Peugeot vans shift up a gear

PEUGEOT Automobiles Australia has announced tweaks to its slow-selling van range in Australia, improving the performance of the engines and adding extra gear on the small Peugeot Partner and its bigger brother, the Expert.

Price changes – applied in showrooms late last year but only now being announced – have also been made, with the cost of the entry-level petrol-powered 1.6-litre Partner L1 dropping by $400 to $21,990 (plus on-road costs), the same as the class-leading Volkswagen Caddy petrol entry model.

Other Peugeot vans have price increases, with the diesel Partner L2 going up by $600 to $26,490, and the Expert L2 increasing $3000 to $38,990.

However, Peugeot has added a number of extras on the 2013 range that it says more than compensates for the price rises.

The base Partner L1 gets a new grille, Bluetooth and USB connectivity, a passenger airbag, daytime-running lights and left-side sliding door – collectively valued at $1500, according to Peugeot.



Left: Peugeot Expert.

The diesel Partner L2 gets the same specification changes as the petrol model, except for the left-sliding door that is already standard on that model.

The 1.6-litre petrol engine’s power has been raised slightly from 66kW to 72kW, while the diesel version’s power output goes from 66kW to 68kW.

In the bigger Expert line-up, the short-wheelbase L1 van has been deleted, while the long-wheelbase L2 gains an optional automatic six-speed transmission for the first time, for $2000.

Expert also gets a new-look grille, colour-coded bumpers, a significantly more powerful 2.0-litre diesel engine – up from 88kW to 120kW – electronic stability control (ESC), Bluetooth with USB plug and play and cruise control.

The manual Expert’s price jumps $3000, from $35,990 to $38,990, but Peugeot claims $4100 of extra value.

Peugeot sold just 99 Partners and 43 Experts in Australia last year. By comparison, Volkswagen sold 1852 Caddys and 1569 Transporters.