HOLDEN hasn’t had a toe in the mid-size water since 2009, when buyers largely ignored the Korean-sourced Epica in a growing segment of the Australian market.

Crushed by Camry, mauled by Mondeo and Mazda6, hamstrung by the Honda Accord Euro and even passed over for the prestige Passat, the Epica was the opposite of everything that its mangled name promised.

Undeterred, Holden is back in the segment with its new global D-segment car, as the mid-sizers are known – the Korean-sourced Malibu.

Holden is quite open in saying the Epica didn’t really ignite with buyers, and it doesn’t want the same fate with Malibu.

In that respect, it is sharply priced, well equipped, and hungry for a bigger slice of the market.

But rather than take a traditional one-size-fits-all approach for what is a car that sells in more than 100 markets worldwide, the Lion-badged Malibu was tuned for local tastes, including a new nose and revised suspension tune.

However, rather than rattling its rivals with a roar, Malibu gives more of a loud mew.

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