Holden will continue to plug the gaps in it vehicle line-up in 2013, Robert Barry recently drove the new Cruze CDX  wagon in Australia and summarises his first impressions.
Holden says the local small car wagon segment is currently dominated by the Toyota Corolla and Hyundai i30 which account for more than 70 percent of sales in the segment, and the majority go to private and business buyers with the government and rental buyers taking a much smaller percentage.
While wagon sales in the small car segment only account for more than 8 percent of the segment we suspect this will continue to grow as buyers continue the trend to downsize from the large and medium vehicle segments, and as more small wagons become available.
In New Zealand Holden is specifically targeting the fleet and business buyer with the Korean-built Cruze wagon so it will only be offered with a 2-litre turbo-diesel engine in CD specification and a 1.8-Litre petrol engine in CD and CDX specification and all have six-speed automatic transmissions.
Sadly we don’t expect to see Holden offering its 1.4-litre turbocharged petrol engine in this variant nor do we expect to see the sport orientated SR and SR-V specification models which are offered in the Australia-built Cruze sedan and hatch models.
The Korean-built Cruze wagon also does without the Electro-mechanical steering and watts-link bars for the rear suspension which improved the sharpness and comfort of the Aussie-built cars.
However  the Cruze CD wagon does mirror the Cruze CD sedan and hatch for standard equipment which includes six airbags, air-conditioning, cruise control, Bluetooth with voice recognition, iPod integration,  rear park assist, auto-headlamps, cloth upholstery and 16-inch steel wheels. Additionally the wagon gets roof rails as standard too.
The Cruze CDX wagon also matches its premium-feel sedan and hatch siblings with leather upholstery, climate control, heated front seats, chrome highlights, front fog lamps, leather wrapped steering wheel and gear shift handle and 17-inch alloy wheels.  Roof rails are again standard on this model too.
In terms of space in the cargo area the Cruze wagon is almost a mid-size vehicle being only 19 litres shy of the current Mazda6 wagon. There are 500 litres with the seats up (versus 519 in the Mazda6) and 1478 litres with the seats folded down. There is plenty of head and leg space for 180cm tall people in the rear seats, and throughout the cabin the car feels spacious and comfortable.
Thanks to the geometry of the torsion beam rear suspension the new Cruze Wagon is blessed with a flat cargo floor and a practical low loading lip which allows large and heavy items to be easily stowed without the need to strain your back unnecessarily.   
Naturally being the biggest variant in the Cruze line the customer pays a bit more for the additional 80 litres of space of the wagon over the hatch, but pricing is still competitive, the 1.8-litre CD petrol auto retails from $33,400, the 2-litre CD diesel auto retails from $38,400 and the more luxuriously appointed 1.8-litre CDX petrol retails from $36,000.
On the road the Cruze wagon provides a quiet and comfortable ride but the  inline 103kW 1.8-litre four-cylinder petrol engine often struggles with the weight of the car on steep inclines, however the six-speed automatic does its best to keep the car torqueing along. Performance from the engine overall is adequate rather than overtly sporting, but this is all in keeping with the cars function as a practical load carrier.    
In summary the new Cruze wagon is a comfortable and competent vehicle that nicely plugs the gap in Holden’s small car line up and further strengthens the companies offer to the fleet and private market.   
Prices: 2013 Holden Cruze wagon
Petrol     1.8-Litre CD     $33,400
Petrol     1.8-Litre CDX     $36,000
Diesel     2-Litre CD     $38,400