Category Archives: Van News

News and articles about UK vans – especially information relevant to the van hire market. Coverage of new van model launches from all the major manufacturers – Ford, Mercedes, Volkswagen, Peugeot, Fiat and Citroen.

LDV Announce New Maxus Aero Luton

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The LDV Maxus chassis cab with a regular Luton body has already proved a popular choice with van operators, with Europcar amongst others choosing to run several Maxus Lutons on their van hire fleet.

LDV have now expanded their Maxus range with the Aero Luton – an increasingly common alternative to a full Luton that sacrifices the full overcab storage area for improved aerodynamics – and hence lower fuel consumption, always a weakness of Luton vans.

LDV Aero Luton Maxus

The new Maxus Aero Luton comes with a generous standard specification, including:

  • 120PS engine
  • Ratcliffe tailift
  • CD player with MP3 compatibility
  • Height-adjustable seat
  • Electric windows and mirrors

The Maxus Aero Luton comes plated for 3.5 tonnes maximum gross weight and offers 15.6 cubic metre payload space.

Every 2008 Maxus Aero Luton will also come with Maxus One, a comprehensive after-sales support package that includes a 120,000 mile/4 year warranty and two years’ roadside recovery.

Updated Renault Trafic & New Kangoo Details

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French van manufacturer Renault have used this week’s Commercial Vehicle Show in Birmingham to announce several new van models, including new Trafic variants and the all-new Kangoo. Renault Trafic Sport Van

Renault Trafic

The highly popular Trafic (also sold as the Vauxhall Vivaro and Nissan Primastar) will now be available in three new variants:

  • Trafic Navigation
  • Trafic Sport
  • Trafic Refrigerated Van Renault Trafic Interior

Both the Trafic Navigation will have a package of desirable extras as standard including  air-conditioning and electric windows and mirors. The Trafic Sport will also include alloy wheels while the Navigation model will include full colour satellite navigation in its central console, an increasingly popular choice.

The Trafic Refrigerated Van is designed to provide a practical and complete refrigerated panel van direct from the factory. Designed in conjunction with Lamberet, one of Europe’s leading refrigerated transport solutions providers, the Refrigerated Van will keep its payload between 0 and 12 degrees even when the temperature outside rises over 30 degrees.

New Renault Kangoo

Details of the UK spec new Renault Kangoo have not yet been confirmed – but the new van will offer improved comfort, safety and economy compared to the old one with very similar payload capabilities. The 1.21m width between its wheel arches will mean that it can carry one euro pallet, too – giving useful flexibility.

The new Kangoo will look like this when it’s available, with a handy fold-flat passenger seat that will enable much longer loads to fit inside the van:

New Renault Kangoo Renault Kangoo interior

New Ford Transit Connect Pays Homage To Rally Success

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Last year saw the introduction of the Ford Transit Sport Van – a short wheelbase, low roof Transit in full sports trim, including special paintwork and alloy wheels.

For 2008, Ford have extended the Sport Van treatment to the Transit’s smaller brother – the extremely popular Transit Connect. Ford Transit Connect SportVan

Launched at this week’s Commercial Vehicle Show at the Birmingham NEC, the Transit Connect SportVan is decked out in the same Ford Performance Blue with GT-style white stripes that have proved so popular on the Transit SportVan (and the sporty Focus ST).

The SportVan also features stylish 18-inch alloy wheels but is powered by the standard 110hp 1.8TDCi engine used in other Transit Connects – meaning that excellent fuel economy and good performance are married with a truly distinctive looking van.

If ever a van was aimed at owner-drivers, this one is, and the interior specification has clearly been chosen with driver comfort and satisfaction in mind.

Leather seats with 8-way adjustment, a leather-covered steering wheel, ABS and traction control all vie to make the Transit Connect SportVan driving experience as close as possible to that of a sporty Ford Focus.

The van come complete with air conditioning, CD changer, bluetooth and electric windows and mirrors – and Ford UK Commercial Vehicle Director Steve Kimber is anticipating strong demand for the 300 SportVans that will be available in the UK:

“The reaction to the Connect Sport concept shown at last year’s Show, left us in no doubt that there is a demand for a production version. Just 300 models will be available when they go on sale this summer and we anticipate the same interest as we got for its big brother Transit SportVan. Transit Connect SportVan is all about style. Our customers want to stand out from the crowd in a vehicle that keeps their business moving.”

