Despite the deepening recessions affecting many European economies, commercial vehicle manufacturers are pushing ahead with new models for the next couple of years.

In this article I’ll take a look at some of the new van models that have received their first public airing at October’s IAA Hannover Commercial Vehicle show. Popular trends seemed to be electric and hybrid versions of existing models but there were a smattering of all-new designs.

New Fiesta Van

Ford is pressing ahead with revamping each of its primary car model ranges and the Fiesta is next on the list. As in the past, there will be a dedicated van model of the Fiesta with a panelled out/windowless rear section.

Available in the UK from spring 2009, the new Fiesta Van will have a load length of around 1300mm with a loadspace of at least 1 cubic metre. Engines will be similar to the car variant - 1.25l petrol along with 1.4TDCi and 1.6TDCi diesels.

Nissan Determined To Increase CV Market Share

Nissan have announced it plans to dramatically increase its share of the LCV (light commercial vehicle) market from 2009 onwards.

The first part’s of this offensive are a new small van, to be introduced worldwide next year. It’s based on the NV220 concept vehicle that received widespread publicity when it was first shown thanks to its custom configuration for a marine biologist - including mobile office and dive gear storage.

The real version is likely to be toned down a bit but should still be a modern, high-quality vehicle, if Nissan’s other offerings are anything to go by. (Although I must admit that all the pictures I’ve seen remind me somewhat of the current Nissan Primastar, better known as the Renault Trafic.)

On the hybrid front, the Cabstar Hybrid is also due to be introduced in 2009. Nissan estimate that in a typical urban environment, its hybrid, stop-start technology will reduce CO2 emissions by around 30%.

Mercedes & VW Go Green with Blue

Both Mercedes and VW are now producing models with badges including the word ‘Blue’. This is a reference to the exhaust additive AdBlue, one of two methods available to help diesel engines meet Euro 5 emissions criteria through a process called Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR).

Although lorries using AdBlue have to fill up regularly, car (and I believe van) AdBlue tanks are designed to be large enough to last from one service to the next, sparing the vehicle’s owner from having to fill up with AdBlue.

Mercedes’ has chosen the BlueEfficiency moniker for their SCR vehicles and its latest offering, debuted at Hannover, is the Vito BlueEfficiency. In addition to its SCR system, it also features aerodynamic improvements and Merc’s latest Stop-Start system, which together are claimed to reduce carbon emissions by 40g/km and fuel consumption by a typical 1.5l/100km.

VW’s latest SCR offering is the Crafter BlueMotion. Featuring VW’s latest Euro 5 SCR engines, the Crafter BlueMotion promises to deliver 3.5 tonne van functionality with combined fuel consumption of 31mpg - not bad going.

LDV Going Maxus

LDV’s Maxus van model has been a steady success across a variety of markets. It offers good value, short lead times and a choice of factory conversion options.

The success of the Maxus brand has led LDV owner’s GAZ to state that they will shortly be re-branding the whole company as Maxus, losing the LDV branding (derived from Leyland Daf Vehicles) altogether.

The IAA Show also saw the debut of the Maxus Electric - a factory-built all-electric version of the Maxus. It is currently undergoing trials and promises not to compromise on payload or loadspace thanks to its batteries being installed between the chassis rails, under the floor.

LDV are also planning the introduction of a smaller van to replace the not-much-lamented LDV Cub of a few years ago. It seems likely that the new van will either be built in partnership with another manufacturer or will be purchased from another company.

When it’s a Citroen C-Crosser Enterprise, to give you the marketing answer.

Citroen’s C-Crosser SUV has been out for a year or so now and Citroen have just released a novel variation on this ’soft roader’ model.

Instead of having a rear seat and a boot, the whole of the rear has been converted to a van - complete with panelled out windows.

Except…

On the outside, the windows remain - in limo tint privacy glass.

So it looks like a car - it still has rear passenger doors - and it drives like a car, but it’s actually a capable small van with a 734kg payload, a 2.3 cubic metre load compartment and part-time 4WD.

So if your neighbours turn their noses up at your white van and demand something a little more respectable - or you fancy giving yourself a treat and becoming more anonymous, get yourself down to your local Citroen dealer and ask for a C-Crosser Enterprise.

Prices start at £16,995 +VAT (it is a van, after all) and this van version of the C-Crosser is powered by a frugal 2.2HDi diesel engine that returns almost 48mpg. What’s not to like?

A new retro-fittable hybrid power kit has been shown to reduce emissions by up to 24.7% in tests on a Ford Transit van at the government-approved Millbrook emissions testing facility in Bedfordshire.

