Vans show car comfort
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WHILE the main attractions at the fourth annual Fleet Neti5 Motor Show are still cars, the number of light commercial exhibits continues to grow.
Of the 5,000 visitors expected to make the journey to the Wembley Conference Centre this week, a third will be spending £500,000 on light van orders.
The show is also proving to be an attractive venue to launch new models and one van in particular — the Renault Extra — makes its UK debut at Wembley (see p18).
Many van builders are already predicting a slight growth in the market up to 3.5 tonnes GVW in 1986 and judging by the January figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, which show an increase in sales of 1.1 per cent over 1985, that upward trend is already beginning to manifest itself.
The most noticeable trend at the show is just how comfortable the latest generation of light commercials has become for the driver, particularly of car-derivedvans. Although Renault's latest carderived van model has been sold on tlw Cinninent since late last year as the Express van, to avoid confusion with Peugeot Talbot, UK versions
of the Renault 5-based van are called the Extra.
()perators will have the choice of three engines in the Extra — a 1.1 and 1.4-litre petrol and, fin. the .first time, a 1.6-litre diesel. The Extra has an impressive load volume of 2.57mJ and payloads of up to 5751g, depending on the engine specified. Cloth-faced seats are standard on all models.