GM's Chevrolet division was once the American family car division. Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet. Remember that?

Today, it sells just one car other than the Camaro and Corvette, neither of which is a family car.

That car is the Malibu, which is now the sole alternative to the new family car — the crossover SUV, which has almost replaced the sedan as the car of choice for most families, chiefly because crossovers offer more room for the money as well as features many sedans (including the Malibu) do not offer, such as all-wheel drive.

But if you're not interested in another crossover SUV for your next family car, the Malibu could be of interest.

What It Is

The Malibu is a medium-sized family sedan that competes with a dwindling number of rivals, including the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord.

Prices begin at $23,400 for the base LS trim, which comes with one of the smallest four-cylinder engines on the market — just 1.5 liters — paired with a CVT automatic and front-wheel drive.

The next-up RS ($24,400) and LT ($26,800) trims have the same drivetrain but more amenities, including (RS) sportier "blackout" grille and dual exhaust tips and (LT) heated seats and automatic climate control.

The top-of-the-line Premier trim ($33,500) upgrades the engine to a larger 2.0-liter turbo four that's paired with a conventional (geared, rather than CVT) nine-speed automatic.

This trim also comes standard with a heated steering wheel, LED headlights, dual-pane sunroof and ambient interior lighting.

What's New

Something less — and something more.

While the Malibu soldiers on with few significant changes to itself, there is one less Malibu trim for 2022 — and a higher base price. Last year's $22,140-to-start L trim has been discontinued, which amounts to a $1,260 uptick in the effective base price of a 2022 Malibu.

What's Good

Trims with the 1.5-liter engine approach 40 MPG on the highway, considerably higher mileage than most crossovers, which use more gas because their shapes are less efficient.

Good-sized trunk (nearly 16 cubic feet) for a car.

A family car for the family that doesn't want a crossover.

What's Not So Good

Rivals like Camry and Accord come standard with more engine — for not much more money.

Malibu's stronger 2.0-liter engine is limited to the much pricier Premier trim.

It's probably the last family car Chevy will ever make.

Under The Hood

Every Malibu except the Premier trim comes standard with a 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine that makes 160 horsepower. It's paired up with a continuously variable (CVT) automatic and front-wheel drive.

The chief virtue of this engine is efficiency.

The Environmental Protection Agency rates it as being capable of delivering 29 MPG in city driving and 36 MPG on the highway. These are better numbers than crossovers such as the Chevy Equinox — which uses the same basic engine — deliver.

The Equinox only manages 31 MPG on the highway and 26 MPG in city driving.

The difference in mileage being largely a function of the crossover's less aerodynamically efficient shape, being much taller and boxier than a car like the Malibu.

On The Road

This Malibu is not a bad car in any specific way. In many quantifiable ways, it is a much better car than those old blue smoke spewing (and gas guzzling) family dreadnoughts of the '70s and '80s many of us remember, with fondness.

And that's just the problem.

There's nothing here to get emotionally attached to. These things are appliances, and while appliances have their place (and merits), the problem when it comes to selling cars is that other appliances — crossovers — have more merit in terms of such things as space.

At The Curb

At 194.2 inches long, the Malibu is slightly longer than rivals like the Accord (192.1 inches) and the Camry (same 192.1 inches), which makes all of them midsized cars.

And they all have the same problem.

A compact-sized crossover like the Equinox mentioned earlier, which is only 183.1 inches long, has nearly 30 cubic feet (29.9 to be precise) of space for cargo behind its second row, which expands to a capacious 63.9 cubic feet when you fold the Equinox's second row flat versus 15.7 cubic feet (and that's it) in the trunk of a sedan like the Malibu.

Having about twice the space for a family's stuff without even folding the back seats down makes a crossover like the Equinox vastly more practical as an appliance than a car like the Malibu and its fellows — which is why so many family car buyers are buying crossovers instead.

The Rest

One thing the Malibu had going for it was its lower price versus its rivals — and versus crossovers.

Not so much now.

The '22 Equinox starts at $25,800, which is about $3,000 more than the base Malibu was before Chevy dropped the $22,140 L trim and thus raised the base price of the '22 Malibu to $23,400, which is much closer to the base price of an Equinox — and its family car rivals, the Camry and Accord.

The Bottom Line

The family car is almost extinct and probably soon will be.

The current Malibu is a case study in why.

View the Chevy Malibu this week.

Eric's latest book, "Doomed: Good Cars Gone Wrong!" will be available soon. To find out more about Eric and read his past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.

View the Chevy Malibu this week.