The HYBRID+ kit is made by Connaught Engineering and is based around a 48V DC electric motor which can be fitted to a van in just one day - meaning minimal interruption to vehicle usage. Test results using a Ford Transit driven over the EU-standard CADC (Artemis) test cycle produced the following reductions in CO2 emissions and fuel usage:

• Urban: 18%
• Road: 11.5%
• Combined: 15%

Other test cycles were also completed, producing results consistent with the CADC tests:

• New European Drive Cycle (NEDC): 10%
• T2 City Drive Cycle: 24.7%

The HYBRID+ kit costs from £2,750+VAT fitted and can be fitted to most vehicles within a day - reducing any impact on vehicle availability. Installing the kit does not affect the original manufacturer’s warranty nor does it cause a reduction in payload, thanks to the use of lightweight, modern supercapacitors in place of heavy batteries.

The HYBRID+ solution sounds like it could rapidly pay for itself with van operators who do a lot of urban work. In addition, its envirnmental credentials seem strong - especially as highly-polluting and heavy batteries have been eliminated from the system. It will be interesting to see where this goes - perhaps it will provide the inspiration for a newer generation of factory fit conversions.

To learn more about the HYBRID+ solution, visit Connaught Engineering’s website.

I know I’ve written about van speed limits before - here, here and here, in fact - but the truth remains that large numbers of van drivers simply aren’t aware of them - or choose to ignore them.

As this article in the Scarborough Evening News shows, the police are not in the mood to ignore them and are all too aware of the difference between a small, car-derived van (subject to car speed limits) and most other vans, which are subject to goods vehicle speed limits.

For anyone who needs a reminder, here are the speed limits for vans that are not car-derived and have a gross weight over 2 tonnes:

• Single Carriageway: 50mph
• Dual carriageway: 60mph
• Motorways: 70mph

The speed limits apply to all goods vehicles with maximum permitted weights between 2 tonnes and 7.5 tonnes.

Even if your van has a maximum loaded weight of under 2 tonnes, it might be subject to these limits if it is not car derived - see here for a more detailed explanation of this.

All-wheel drive vans have always been fairly specialist and rare finds - offering a combination of load-carrying and off-road driving functionality that simply isn’t required by many people.

One of the longest-running all-wheel drive vans is the Volkswagen Transporter Synchro. Other contenders have included the AWD Mercedes Sprinter (a truely rare beast) and, I think, a 4-wheel drive version of the original Fiat Ducato. More recently, Citroen have created a 4WD Berlingo - the Berlingo XTR.

Ford has not joined the party until now (as far as I know) but it appears to be making up for lost time with the newly-released the All-Wheel Drive version of the current Mk7 Transit. In this review on the Fleet News website, Fleet Van Editor Trevor Gelken found that the new Transit AWD is surprisingly capable off-road but will automatically switch back to RWD when on-road to save fuel.

The new Ford Transit AWD is also available in minibus and chassis cab formats and the AWD technology only adds 50kg to the weight of the vehicle - meaning that payloads are not significantly affected.

For all the (muddy) details, click here.

There is no doubt that the latest diesel-powered Ford Transits are respectably brisk for vans - but they aren’t really fast, are they?

Not even the desirable Ford Transit Sportvan can lay claim to true high performance credentials, despite its GT40-style go faster stripes.

Perhaps that’s why no fewer than three Ford Transit Supervans have been built over the years, starting with the Supervan 1 in 1971:

The Supervan 1 was powered by a rip-snorting 400bhp V8 engine as used in Ford’s victorious GT40 Le Mans cars. It did 68mph in first gear and was good for 196mph in fifth.

For a time the Supervan 1 reigned supreme - but the launch of the Mk2 Transit meant that the time was ripe for a successor - the Supervan 2, which was unveiled at the Donington Truck Grand Prix in 1984:

The Supervan 2 was powered by a long-stroke version of Ford-Cosworth’s DFV Formula 1 engine and was later clocked at 174mph at Silverstone. What more can I say?

Time took its toll on the Supervan 2 and ten years later the Supervan 3 was born. Although technically a complete rebuild of the Supervan 2, it was virtually a new van and used the then-new Ford Transit Mk3 body shape:

The Supervan 3 remains in service today and has proved a highly-effective publicity tool over the years. It has an estimated top speed of 150mph and now forms part of the Ford Heritage Vehicle Collection.

To learn more about all three Ford Transit Supervans, including plenty of gory technical details, check out the excellent NSVA Ford Supervan page.

Although the Highway Code (and the law!) clearly state that goods vehicles (including vans) with a maximum gross weight of over 2 tonnes are subject to different speed limits to cars, there is often some confusion about vans under 2 tonnes, which are exempt from the lower van speed limits as long as they are car derived.

