Vans

Peugeot has relaunched in Australia yet again, this time with a range of commercial vehicles. Can the Peugeot Expert help turn the brand's local fortunes around?

Toyota Europe has launched a new compact van called the ProAce City, which goes on sale in European markets at the beginning of 2020. Part of a commercial tie up with the PSA Group, the ProAce City is based on the Peugeot Partner and Citroen Berlingo, and will be available in two lengths - 4.4 metres and 4.7 metres - as well as three bodystyles: a panel van, a crew cab van and a passenger van.Available with petrol and diesel drivetrain choices ranging from 63kW to 96kW and with either five/six-speed manual or eight-speed automatic transmission choices, the ProAce City enters Toyota into a new segment: compact vans. Offering what Toyota calls the ‘Smart Cargo’ option, which allows the passenger seat to fold and part of the bulkhead to be removed for extra cargo length, the ProAce City offers up to 3.4 metres of cargo carrying ability in its load area. The ProAce City can carry up to 1000kg of payload. Standard safety kit in Europe includes AEB, forward collision warning, road sign assist, lane keep assist and cruise control with a speed limiter. Optionally available is adaptive cruise control, auto high beam, lane sway control and blind-spot monitoring. Despite strong credentials, the ProAce City won’t be offered in Australia. Brodie Bott, spokesperson for Toyota Australia told CarsGuide the company “hadn’t had much interest in the ProAce locally as it’s a Europe-only offering.” “While we are always reviewing our model line-up, at this stage we have no plans to introduce the Toyota ProAce into Australia,” he said.“We already offer the HiAce in the van segment and it has been one of our most popular commercial vehicles to date.”

Peugeot has standardised AEB on all its new commercial vehicles, starting with the Expert scheduled for local on-sale on sale from May 1st, 2019, priced from $36,490 plus on-road costs.To be followed by the smaller Partner and larger Boxer vans later in 2019, the standardisation of AEB continues the potentially life-saving technology’s spread across the commercial vehicle world. In all grades of the Expert, city speed AEB is accompanied by other safety tech including adaptive cruise control, blind spot monitoring, auto high beam, lane departure warning, speed sign recognition, four airbags, front and rear parking sensors and a reversing camera that mimics a surround view camera through memory. Competing with other medium-sized vans such as the Toyota HiAce , Volkswagen Transporter, Ford Transit Custom, Renault Trafic and Mercedes-Benz Vito, the Expert is one of two vans to currently offer AEB as standard across its range.Local pricing and specs for the Partner and Boxer are yet to be confirmed, though they’re both due to arrive later in 2019. 2019 Peugeot Expert pricing (plus on-road costs):85kW manual: $36,490110kW manual: $39,990110kW auto: $42,490110kW auto LWB: $44,190130kW auto LWB: $45,890

A few months after releasing the updated Multivan passenger van, Volkswagen has facelifted the Transporter van ahead of a first quarter 2020 Australian release.Featuring revised styling, new technology and fresh drivetrains, the updated Transporter range follows the Multivan closely with updated headlight and tail-light designs, revised multimedia systems and upgraded active safety tech. Using the same dashboard layout as the updated Multivan, the new Transporter is more modern inside with new dials, new materials, a new multimedia system taken from the latest Passat, a new steering wheel and more storage compartments littered throughout. However, pictures released point to a downgrade in available tech from the Multivan - the brand’s digital dials are unavailable, as is the larger 9.2-inch multimedia screen that debuted in the Golf 7.5. However, the Transporter's cabin is still a big step up on the model it replaces. Volkswagen has updated the Transporter’s driving experience with a new electro-mechanical power steering system, as well as lane keep assist, automatic parking, trailer assist, road sign recognition and cross-wind assist. New powerplants are also available in the 2019 Transporter, with a 2.0-litre turbo-diesel available in various states of tune ranging from 66kW to 145kW. Like the Multivan, an electric version of the Transporter is also available, with an 82kW motor fed by a 77.6kWh battery pack for an estimated 400km range.  

Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles have announced a large scale investment as part of its 'Grip 2025+' strategy.Billed as the most extensive change in the history of the brand, Volkswagen Commercial aims to transform the company from a pure carmaker into a "mobility service provider" with new products, revamped factories and a wider audience reach.Speaking at a conference in Hannover in Germany, CEO of Volkswagen’s Commercial division, Dr. Thomas Sedran, said that company must adapt to consumer trends in order to survive."Our strategy is a response to changes in the industry – we will transform ourselves from a pure carmaker to a mobility service provider,” he said.“We as a whole industry are facing the biggest change in our history - e-mobility, digitisation, autonomous driving, as well as this trend towards new transportation systems.”“We are developing from a pure carmaker to a mobility provider. To this end, we are investing more than 1.8 billion euros this year."Coming off the best sales results the brand has ever achieved, Volkswagen Commercial is beginning 2019 with investments in both product and its production facilities in Hannover."We can shape the transformation at the peak of the industry, because we are financially strong and can exploit synergies within the Group.”The brand also formally addressed its new alliance with Ford, which will see the two companies co-develop commercial vehicles together, including the next-generation of Amarok and Ranger, a new shared city-sized van and further develop Ford’s Argo autonomous driving brand.“Volkswagen and Ford compliment each other perfectly in our regional strengths - as you know, Ford is strong in North America, while we are strong in Europe. In the future, production capacities will be bundled, that way the different demands of our customers can be better served and production will be in larger volumes, allowing scalability and cost savings.”Over 500,000 Volkswagen Commercial vehicles were delivered to customers in 2018, with particularly strong sales coming from South America and Europe, though political unrest in Turkey affected results in the Middle East.  

Ford Australia has released local pricing and specifications for the updated 2019 Ford Transit Custom range, which now offers a full suite of active safety technology such as auto emergency braking (AEB) and adaptive cruise control as standard, as well as the addition of a new Sport version and new long-wheelbase crew van.The new Sport model is designed to appeal to dual-purpose buyers, with an uprated engine and more premium interior with second-row seating. The Sport is the premium version of the brand's crew model - labelled the Double Cab-in-Van (DCiV) by Ford - a variant that gives Ford a much needed competitor to crew-van rivals like the Hyundai iLoad, Renault Trafic, Volkswagen Transporter and Toyota HiAce, all of which have crew van models available. The updated Transit Custom range is from $42,190 plus on-road costs, and range-wide it now includes AEB with pedestrian detection, lane keep assist, driver attention alert, adaptive cruise control and blind-spot monitoring with rear cross traffic alert as standard across the range. The safety gear was previously available as an option for $1600.The 2019 Transit Custom range features a new 125kW/390Nm 2.0-litre turbo-diesel engine, which is available with either a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission. In addition to the standard safety equipment, an 8.0-inch multimedia system with Ford’s Sync 3 software is standard, which also includes Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Sat nav will cost you an extra $600. Short wheelbase (SWB) Transit Custom models have earned an increased gross vehicle mass (GVM) rating, which is now 3400kg - hence the new 340S model name (previously 3000kg, and 300S). The increased GVM has enabled the Transit automatic to achieve a maximum 2150kg braked towing capacity (was 1800kg). The Sport model features an uprated 136kW/405Nm 2.0-litre turbo-diesel engine and a six-speed automatic transmission. Confusingly, this version is a 320S, with a 3200kg GVM. The Sport also has 17-inch alloy wheels, bi-xenon headlights body coloured mirrors, a gloss black grille and even a body styling kit for extra visual attitude. The Transit Custom Sport is also available in two unique colours - ‘Blue Metallic’ and ‘Orange Glow’, but Transit Custom buyers can choose from more than 100 colours by special order (adds $1400).The interior of the Transit Custom Sport also includes a 10-way adjustable driver’s seat, gloss black detailing, chrome vent surrounds, LED rear load area lighting, part-leather upholstery and a leather steering wheel. The 340L DCiV model pushes seating capacity from three in the standard van up to six, with a rear row of seats. Both the 340L DCiV and 320L Sport DCiV models have a standard rear bulkhead, dual sliding side doors and 4.4-cubic metres of cargo area. The Ford Transit Custom accounts for about 10 per cent of mid-sized van sales in Australia, with 1880 units sold in 2018. The job is soon to be even harder, with the all-new 2019 Toyota HiAce due to launch within the next few months.  Dual side load doors (windows): $1,700