Tosca Sweetens Holden Range

The Age

Wednesday January 31, 2007

IAN PORTER

WHERE'S GM Holden? Gone for a Tosca - only in this case it is not a chocolate bar, it's another Daewoo (below), the fourth to join GMH's passenger vehicle line-up.

To be called Epica in Australia, the sedan will replace the Europe-sourced Vectra range. It will be unveiled at the Brisbane International Motor Show on Friday and is slated for release in April.

The new sedan is aimed squarely at Toyota's new Camry and is expected to sell for between $25,000 and $31,000.

GMH will be hoping the Epica can perform as well here as the Tosca has in Korea, where it more than doubled Daewoo's share of the crucial intermediate passenger car segment to 12.4 per cent in 2006.

Customers will be hoping the Epica at least matches the Vectra's four-star Euro NCAP crash rating when it is assessed.

Yet, no matter how well the Epica performs, there will be a downside for GMH, as the new model will not use the venerable Holden four-cylinder engine that has powered so many Daewoos over the years.

Instead, both the CDX and CDXi models will come with an eye-catching choice of 2.0 and 2.5-litre in-line six-cylinder engines, mounted transversely between the front wheels.

The smaller Epica engine will offer 105 kW/195 Nm and the 2.5 litre 115 kW/237 Nm, with both meeting Euro IV emission standards.

GMH claims the economy of the engines - 8.2 L/100 km for the smaller unit and 9.3 L for the 2.5 litre - will be "comparable" to some four-cylinder Epica rivals in the intermediate segment. They match the official figures of the outgoing 2.2-litre Vectra.

-- IAN PORTER

© 2007 The Age

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