PSA-Fiat JV Launches Next-Gen LCVs in Tough Market

MADRID – Taking advantage of Euro 6 and Euro 5b+ emissions standards imposed at the beginning of the year, which required changing or adjusting commercial-vehicle engines, Sevel Sur launches the sixth generation of the light CVs it assembles for Fiat and PSA Peugeot Citroen.

Sevel Sur (Sevel South) is a 50-50 joint venture created in 1978 by Italy’s Fiat and France’s PSA. The JV in 1981 began assembling a common range of LCVs currently marketed by Fiat under the name Ducato, by Peugeot under the name Boxer and by Citroen under the name Jumper.

The new LCV range is targeted to a highly competitive and, experts say, highly profitable segment of the European vehicle market. Some analysts have estimated that just before the onset of the financial crisis in 2008, PSA’s return on its Boxer and Jumper models was between 6% and 8%.

Sevel products have found it increasingly difficult to maintain sales levels as more competing brands come to market. Renault, Opel, Mercedes and Volkswagen are among the automakers that could launch new products in the segment in late summer.

In the sixth generation of the Sevel LCV range, Fiat offers the Multijet II engine with outputs of 115, 130, 150 and 180 hp, with minimum fuel consumption of just 40.5 mpg (5.8 L/100 km) and carbon-dioxide emissions of 153 g/km according to New European Driving Cycle standards. The automaker does not specify which engine achieves those fuel-economy and emissions figures.

The 115-hp engine has 2.0L of displacement and is paired with a 5-speed manual transmission. The 130- and 150-hp models each have 2.3L powerplants mated to a 6-speed manual. The 180-hp and 3.0L variant also comes with the 6-speed manual. Comfort-Matic robotized gearboxes are available for all engines except the smallest one.

PSA offers four of its e-HDi engines with outputs of 110, 130, 150 and 180 hp, all mated to 6-speed manual transmissions. The automaker claims the 130-hp version achieves fuel economy of 35.6 mpg (6.6 L/100 km) and 175 g/km of CO2 emissions, while for the L3H2 (maximum length-intermediate height) van powered by that engine, estimated fuel consumption is 27.0 mpg (8.7 L/100 km) city/highway.

While automakers selling vehicles in the U.S., notably Ford, Hyundai and Kia, have been accused by consumers and penalized by regulators for overstating fuel-economy claims, European motorists assume fuel-consumption and emissions data announced by the car companies are obtained in ideal – and unrealistic – conditions. They expect to learn true fuel-economy and CO2 emissions levels after the vehicle has been in daily use.

Myriad Body, Length, Wheelbase Combinations

Both Fiat and PSA products are offered with eight different body silhouettes, four maximum lengths, three wheelbases and three heights. Volume capacity ranges from 280-295 cu.-ft. (8,000-17,000 L), the maximum GVW is 9,680 lbs. (4,400 kg) and the maximum payload is 4,620 lbs. (2,100 kg). The working width in the load platform is 74 ins. (1,870 mm) and 56 ins. (1,420 mm) between the wheel arches.

While Fiat has maintained the Ducato name, the same has not happened with its French partner’s products initially called the J5 (Peugeot) and C25 (Citroen). Fiat Professional, the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles brand that markets the Ducato – sold in the U.S. under the name Ram ProMaster – says it has sold more than 2.6 million units of the five preceding generations of the product.

PSA says it has delivered about 800,000 units of its Citroen Jumper and a similar number of Peugeot Boxers.

Initially named only Sevel, and located in Val di Sangro, near Bari, Italy, “South” was added in 1992 to distinguish the JV from a new one assembling a common range of lighter commercial vehicles and multipurpose vehicles in a bid by the automakers to emulate and expand the success reached with Sevel South.

The new JV, Sevel Nord (Sevel North), is located at Valenciennes, near Nice, France.

Sevel North started to assemble the first generation of the new range in 1994, with the names Fiat Scudo, Citroen Jumpy and Peugeot Expert for the vans, and Fiat Ulysse, Citroen Evasion, Lancia Phedra and Peugeot 806 for the MPVs.

A second generation of those vehicles, launched in 2002, saw the PSA models’ names changed to Citroen C8 and Peugeot 807.

In 2011, Fiat, by then assembling its Doblo model in Turkey with local automaker Tofas, informed PSA of its intention to end the Sevel North collaboration in 2014, as the new Doblo was cannibalizing the Scudo sales.

Toyota then appeared, helping the troubled PSA by accepting several thousand units of the Expert, which the Japanese automaker rebadged ProAce. More importantly, Toyota has offered to replace Fiat in the development of a new common LCV range to be launched in 2016.