Fiat first with new Sevel
Page 26
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• Fiat has given the first glimpse of the facelifted Sevel van which will star on the Fiat, Citroen and Peugeot Talbot stands at the Birmingham Motor Show this September.
The main change to the Fiat Ducato and its French equivalents is a restyled front end, although other minor alterations have been made. The Ducato gets the uprated Sofim DI turbodiesel for its heavier variants, and for the first time in the UK, the 1.9-litre chargecooled diesel in the lighter models.
Fiat hopes the revised Ducato will go on sale in November. The range will be much as before, with 1.0, 1.4 and Maxi 1.8-tonne panel vans. Shortwheelbase and LWB chassis cabs are also available. All variants come in a choice of petrol or diesel versions: the line-up is completed by 4x4 and Panorama minibus models.
Fiat sold about 3,000 Ducatos a year in the UK towards the end of the eighties, though the situation has not been helped by a limited and unpredictable supply from the Sevel factory (sales were more than 700 units down for 1989 in a rising market). Fiat says producton will be boosted by using an old Alfa Romeo plant for the vans. But Fiat UK's product manager Kevin Nicholls remains cautious about whether the supply situation will improve: "They tell us it will — we'll wait and see."
More importantly, 40% of exterior panels are now galvanised on one or both sides to combat corrosion, and the sliding side door has been widened to give an opening of 113cm, In the first sheet-metal changes since its launch in 1981, new door panels, wings and grille give the Ducato a more rakish nose; aerodynamic improvement are claimed, but Fiat engineers could not give figures to confirm this.
By contrast, interior alterations are disappointingly modest: improved steering column stalks; larger wing mirrors; a more powerful heating/ ventilation system; better soundproofing, and updated trim. It's a shame that Fiat has retained rather flimsy dashboard moulding.
Unfortunately, while lefthand-drive models get improvements to their column gearshift, the UK is stuck with the indifferent floor change.
As far as the driveline is concerned, the transverse front-wheel-drive engine/ gearbox combinations are fundamentally unchanged. However, there are two new engines to the UK. The 3.5-tonneGVW Maxi gets the latest DI Sofim turbodiesel already fitted to the Iveco TurboDaily and the Renault Master, Its capacity is raised from 2,445cc to 2,499cc; in the Ducato, it is rated at 70kW (95hp).
The other is the 61kW (82hp) 1.929cc charge-cooled diesel which has been available on the Continent for two years; it should replace the 2.5-litre naturally aspirated diesel in the lighter Ducatos.
LI Fiat says that the new plant being built together with Peugeot/Citroen at Valenciennes in France will not be used to produce the existing Sevel product, but will manufacture a totally new small van range at around 1.8-tonnes GVW.
Company engineers would give no further information about the product, which is scheduled to arrive in 1993/4, but said it was not a car-derived design, which suggests something along the line of the Toyota Liteace — a van which currently has no European equivalent.