And now for Holden's Captiva 2WD

GM Holden has released a front-drive version of its Daewoo-sourced Captiva diesel crossover, lowering its price point in the medium SUV segment by $2000 to $33,990 for the five-speed manual SX – the same price as Hyundai’s Santa Fe 2.7 SX AWD petrol manual and Kia’s (AWD) Sorento 3.3 LX petrol auto, which are also built in Korea.

The same 2.0-litre turbo-diesel engine that powers Holden’s new Captiva AWD diesel models (priced from $35,990) returns ADR 81/01 fuel consumption of 7.2L/100km in the manual Captiva SX 2WD, which Holden claims will set a new fuel economy standard for medium SUVs when it hits showrooms in late September.

Available now, the five-speed auto-equipped Captiva SX 2WD diesel costs $35,990 and returns 8.5L/100km.

The move sees Holden's Captiva join the Toyota Kluger, Australia's second most popular medium SUV with a 17.5 per cent segment share behind the same brand's Prado (19.1 per cent), and Ford's once-dominant Territory, which has slipped to third with a 17.1 per cent slice of sales, in offering the choice of 2WD and AWD variants.

The homegrown Territory was Australia's first medium SUV to do so, in 2004, and remains the only rear-drive vehicle in its class, but it was soon followed by last year's MkII Kluger and Santa Fe, both of which have now also proved more popular in cheaper and more fuel-efficient 2WD guise.

The Captiva, which became available with diesel power in March 2007, is the fourth best-seller this year with a 13.1 segment share, and joins a growing mid-size SUV cvategory that's up 17 per cent overall so far this year.

Holden's SUV has the added advantage of being the only oil-burning 2WD (and the only manual, what's more) in its class, and therefore fuel consumption that easily beats the six-cylinder petrol-powered - and more expensive - Territory RWD (12.2L/100km, from $37,990) and Kluger FWD (11.0L/100km, from $39,990).

The five-seater Captiva SX 2WD comes with the same standard equipment as its AWD sibling, including electronic stability control (ESC), Active Rollover Protection (ARP), traction control and four airbags.

Until the end of October, Holden is also offering free side steps and a roof-mounted DVD player to all private Captiva purchasers, excluding the flagship Maxx.

“For consumers who want all the benefits of a medium SUV but don’t need the performance of an AWD, the 2WD Captiva SX is the perfect solution,” said GM Holden director of marketing, Philip Brook.

“They get the sporty design, flexibility and turbo-diesel power, plus the fuel efficiency of a much smaller vehicle.”

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