anyone?), the brand knows the musical importance of Muscle Shoals—while the small Alabama town might have a population of under 14,000, the significance of its recording studio Fame Studios is not lost on those familiar with rock and roll history.
“Not many companies have musical connections like Chevy,” said Paul Edwards, U.S. vice president of marketing for Chevrolet, to McCormick and his fellow autowriters. Turning to the current moment, Edwards related that the brand is “fighting apathy” after what the marketer perceives to be a few missteps with their recent cars.
That’s where the 2016 Malibu Hybrid connection comes in. McCormick drove one to the Alabama town on behalf of Chevrolet, and he was thrilled that the gas mileage was consistently hitting in the mid-40s during his trek. Upon hearing the news, Tim Greve, GM’s director of global electrification, explained that it’s completely doable for the Malibu Hybrid to reach 62 miles per gallon through “hyper-miling techniques.”
McCormick wrote that the 2016 Malibu Hybrid’s 182-horsepower and 227-pounds of torque created a driving experience that was, in his opinion, hardly different from that of a standard Malibu. This is in part due to the new model’s incorporation of many parts from the Chevrolet Volt, a compact plug-in hybrid already with a reputable name despite the model’s newness.
“On the 150-mile route from Nashville to Muscle Shoals, Alabama,” wrote McCormick for Forbes, “the car is smooth, exceptionally quiet and exhibits none of the quirky characteristics that came with earlier hybrid models from various automakers.” He went on to praise the vehicle’s smooth and hardly noticeable stop-start system, even when used in crowded city traffic.
After wrapping up his experience with the 2016 Malibu Hybrid, McCormick met at Fame Studios with the other autowriters for an unexpected surprise: the ability to record their very own song with Nashville recording artist legend Frank Rogers, whose resume includes the likes of Brad Paisley and Sheryl Crow. Although McCormick joked that the single was in no way a competitor with Rogers’ other hits, it’s obvious that McCormick and his autowriter colleagues had a blast making some automotive rock and roll history through Chevrolet’s generosity.
After listening to McCormick and crew’s latest hit song “The Ballad of Frank Bacon,” we’d love to see you stop in and see us at Apple Chevrolet. We can’t promise you that any of our own tunes would be quite as showstopping as the ones produced by Rogers and his enclave, but we can promise you a car that’s as in-tune with your intuition as it is with your taste. Come on in and test drive one of our 2016 Malibu Hybrids today!