The Transit Connect SportVan model is based on the SWB 220 Transit Connect and is only available in short wheelbase. It goes on sale in September 2008, price to be confirmed nearer the time.

Introducing The All-New Citroen Berlingo

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This week’s Commercial Vehicle Show at the Birmingham NEC will see the launch of one of the most keenly-anticipated new vans for some time. The all-new Citroen Berlingo is expected to continue to dominate the hi-cube small van sector that Peugeot/Citroen pretty-much invented with the original Berlingo (also sold as the Peugeot Partner).

The new Berlingo offers increased payloads (up to 650/850kg from 600/800kg) and a slightly larger loadspace, as well as improved creature comforts, a host of optional extras and improved ride and lower noise. There is also a third (middle) seat in the cab area – although even Citroen describe it as being ‘for occasional use’, it’s the first time a van of this size has had three seats of any kind and is bound to come in handy once in a while.

The new Berlingo will also be available with several features designed to help fleet managers improve efficiency and cut costs. The new Citroen Active Fleet Data Service will monitor indicators such as fuel consumption, mileage, oil levels and service intervals, allowing all of this data to be centrally managed and hopefully resulting in lower fleet management costs and reduced vehicle downtime.

The New Berlingo goes on sale in May 2008 and will be on display with Citroen’s other new light commercial models (the Nemo, Jumpy and Jumper) at this week’s Commercial Vehicle Show.

Despite the introduction of the New Berlingo, Citroen will continue to make and sell the current (old) model, badged as the Berlingo First (it was going to be Berlingo Origin, but this seems to have changed).

Berlingo First models will continue to be available for an as yet unspecified length of time – but their popularity and practicality means there might be strong demand for them for some time yet.

85% of Van Drivers Don’t Know Van Speed Limits

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I wrote a while ago about the common mistakes drivers make with van speed limits – it seems the problem is not getting any better.

A new survey by Vauxhall has found that as many as 85% of van drivers don’t know the correct speed limits for their vans, according to this RoadTransport.com article.

Vauxhall found that many van drivers assume that the limits are the same as for cars. In fact, all vans over 2 tonnes maximum gross weight are subject to separate speed limits for goods vehicles up to 7.5 tonne.

Only car-derived vans with a maximum weight of under 2 tonnes are subject to the same speed limits as cars. In other words, all Transit-sized vans (and some smaller ones) are subject to a different set of speed limits to cars.

Here are the correct speed limits for most vans:

  • Single carriageways: 50mph (72% didn’t know this)
  • Dual Carriageways: 60mph (52% got this wrong)
  • Motorways: 70mph (56% got this wrong)

As the figures in brackets show, a great many van drivers don’t know (or perhaps don’t care) about the correct speed limits for their vans. Police forces around the country are tightening up on these breaches and van drivers can expect to be ticketed if caught.

How Do I Know Which Speed Limits Apply To My Hire Van?

The easiest solution is to ask your hire company when you pickup the vehicle. All but the smallest, lightest vans have a maximum gross weight over 2 tonnes, so the chances are yours will too.

Examples of vans that fit into the car speed limit category are:

Vauxhall Astravan and Corsavan, Ford Fiesta Van

Examples of smaller vans with a max weight over 2 tonnes and lower speed limits are:

Ford Transit Connect, Peugeot Expert, Citroen Dispatch, Ford Transit SWB, Vauxhall Vivaro SWB

Small Van Buyers Guide

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The excellent Fleet News website has published a guide to the small van market on their website today.

You can find the (illustrated) guide here. It includes information about the following vans:

  • Citroen Berlingo
  • Fiat Doblo Cargo
  • Ford Transit Connect
  • Nissan Kubistar
  • Peugeot Partner
  • Renault Kangoo
  • Vauxhall Combo
  • Vauxhall Astravan
  • Volkswagen Caddy

It’s well worth a look if you’re in the market for a small van or need to learn more about this popular sector of the van world before hiring one.

Peugeot Partner Gets Back To Origins

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To coincide with the launch of the Peugeot ‘New Partner’ van and the Peugeot Bipper, the existing Peugeot Partner model is being renamed the Partner Origin. It will continue to be available with 600kg and 800kg payloads as at present but will only be offered in the basic ‘L’ specification.

