Today we had lots of van news! Here’s a good one, Vauxhall’s version of Fiat Doblo, called the Combo van will go on sale in UK from February 2012, starting at £14,703.

The Combo Panel Van offers great variety with two wheelbases, two heights, two gross vehicle weights (2,000kg and 2,300kg) two trim levels and with four engine choices. So there is a van for every one!

Vauxhall, or Fiat in fact, has used clever methods to enable the Combo to offer best in class capacity and convenience for different uses. Here’s some figures: Two lengths (4.39m and 4.74m) combined with two heights (1.85m and 2.10m) offer exceptional loading possibilities. With the L1 the load volume is 3,400 litres whereas the L2 packs in 4,200 litres with load lengths of 1.82m (L1) and 2.17m (L2) and the load width of 1.71m.  New Combo offers a choice of two payloads: 750kg and 1,000kg.

The engine range include a 1.3 CDTi and a 1.6 CDTi, each with 90PS, as well as a 1.6 CDTi variant with 105PS and a powerful 2.0 CDTi engine providing 135PS.

In terms of features and equipments, you standard items including remote central door locking with deadlocks, full-steel bulkhead, trip computer, electric power steering, driver’s airbag, ABS with EBD, CD/radio and a 12 volt power outlet in the dashboard. The sport trim adds air conditioning, metallic paint, body-colour bumpers and door mirrors, nearside sliding door, driver seat with height adjustment, armrest and lumbar support and full wheel covers.

Pricing:

Fiat and Chrysler are sharing their lineup of cars, so both companies would have a stronger presence in the market. The latest shared car is Fiat Doblo, which enters America as a Ram.

Ram, as you know, is a Chrysler brand for commercial vehicles and pickup trucks. The car will be offered in the States in 2013.

The Doblo is made by Fiat’s Turkish joint-venture partner TOFAS in Bursa factory, Turkey’s largest automobile production plant. In the seven-year agreement they’ve signed with Chrysler, TOFAS will supply 190,000 units of the Doblo to be sold in American and Canadian markets.

TOFAS will invest over $160 million (USD) for the necessary U.S. and Canadian homologation and customer requirement modifications.

Based on a new agreement between Fiat Group Automobiles SpA and Adam Opel GmbH, the successor to the Opel/Vauxhall Combo model will be based on the Fiat Doblo, and will also be built by the Italian manufacturer. Fiat will supply vehicles comprising several variants to Opel/Vauxhall commencing December 2011. They will produce these cars at their Tofas plant in Bursa, Turkey.

Opel and Vauxhall will retain the Combo name for this vehicle range which will include a number of derivatives, including cargo vans, passenger vehicles and chassis cabs. Although the next Combo will be basically a Fiat Doblo, but Opel will make sure that it will have its own character. So their design team will cooperate with the Fiat Group Automobiles’ Engineering and Design Group in this project.

The project calls for an initial supply of up to 6,000 vehicles in 2011. The program is planned to cover the supply of at least 250,000 units. This will extend the total lifetime production of this vehicle platform in the Tofas plant to 1.3 million units. Tofas is a joint venture between Fiat Group Automobile and Koc Holding of Turkey and was established in 1968.

Fiat unveiled the new Doblo van fro 2010 and hopes that it becomes a a liveable space for people who travel and love to be in company! Fiat has put all its experiences from the previous model into good use to create something refined, so while it still looks cute and fun, it is not az crazy as the Multipla, and that’s a good thing! It also offers great practicality and interior space.

The Doblo is built upon a new platform with a wheelbase of 2755 mm and has a 790 liter luggage compartment. Thanks to its big rear hatch, it is also really easy to load or unload the Doblo. It also has 7 storage spaces inside the cabin for your stuff.

At launch Fiat Doblo is available with four different engines, one 95 hp petrol unit and three Multijet diesels with 90, 105 and 135 hp. The range is available with Euro 4 and Euro 5 versions and offers a Start&Stop device as standard, which cuts off the engine temporarily when the car is stopped to guarantee reduced fuel consumption and emissions.

To ensure optimum dynamic behaviour, comfort and active safety in all road surface and load conditions, the vehicle has been equipped with innovative mechanical features including a bi-link rear suspension system available with various component calibrations depending on vehicle application. The Fiat Doblò’s consistent and predictable road-holding is also guaranteed by the use of state-of-the-art electronic devices for stability control, namely ABS with electronic brake force distribution EBD and, above all, ESP complemented by a hill-holder system that helps the driver during Hill starts and comes as standard on this model. Other features of the 2010 Doblo include: automatic climate control system with distribution to rear seats, cruise control, parking sensors, a built-in Blue&Me hands-free system and a “Blue&Me TomTom” navigator.