French heavyweight teams
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• Renault is joining Citroen by developing a high-payload version of its high-cube carderived van. As Commercial Motor has been predicting for some time, Citroen is on the verge of launching a 760kgpayload development of its C15 van. Now a Renault source has confirmed that a heavyweight Extra is a reality, and the company is "highly likely" to bring it into the UK.
Like the Citroen C15, the Extra will throw down the gauntlet to market-leading medium-sized vans such as the Escort, Astramax and Maestro, competing on both payload and load volume. The French products are both likely to undercut their British rivals by at least £1,000, with expected retail prices of a little below 26,000. The Extra, which will probably be offered with 1.4-litre petrol and 1.6-litre diesel engines, is a logical addition to Renault's range, bridging the gap between the current Extra (500kg payload) and the Trafic T900 (900kg payload).
Renault will be hoping that the high-payload Extra will improve on its 6% share of the CDV market, in which it is already the fourth best seller with annual sales of roughly 6,000 units.