Despite the advantages of the New Partner model (marginally higher payload, extra creature comforts and choice of updated engines), the Partner Origin offers a cost-effective, reliable and thoroughly capable small van solution that’s been tried and tested and has sold over 61,000 units in the UK alone.

Now might be a good time to grab a bargain, as the model will eventually be discontinued.

Mercedes Aims To Banish Idling With Eco-Start

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I’ve written about the Mercedes-Benz Eco-Start system before – it’s a system available with new Sprinter vans that stops the vehicle’s engine when it’s stationary and idling and automatically restarts it as soon as you put the clutch down to engage a gear.

Previous trials by Motor Transport magazine in London rush hour traffic resulted in a 10% fuel saving. While this is obviously an extreme case, there is no doubt that the technology helps save fuel, and it has built-in safeguards to prevent repeated cold starts or overheating.

The system has been a cost option available on manual Sprinters and Atego 7.5t trucks only to date, but Mercedes are now confident that Eco-Start is ready for prime time. The German giant has decided to kick-start more widespread adoption of the technology by making it standard fitment on Atego models and by relaunching it with the Sprinter at the Commercial Vehicle Show later this year.

At the other end of the size spectrum Mercedes is also introducing Eco-Start to its A-Class and B-Class car models – and as I noted here, other major manufacturers are also introducing similar systems.

Note: According to this article on Transport News Network, adding Eco-Start to a Mercedes Sprinter will cost £545. This includes an uprated battery and alternator, necessary to ensure that the battery remains suitably charged through frequent starts/stops.

Vans To Go (or ‘Would You Like A Body With That?’)

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It wasn’t so long ago that anyone who wanted a body put on a van – say a Luton box body – had to buy the van chassis from the manufacturer and then deliver it to a body builder who would add their body of choice to it.

The result was one vehicle with two warranties and effectively two manufacturers. Not the end of the world, but a bit of a cumbersome process. Ford Transit Luton Van

Over the last year or so, however, that’s all changed. Almost all the major van manufacturers (think Vauxhall, Citroen, Fiat, Ford, Renault and Mercedes) now offer a range of pre-built conversions, straight from the showroom.

What this means is that if you want a common type of body – a box, luton, dropside or tipper, for example, then you can order it directly from your dealer – and have them deliver the finished product to you, rather than you having to arrange it yourself.

Some, although not all, are now unifying their warranties too. Vauxhall, for instance, state on their website that “All Vauxhall Commercial Vehicle core conversions carry the full Vauxhall three-year/100,000 mile warranty on both chassis cab and conversion”.

Anyone needing a more specialist body conversion may still need to use the services of an aftermarket bodybuilder – probably no bad thing – but even then, the manufacturers are stepping in to help. Mercedes’ website says that to help buyers needing a custom conversion “We’ll work together with you and local bodybuilders to create a solution that meets your specific requirements.”Renault Master box van

Obviously the van manufacturers also stand to gain from this – gaining control over a whole new slice of activity that used to be out of their control. But for van operators who just need a simple, effective solution, the attractions of being able to order the body you want with your new van seem hard to ignore.

Note: Continuing this theme, I’ve just heard that specialist van racking manufacturer Sortimo will shortly be opening a new facility in the north-west of England. It will be able to complete 4,000 installations each year and will have “the facility for pre-delivery inspections, meaning vehicles can come straight from production lines to Sortimo and then on to the end user.”

It’s a growing trend.

Renault Uprates Performance of Popular Trafic Van

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The Renault Trafic panel van (and its crew van variant) has been one of the most successful new designs of recent years. It’s gained a keen following amongst drivers who don’t want or need a large van and appreciate the car-like refinement and driving performance the Trafic offers.

Vauxhall Vivaro, Renault Trafic or Nissan Primastar white panel vanThe company have now introduced a new version of the Trafic, the Trafic Sport. This is a van for people who wish they could have a car, and offers a similar package to last year’s Transit SportVan. Alloy wheels, air con, metallic paint and uprated seats and stereo are just some of the highlights of this model, which is available in both panel and crew van formats.

Renault’s treats aren’t solely confined to the Trafic Sport, however, as they are now offering an uprated engine option and the choice of automatic manual transmission across the Trafic range:

Renault claims that under certain circumstances, the Quickshift system can increase fuel consumption by up to 5%. The company are putting their money where their mouth is, too – all new Renault Trafics and Masters now come with a 3 year / 100,000 mile warranty and 3 years’ AA cover.