They'll definitely need to undercut the Focus TDCi, which is doing so-so in the sales chart at the moment.
I suspect our presence at the media drive was to gauge response before committing to a decision whether to bring it in or not. All 6 of the Malaysian journalists present, me included, gave positive feedback to GM's officials, so the ball is in their court now.
The Focus TDCI is a hatchback whereas the Cruze 2.0D is a sedan. Majority of Malaysians still prefer sedan over hatchback due to practicality issue. Gen2 vs Persona example is best answer. Need to ferry family members around yet able to carry cargo especially going back hometown, family trip, fetching/sending members to airport, etc.
Captiva's 2.0L VGT Turbocharged engine is EURO2 compatible and proven reliable so far, people are convinced to go for it if priced reasonable. RM120k for Cruze 2.0D is still reasonable but less than that would be great. Besides, Captiva 2.0D has been around for years, therefore the Cruze 2.0D has ready spare parts that can be shared with Captiva 2.0D and Cruze 1.8.