Holden throws Malibu into mix

The Malibu is typical of the international of General Motors vehicles, and was designed mainly to be a Chevrolet Malibu.

The landscape in the medium to large car segment remains at best in a state of flux but that hasn't stopped Holden from trying to put a lock on this niche with its ubiquitous Commodore and more latterly the Cruze.

Now it's added the Malibu to the mix, and with it a car that bears a close resemblance to Commodore and Cruze and carries much of the new smart bits and pieces that the new VF Commodore especially has been trumpeting.

It's offered in two model specifications - the CD with either the petrol 2.4-litre petrol engine or the 2-litre turbo diesel, or the CDX. The CDX gets choice of either those engines and a bit more kit bolted on.

We had time with the $48,400 CDX diesel and it's hard to not be impressed with the offering either.

The Malibu is typical of the international "family" of General Motors vehicles, and was designed mainly to be a Chevrolet Malibu, sold in world markets that drive on the right hand side of the road.

That global approach always meant there could be a place for it in the Australasian market. As it proved to be.

But when designing the car the GM design crew knew they had to bring something off the production line that was not middle-of-the road and bland in terms of a medium sized car.

Have they achieved that brief? We think so.

The car resonates of the new VF Commodore and upgraded Cruze and the most obvious feature is that MyLink info-tainmment centre with its apps, including Pandora and Stitcher smart radio, that dominates the dashboard in the seven-inch screen.

But there's a neat design application at work here too. A button lets you swing that screen up and away from the dashboard revealing a sizeable storage space.

The CDX steps up the level of sophistication too, getting 18-inch alloys rims, leather upholstery, heated front seats with power action, rain-sensing wipers, push-button start-stop and dual zone climate air conditioning.

We liked the remote opening function for the boot lid as well, which gives access to 545 litres of load space.

Night-time driving shows of some very sharp and appealing ambient lighting in the cabin too, with a thin blue strip running across the dashboard and into the front door sills. Very neat.

The four-cylinder turbo diesel engine, built in Germany, delivers plenty of power but typically of these engines, it; s the loads of torque which give it such appeal. The 350 Newton metres here (from a very lazy 1750rpm) mean the Malibu CDX shows a clean pair of heels.

Holden is claiming a combined highway-urban fuel figure of 6.5 litres per 100km which for a car of this size, should turn heads.

Ride and handling are very good, probably as a result of the amount of local tuning that went into the car for our specific market. Even things such as tyres designed for left or right-hand drive vehicles matter and that engineering exactness has been applied to this car.

There's is no doubt the Malibu sits squarely between the bigger Commodore and smaller Cruze but there is definite DNA elements that are plainly obvious.

What is worth noting however, is the price and what you get for it. In this case it's plenty.