The 2009 Cruze is a four-door sedan and, again, has a fair bit of Australia in its style and mechanical setup, the Korean company being  an arm of General Motors and receiving quite a lot of input from Holden

Cruze will eventually be manufactured at Holden's factory in Adelaide and is likely to then incorporate changes to suit it more to the needs and desires of Aussie buyers.

Styling is a strong feature of the new Holden Cruze, receiving a lot of favourable attention during our week’s test period. It's thoroughly modern in its shape with more than a hint of Holden Commodore and even some Euro lines. The former most noticeably at the front, and the latter in the overall theme of the body.

Safety is also an important feature. In the primary safety stakes, Cruze offers electronic stability control and ABS as standard. Six airbags and collapsible pedals are the main thrust of the secondary safety and car impresses by having a five star Australian NCAP rating.

Cruze sits above light-car Barina and below medium size Epica, both models also being built by Daewoo.  It replaces the Korean Viva and German Astra

It is powered by two familiar engines, Holden’s 1.8-litre, four-cylinder Ecotec petrol engine and the 2.0-litre, four-cylinder turbocharged common rail diesel, also found in Epica and Holden Captiva.

Buyers have a choice of either engine mated to a five-speed manual transmission or a six-speed auto, with Active Select changing. Our test car was the Cruze CD and was diesel powered.

The 2.0-litre common rail diesel produces 110 kW of power and a substantial 320 Nm of torque of which 90 per cent is on tap between 1750 rpm and 3500 rpm.

We found the turbo-diesel engine to be noisier than we remember it in other applications, not unpleasantly so, but there's little doubt this isn't a petrol powerplant. Turbo lag is a poor feature of the engine in this car and it's necessary to allow for a bigger gap than usual when before driving out into traffic.

Fuel consumption will be in the six to seven litres per hundred kilometres range when cruising Cruze in the country and/or on motorways. This isn't likely to rise much above eight to nine litres in town driving.

For a supposedly small car, Holden Cruze is quite large. It is 4579 mm long with a 2685 mm wheelbase and offers good leg and shoulder room for rear two adult seat passengers. The rear seats have a 60/40 split and give access to the boot, with the seats folding to almost flat. The boot offers 400 litres of storage space.

However, the boot hinges intrude into the cargo area and some 75 mm is lost in depth by the use of a full-size spare tyre instead of the standard space-saver. This large spare is presumably part of the ‘built tough for Australia’ package, but we’re not sure it's necessary in a car of this type these days.

We really liked the quality of the car's fit and finish, inside and out. We found the CD variant's cloth trim comfortable and easy to relax into. These are the pleasant type of front seats that you sit in, rather than sit on. What we did not like was the ache in the left ankle caused by the car having no footrest, a surprising omission in this day and age.

Comfort is generally good and noise, vibration and harshness are well suppressed. Rough roads do challenge the suspension at times, but for its class Cruze is acceptable.

Handling is good for a car in this class, with responsive turn in and a reasonably neutral balance preceding safe understeer if you do get too enthusiastic. However, the Cruze we drove tended to wander slightly a lot of the time when it should have been cruising straight. This required constant small steering corrections.

Holden Cruze CD comes with a host of standard inclusions automatic headlamps, six-speaker audio system with MP3 compatible in-dash CD and radio. The steering wheel has audio and cruise controls, there's a trip computer and power windows, front and rear.

The Cruze CDX gains 17-inch alloy wheels (the CD has steel wheels), front fog lamps, leather steering wheel, leather appointed seats and heated front seats, rear parking sensors, body coloured door handles and chrome inserts and interior sports accents.

This is a neat small-medium sedan that should do well for Holden in the sales race. It comes well equipped in both the comfort and safety fields and offers good value in this hard-fought market segment.

AT A GLANCE

MODEL RANGE

CD 1.8-litre petrol four-door sedan: $20,990 (manual), $22,990 (automatic)

CDX 1.8-litre petrol four-door sedan: $23,990 (manual), $25,990 (automatic)

CD 2.0-litre turbo-diesel four-door sedan: $23,990 (manual), $25,990 (automatic)

FEATURES

ABS Brakes: Standard in all models

Air Conditioning: Standard in all models

Automatic Transmission: $2000 option in all models

CD Player: Standard in all models

Central Locking: Standard in all models

Cruise Control: Standard in all models

Dual Front Airbags: Standard in all models

Front Side Airbags: Standard in all models

Stability Control: Standard in all models

Traction Control: Standard in all models

SPECIFICATIONS (Holden Cruze CD 2.0-litre turbo-diesel four-door sedan)

ENGINE:

Capacity: 1.991 litres

Configuration: Four cylinders in line

Head Design: SOHC, four valves per cylinder

Compression Ratio: 17.5:1

Bore/Stroke: 83.0 x 92.0 mm

Maximum Power: 110 kW @ 4000 rpm

Maximum Torque: 320 Nm @ 2000 rpm

DRIVELINE:

Driven Wheels: Front

Manual Transmission: Five-speed

Automatic Transmission: Six-speed

Final Drive Ratio: 3.251:1

DIMENSIONS, WEIGHT AND CAPACITIES:

Length: 4597 mm

Wheelbase: 2685 mm

Width: 1788 mm

Height: 1477 mm

Turning Circle: 10.9 metres

Kerb Mass: 1380 kg

Fuel Tank Capacity: 60 litres

Towing Ability: 750 kg (1200 kg with braked trailer)

SUSPENSION AND BRAKES:

Front Suspension: Independent, MacPherson struts

Rear Suspension: Compound crank axle

Front Brakes: Ventilated disc

Rear Brakes: Disc

PERFORMANCE:

0-100 km/h Acceleration: NA

Standing 400 Metres: NA

FUEL CONSUMPTION:

Type: Diesel

Combined Cycle (ADR 81/01): 5.7 L/100km

GREEN VEHICLE GUIDE RATINGS:

Greenhouse Rating: 7.5/10

Air Pollution Rating: 5/10

STANDARD WARRANTY: