2012 Holden Epica Spy Photos

Article
Gallery

By Alborz Fallah | March 18th, 2011

Despite not making too much of a fuss about the current Holden Epica, the medium-sized car is still selling as part of Holden’s Australian lineup. 2010 saw 1,842 Epicas sold in Australia with a three percent market-share.

That might soon change though, with the next generation Epica only a year away. Our photographers spotted a 2012 Chevrolet Epica/Malibu in Europe as the prototype was being loaded into a small truck.

From the photos we can see the new Holden Epica is sure to be a little bigger in all respects. General Motors has employed the same Epsilon II platform that underpins the Buick Regal and LaCrosse as well as the Opel Insignia for the vehicle.

Sources say the new Epica is a leap above the current model with the interior also having been upgraded significantly. Expect to see more of the new Holden Epica throughout the year.

JEKYL & HYDE

holden need to give the epica an epic death.to call the new model the same name is business suicide…

Duckula

Yeah, apart from it being a total lump of crud, you would wonder why they would bother, cos I cant see there being much of a market for the pretty small gap between the commodore and the cruze…. and that tiny gap is filled with the Camry,Mazda 6,Accord,Mondeo – hardly seems worth bothering…. and as for the Epica name, it surely needs to be filled in the ‘Names never to be used again drawer’ which is currently filled with great names like Camira,Avalon,Apollo,Nova…..

jon_leong

If this comes with the GM 1.6turbo or 2.0turbo instead or the rubbish ecotec 2.4 NA and the rubbish-er Daewoo 2.5 inline 6, then its going to sell.

There is little gap between Mondeo, Focus, and Falcon, but its still doing fine, and once the ecoboost 2.0 comes along, I don’t see why people will go for any of the NA 2.3-2.5 Japanese midsize.

Eric

I do.

Resale.
Quality.
Drive.

mrxandthexfactor

like the TOYOTA assurance QDR… and you mentioned it
T

Drive?? LOL

Lester

Toyota still use Avalon in north America , Avalon is basically a luxury and larger Camry, and sells not that impressive.
Just use holden Malibu, great name, easy to remember and if it’s a good midsize sedan , sure will cause some buzz here

andronicus

Malibu? You have got to be kidding me?

http://Stig paulb

The new Epica has to look better than the current model.Just thinking two of the three largest vechle manufactures,Toyota+VW.Sell well,with bland styling.
crouchy

With Insignia underpinnings, they might actually be onto something… AS LONG AS THEY DONT CALL IT EPICA!!!!!
Road Warrior

Hmm this is quite a large car.

I’m betting if this car makes it to Australia, Holden will drop the Commodore Omega and Berlina from the range and let this car assume their roles.

Dave S

Right or wrong, there are a lot of people and govt. departments that only want large 4′s. They will never handle or perform as well as the Commodore range.

There is no reason for Holden to shed its volume seller.

There is no reason holden should not give Mondeo, Camry and Mazda 6 ect a run for their money too.

The new ‘Epica’ is designed to the the icing on their cake – and not the cake. I imagine the goal, is to have its biggest sellers locally made.

Leigh

Mmmmmmm why bother? I am surprised the car buying public haven’t grown tired of second or third rate cars dished up by GM Holden . Commodore epica cruze barina are all well below any of their direct competition. Wake up people!!

duffyduck

Well said, mate!
Holdens just don’t do:
Resale.
Quality.

Dave

It will most likely be called the holden malibu, according to wheels magazine.
craig simpson

How about Holden just forget about this car altogether. just put the omega into that price range and watch it kill all the midsize cars.

TMG

and call it the Omega Starfire 4, oh wait Holden did do a four banger Commodore, that didn’t work.

It is all about what is in people minds the Mondeo is about the same size a Falcon, and soon have the same engine in a different state of tune,

Holden do need to compete in the mid-large size segment, as for perception, the current Corrola sedan is the same size (wheel base, lenght, and width, but taller) then the SV21 (88-92)Camry, it is all in peoples minds.

craig simpson

Did I mention a 4 cylinder commodore, no and they don’t need to participate in the medium segment which is an ever decreasing segment. All that needs to be done is put the commodore back into that price segment where it used to be.

The mondeo is not the same size as a falcon either as it is at least a whole size smaller. I’m sick of people on here hating on the falcon and commodore. They are miles more comfortable then any of those small and midsize vehicles.

Not having local cars manufacturers is bad for this countries future. We need local cars so that we continue to produce engineers and designers.

Think about that before continuing to mouth off about killing the local car industry.

TMG

For a start HUGE FAN of the local industry, you can read that in any of my posts I will support the Blue corner to the death and stand up for the Red side when needed, even the Big T when they do something local.
Second, Midsize Mondeo V Large Falcon just some facts (sorry to rest of you but I was a salesman once so I know this)
L – Mondeo 4778 LX hatch
L – Falcon 4955 XT 4967 G and XR so about 1-2cm longer

W – Mondeo 1886 ex wing mirrors
W – Falcon 1868 ex wing mirrors (yes it a gnats narrower)

H – Mondeo 1500
H – Falcon 1433 (yes its lower)

WB- Mondeo 2850
WB- Falcon 2838 (yes its shorter)

as size matters I do feel the 4cy Falcon is needed so the media cannot say those big thirsty 6′s.and kill off local production.
as for re pricing the Commodore into the Midsize market once you drop a price you can never go back, in 1990 the basic Com/falc was about 30K drive away, now it’s 35-40K drive away (not rrp as nobody pays that) but not much has changed.

chris

just a note. 4778mm vs 4955mm is 18cm not 1-2. thats a big difference in legroom on the inside sitting in the car

Dennis

Insideline also have interior shots of the Malibu/Epica, looks good!!!
bob

Holden have already confirmed on other news sites that the Epica replacement won’t carry the Epica name.

I reckon it’s most likely to pick up the Malibu name
Jason

Wow… from the A to C pillar, and those flattened wheel arches it looks like a Mitsubishi 380!
Baddass

Taillights are clearly heavily influenced by updated Camaro.
Nick K

This car is an important insurance policy for Holden. If fuel prices spike or there is no business case for a new Commodore, a diesel Epica could fill the large car role.

craig simpson

For starters the commodore has got a whole raft of upgrades coming to reduce the commodore’s fuel use. They are as follows

1. Alloy and CRP body panels and interior materials.
2. dual mode hybrid.
3. stop start or cylinder deactivation.
4. electric motors could be used to power the rear wheels.
5. regenerative breaking.
6. hcci compression petrol engine technology.
7. reduce size of commodore from about 4.9m to 4.7m.

All this is yet to come for the commodore. Also if the electric motors are used, addition weight will be lost by the removal of the drivetrain.

filippo

Just like GM made the giant leap from horrible to mediocre with the Lanceti/Cruze, they are likely to do the same with the Epica/Malibu. Billions of dollars worth of bailouts from the US government and the best they ever seem to be able to achieve is average.

R-Bone

Yeah, you should probably read some reviews of the new Cruze before dribbling over at your keyboard…just a thought

boss

pfft another rebadged daewoo i see

Richo

No, rebadged Chevy this time, the car is being designed in the US.

delux

1 vote for the new Holden Apollo.
Richo

Unlike the current Epica, which was a rebadged Daewoo, the next car will be a re-badged Chevy Mailbu as GM push this particular model from a US only model into a “global” model

It will still be designed in the US, however while the US market Malibu’s will continue to be built in the US, the rest of the world’s Malibu’s (ie europe, asia and australia) will get their Malibu’s from Korea.

To emphasis the difference, Holden will probably adopt the Malibu name rather then epica
Richo

Oh and yes this is a much larger car then the current Epica

The new car will be Mazda 6 / Honda Accord sized, even starting to push into Toyota Camry territory.

According to US reports, engine choices will be a petrol 2.4 direct injected 4 and a petrol 2.0 direct injected turbo 4, and for Europe and Australia they will probably put the 2.0 turbo diesel out of the cruze.
Al Juraj

The American Malibu is just mad. Simply do a RHD version and they’ll suddenly make sense.

Richo

Well thats basically what they are doing, but the current Malibu is about to be replaced so it would be a waste of time, so they are just waiting for the 2012 model before they do it

Shak

Its about time Holden got their act together in the Mid-sized segment. This could should sell in Cruze-like numbers if it follows the successful formula laid down by the Current range of Holden’s import models. As long as they dont name it Epica, they should enjoy lots of success with this model.
Burtle

I think they’ll name it Malibu to keep it in line like Chevrolet/Holden Cruze.

Looking at these pics. Looks 1000 times better than the out going Epica.
john

I hope they give the turbo diesel a bit more grunt as this is a larger and heavier car than the cruze.
anthony

In the last 4 years I have bought 2 of the Epicas competitors,but would not even test drive the Epica,yet the Vectra and Insignia would have been on my list,being a former Astra owner…
Bought a 2007 VW Jetta,excellent car,and a 2011 Honda Accord Euro…brilliant car.

toxic_horse

your point being, your gay or old ?

anthony

???

vaestanfors

Have driven the 2010 epica and found it very smooth but the interior plastics are total crap; definitely typical of the poor quality coming from Korea(bunch of idiots). I would send this car back to the drawing board if I were the boss of Holden. I swear Holdens are designed by bean counters as they are usually the people responsible for such rubbish.
Roy

Some people are so full of it! I have driven just about every make and model and currently drive an Epica. Sure, it has some issues that need to be addressed but it is excellent value and mine has been very reliable and cheap to run (unlike a commodore) and nothing has broken or stopped working in 3 years (100,000kms) (unlike a commodore) and it still feels new. I’m currently researching for a new car and it is shaping up as the best choice given the range of standard features. Yes, it needs more oomph and a louder stereo but all I can say is Well done Holden. With a little more effort you would have a truly great car in the Epica. More kw’s and db’s would be a good start.