Articles by James Stanford

Renault reckons its van will run long and hard - drivers may be unimpressed by the lack of an auto.

The sibling utes are competent and good value, if not class leaders. James Stanford weighs the pros and cons.

The company recognises that passenger car dealerships can have different priorities when it comes to working with customers buying a work van."We understand that van customers have very different needs to passenger car customers," says Renault spokeswoman Emily Fadeyev.The van-focused Renault Pro+ outlets are attached to existing Renault dealerships but the spaces are separate."The Pro+ dealerships have different hours for service and for sales than regular Renault dealerships, reflecting the customer needs," Fadeyev says.Renault Australia aims to have eight Pro+ dealerships up and running by the end of the yearThe dealerships feature the Renault range of vans, with examples of fitout options such as racks and bulkheads. Previously, customers could see these items only in a brochure or online gallery. The van space also allows customers to get a good look at the haulers. In regular dealerships, the vans are sometimes squeezed into corners out of the way of star attraction passenger models.The first three Pro+ dealerships are at Brighton Renault in Victoria, Main North Renault in Adelaide and Sunshine Renault on the Gold Coast.Renault Australia aims to have eight Pro+ dealerships up and running by the end of the year, doubling that by the end of 2016.Commercial vehicles are important to Renault Australia and Vfacts figures show vans accounted for more than one third of the brand's sales tally in 2014.In that year, the Trafic van was Renault Australia's third bestseller, with 1643 sales, trailing the Koleos SUV with 1709 and Clio with 2611.Renault expects to see a boost in its commercial sales this year thanks to a recently arrived face-lifted Master van and a new Trafic, which has just arrived.

Meet the Mercedes-Benz of people-movers. It's called the V-Class and seats up to eight people in comfort.

This might look like any old generic ute but it isn't. That's the point.

That is the conclusion of a study for the Australian and New Zealand Vehicle Safety Research Group.Monash University Accident Research Centre examined the latest truck safety technologies and studied what kind of impact these would have if they were fitted to all heavy vehicles.Such a study is groundbreaking, NSW Centre for Road Safety general manager Marg Prendergast says. Much previous research had gone into investigating the benefits of fitting the technologies to light vehicles."This is really the first time we've had some insight into the real-world benefits that could be delivered if they were fitted to all heavy vehicles," she says.The study is important because heavy vehicles feature in so many fatal truck crashes in NSW."In 2014, (heavy trucks) made up about 2 per cent of all registered motor vehicles, accounted for about 7 per cent of all motor vehicle travel, but were involved in about 17 per cent of all road fatalities."The Monash researchers examined four new kinds of crash avoidance tech: automatic emergency braking (which was by far the most promising), electronic stability control, fatigue warning and lane departure warning.NRMA vehicle safety expert Jack Haley describes the results as compelling and says the other three features also have the potential, if fitted to all heavy vehicles, "to prevent about 4 to 6 per cent of Australian fatal heavy vehicle crashes".

James Stanford reviews the 2015 Citroen Long Body Berlingo, with specs, fuel consumption and verdict.

You call that a ute? This is a ute — Iveco's Daily 4x4. The go-anywhere hauler is finding favour with country fire brigades, which are using it as a fire support vehicle instead of Toyota LandCruiser wagons. Iveco will soon introduce a new-generation Daily in Australia, with the 4x4 version arriving here next year.

The French will take on the Germans, Japanese and Americans in the lucrative one-tonne ute class from 2016.

Prestige badge meets tall hatch in one of the slimmer market segments. James Stanford compares