Chevrolet unveils Mi Ray Concept and releases teaser image of the 2013 Malibu

One for the money

Earlier today (just past midnight, to be exact), Chevrolet released a teaser image of its Malibu Show Car, a thinly-disguised version of what is to be the 2013 Chevrolet Malibu.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="410"] 1962 Corvair Super Spyder[/caption]

Here at LotPro.com, we note with some relief that the teaser image Chevy chose to release seems to address one of the few nits we had to pick with the current Malibu – that being its somewhat bland hindquarters.

Aside from physical differences, other changes are in the works as General Motors also plans on releasing the next-gen mid-sizer to the world market (a first for the General) and will narrow power choices to a variety of 4-cylinder engines mated to 6-speed transmissions.

In your Facebook

To emphasize the new Malibu’s global reach, Chevrolet will host a live unveil on April 18th at 8:30 p.m. EDT on Chevrolet’s Facebook page in the Malibu tab designed to coincide with its Shanghai Auto Show intro. It will also be streamed live on iPad and iPhone mobile devices using the Chevrolet Showroom app.

According to the press release, “This Malibu takes Chevrolet’s established and award-winning nameplate to new places and introduces it to new audiences around the world,” said Rick Scheidt, vice president of Chevrolet. “Whether the Malibu is sold in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, or Australia, it has been engineered from the ground up to meet the needs of customers around the world.”

The new Malibu will also be show at the New York Auto Show, where Chevrolet has scheduled a press conference at 12:05 p.m. on April 20th.

Two for the show

The bowtie was also busy in Korea earlier today as it introduced the Mi-ray concept at the 2011 Seoul Motor Show.

Developed at the GM Advanced Design Studio in Seoul, “Mi-ray”, according to GM Korea President and CEO Mike Arcamone, is Korean for “future” although the latest concept also pays homage to a couple of 60’s-era concepts, the 1963 Monza SS and the 1962 Corvair Super Spyder.

The Mi-ray features a carbon fiber and CFRP (carbon fiber-reinforced plastic) body with aluminum-carbon fiber composite 20-inch wheels fore and 21-inch wheels aft.

Power is supplied by a “mid-electric” propulsion system, located, for the most part, behind and beneath the driver that consists of two front-mounted 15-kW electric motors driving the front wheels for normal driving and a 1.5-liter four-cylinder turbocharged engine that, when necessary, handles more performance-oriented requirements and drives the real wheels.

Many of the components in the Mi-ray’s propulsion system are a logical extension of GM’s current technology portfolio,” said Uwe Grebe, executive director for GM Powertrain Advanced Engineering. “The concept shows the potential for reconfiguring, rescaling and extending today’s propulsion technologies.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="410"] 1963 Corvair Monza SS[/caption]

1962 Corvair SS image courtesy of the Detroit Free Press. All other images courtesy of General Motors