I’ve written about the commonly misunderstood van speed limits before, and the topic has also been the subject of a longish thread in our forums. More recently, van speed limits were the focus of a recent post on the very interesting Courier Business Stuff blog, which is written by a same-day courier business manager named Alec.

In it, he highlights the potential grey area surrounding vans with a maxium gross weight of under 2 tonnes (e.g. Vauxhall Combo, Citroen Berlingo) which aren’t car-derived vans. Should they be subject to the speed limit for car-derived vans with a maximum gross weight under 2 tonnes or not?

Alec emailed the DfT (Department for Transport) to see if they could clarify this point and it seems they can, at least to an extent.

According to the DfT, for vans to be excluded from van speed limits, they must be based on a standard car chassis and must have a body the same as that fitted to a car equivalent as far back as the B pillar (behind the front doors). A box body behind this is acceptable, but only if it is built onto a standard car chassis.

Vehicles not meeting these criteria (such as the current Vauxhall Combo) are technically required to obey the speed limits which apply to goods vehicles up to 7.5 tonnes - 50mph on single carriageways, 60mph on duals and 70mph on motorways.

This comment from the DfT is well worth reading and provides the most detailed and specific explanation I have ever seen on this topic - although I don’t necessarily agree with the logic of it. Why should an Vauxhall Astravan loaded with its maximum 650kg payload be subject to higher speed limits than a Vauxhall Combo with its 595kg payload?

Ford Shifts Transit Production to 4-Day Week…

Ford has announced that production of the Transit van at its Southampton plant will be shifted onto a 4-day week until the end of 2008. The move means that Transit van production will be reduced by 17 days for the remainder of this year.

The decision will be an additional source of anxiety for workers at the Southampton plant, which is already the subject of closure speculation due to Ford’s likely decision to move Transit panel van production to Turkey.

Ford aren’t the only company to be feeling the pinch of reduced demand, however - Vauxhall stopped production of its award-winning Vivaro at its Luton plant for one whole day on the 26th September in response to slowing demand across Europe.

…and Gears Up for New Fiesta Van Release

It’s not all doom and gloom at the blue oval, however. Ford used the 2008 IAA Commercial Vehicle Show in Hanover, Germany, to unveil the latest incarnation of its Fiesta van.

Due to go on sale in spring 2009, the new Fiesta Van will have a loadspace of around 1 cubic metre, offer 65mpg+ fuel efficiency and boast CO2 emissions of just 110g/km from the smaller of the two TDCi engines that will be on offer. It should be a competitive alternative to the two main incumbents in the marketplace, the Vauxhall Corsavan and the Peugeot 207 Van.

More details will be announced closer to launch time.

Peugeot Scoops International Award for Bipper

Peugeot Bipper van

Also at the IAA Commercial Vehicle Show in Hanover, Peugeot scooped the International Van of the Year award for its new Bipper small van. The jury recognised its originality, compact size and on-road competence when bestowing the award.

The Bipper, which has been on sale in the UK since June, is already proving popular - thanks in no small part to its 62mpg fuel consumption, 610kg payload and sub-120g/km CO2 emissions.

As with the other vans made by the PSA Group, the Bipper is also sold badged as the Citroen Nemo and Fiat Fiorino.

(via TNN)

I mentioned recently that the new Mercedes-Benz ECO-Start system was being fitted to a number of new Sprinter vans supplied to van hire giant Northgate plc.

Mercedes appear to be pushing had to promote this fuel-saving technology and to ensure that everyone gets a chance to try it out have now put into a service a demo fleet of 50 vans. There is at least one ECO-Start Sprinter at every Mercedes-Benz van dealer in the UK - so if you want to give one a try, you shouldn’t have far to travel.

Thanks to TNN for the tip.

The European Commission is planning compulsory new CO2 emission and fuel consumption targets for vans and other light commercial vehicles, with trucks and buses likely to follow in the future.

Although not finalised yet, the EC is targeting an improvement in average fuel consumption for vans from the 2002 average of 33mpg to 37.4mpg by 2012. CO2 emissions would have to fall at the same time - from 2002 average levels of  200g/km to 175g/km by 2012.

These targets represent the first stage of the EC’s plans to green up vans - more stringent targets of 40.9mpg and 160g/km are then planned for 2015. According to the SMMT (the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders), the EC is expected to finalise legally-binding CO2 emission and fuel consumption targets for vans by the end of 2008.

Since the beginning of 2008, van manufacturers have been required to provide CO2 emissions figures for their vehicles to governments - although not to the public. It’s not hard to imagine that this might result, in the not too distant future, in UK VED (road tax) for vans taking a similar route to that for cars, with different rates being applied dependent upon emissions.

We shall see.