By offering direct injection and possibly turbocharging, the Malibu I4 will no doubt make V6 like power numbers while getting better fuel economy. This is they way of the future, and is a necessity because of the relentless ramp-up in CAFE standards.
Malibu follows Hyundai Sonata, another top selling sedan which dropped a V6 option. I expect that as the other mid-sized cars get refreshed, they also will drop the V6 option, or perhaps reserve it for the most expensive (and lower volume) performance version only.
