Holden are hoping, a roomy looking sedan named after a famous American beach resort, has what it takes to turn the medium sized car market sales tide in its favour.

The Malibu is the strongest prospect Holden has in years of trying to find a model that resonates with buyers in this market. It has certainly tried hard enough with the likes of the Camira and Vectra. More recently, there was the large, but largely unloved Epica, which the Malibu replaces. At least this new comer doesn’t have a hard act to follow.

While it’s built at the same Korean plant as the Epica, the Malibu is more modern, refined and offers much higher levels of fit and finish. Like the smaller Holden Cruze this is one of General Motors family of global cars and is sold in most parts of the world as a Chevrolet.

Holden have kept the sedan only Malibu line-up game plan simple with two offers, an entry level CD and a lavishly appointed CDX, powered by either a 2.4 litre DOHC petrol engine or an optional 2.0 litre common rail turbo diesel. Both engines are tethered to a six-speed automatic. The CD and CDX, retail at $42,900 and $45,900 respectively, with the diesel engine option adding another $2,500 to the asking price of both variants.

Petrol versions of the CD and CDX were supplied for this road test. Both proved capable, likeable well-priced biggish sedans that are infinitely better than its forgettable predecessor the Holden Epic. However, Malibu has a tough job ahead of it to make an impact in the hugely competitive mid-sized car market. The problem is buyers have an almost bewildering array of models to pick and choose from many of them of equal talent and ability, where the Holden may have an edge if you will excuse the pun, is with its sharpish pricing.

Both test cars were well equipped for the money with standard features such a seven-inch colour touchscreen with MyLink app-enabled infotainment system and driver assistance technologies such as reverse camera, rear park assist and push button start. The CD comes equipped with steering wheel audio controls, cruise control, auto headlamps, power adjusted seats and electric park brake. CDX owners are pampered even further with 18-inch alloys, leather appointed heated seats with eight-way power adjustments, rain sensing wipers and dual zone climate control. Exterior enhancements include; front fog-lamps and a bit of bling in the form of chrome exterior highlights.

The aging 2.5 in-line six used in the Epica was far from an epic performer and has been shouldered aside for the Malibu and in its place a modern and purposeful 123kw 2.4 litre four-cylinder engine. Its power output is pretty typical of you would expect from a motor of this size these days.

It delivers the sort of eager throttle response and smoothness the six-cylinder motor in the old Epica aspired to but could never manage, despite having the advantage of an extra two cylinders. Sadly this was one of those engines that only flattered to deceive.

With its solid low to mid rev range pulling power this new four-cylinder motor is well equipped to mix it with our undulating roads. The relaxed way it sets about its work is also worthy a mention, and I liked the way it is content to beaver away behind the scenes without ever really getting loud or intrusive. Gear changes are well sorted with a six-speed automatic that is hard to fault with its unwavering efficiency. It proved smooth on both upward and downward gear changes. However, under a decent amount of throttle from standing starts, it is a bit sluggish to kick down into a lower gear.

A real strength of the Malibu apart from its price is the huge amount of passenger space that closely rivals the larger Holden Commodore. This is a genuine five seater with lots of room for three adults across the rear seat, without any of them feeling they are getting to up close and personal with the person sitting next to them. There is plenty of boot real estate for storing luggage, although the opening to access it is fairly small in proportion to the size of the boot. This gateway to the boot compartment lacks the necessary height to make light work of transferring taller loads in and out. At times I had to tilt cargo that fell into this category so it would fit through.

From almost every angle this is a much smarter looking car than its predecessor the rather dull and slab sided Epica. The front end of the Malibu bears an uncanny resemblance to the smaller Holden Cruze, which is not especially memorable, but still presentable enough. Overall, the cars generally well proportioned lines, should meet with the approval from most potential buyers, although a rather large and slightly droopy looking rear end, is less than flattering.

The road holding ranking sits about of middle of the medium sized sedan pack - it’s not great, but not bad either. It is more at ease in comfy open road cruiser mode and feels a bit stretched and stressed, when asked to play the tenacious road hugger over bumpy twisty roads. In these situations, the suspension was at times just a bit slow to react and lost a little of its composure. In terms of ride comfort whether at around town or highway speeds, there is little to fault and a lot to admire, about the suspensions bump absorbing qualities.

What’s the verdict? Competent, roomy and affordable larger four-cylinder sedan, although its performance and road holding is off the pace set by several of its rivals.