1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182 
Sevel triplets are voted Van(s) of the Year 2008
Page 34
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
the Sevel mid-range van — badged the Fiat Scudo, Citroen Dispatch and Peugeot Expert — was named International Van of the Year 2008 at the European Road Transport Show. Andy Salter reports.
THE JURY FOR THE 2008 International Van of the Year (IVoY) competition, like its truck equivalent,is made up of a panel of CV journalists representing 20 European countries.
This year's election has seen the new Sevel mid-range scoop gold by a massive margin of 50 points. Marketed as the Citroen Dispatch, Peugeot Expert and Fiat Scudo, the stylish new van won the award with 108 points out of a possible 140. Renault's new Kangoo was second with 58 points and the Nissan Cabstar/Renault Maxity took bronze with 29.
The IVoY jury particularly praised the on-road comfort of the Sevel range both when empty and laderi.The fact it has been designed for passenger purposes offers an obvious benefit for the driver, with driveability and manoeuvrability greatly improved over the outgoing model.
In addition to developing a commercial vehicle with the comfort, handling, chassis stiffness and safety standards of a modern passenger car, the engineers have also ensured the braking system is superb — the availability of ESP and several air bags was much appreciated. The Sevel van also meets the European ECE 12-03 safety standard for cars.
One of the key innovations for this class of commercial vehicle is the air suspension on the rear axle which can be ordered as a competitively priced option. The jury commended the extra comfort of the air suspension, and also the fact that the overall height can be reduced to less than 1.9m. This makes it possible to enter many multi-storey car parks that are normally off-limits for vans.
Furthermore,the fuel consumption of the vehicles as tested by several of the jury members has been very convincing.
With an increase in the wheelbase and the ability to specify chassis-cab versions,the new Sevel appeals to a wide range of customers. In combination with the high roof and higher payloads, this pushes the light Sevel range into a larger category of light CVs.
The light Sevel is now available in loading capacities from 5-7m' and payloads up to 1,200kg. The line-up also includes a variety of passenger transport versions.
Much attention has been paid to the loading space. The width between the wheelarches is now wide enough to load a euro-pallet, while the design of the cab makes room for extra long loads. When air suspension is fitted the loading floor can be lowered to 490mm.
In summary the ScudoDispatch-Expert is a well designed, competitively priced, economical vehicle which fulfils the most important criterion of the IVoY jury— a meaningful contribution to the efficiency of the transport of goods by road.