Carscoop: Fiat Doblo

In this day and age, automakers are either buying each other up forming new groups or constantly deepening their cooperation with their counterparts. The Fiat Group, which recently acquired a 20% stake in Chrysler, is now expanding its commercial vehicle joint ventures to include GM's European Opel and Vauxhall units.

The Italian company, which has a joint venture for larger LCVs with the PSA Peugeot-Citroen Group, has signed a contract agreement with GM to supply vehicles comprising of several variants to Opel starting from December 2011. The new model will replace the German firm's Combo light commercial vehicle, keeping the same name. The range will include a number of derivatives, such as cargo vans, passenger vehicles and chassis cabs.

The new Opel Combo will be based on the same platform as the current Fiat Doblo models, with production to take place at Fiat's Tofas plant in Bursa, Turkey where the Doblo is manufactured. According to the announcement, the project calls for an initial supply of up to 6,000 vehicles in 2011, and gradually increase to at 250,000 units per year.

The new Combo will be sold by Vauxhall and Opel dealers in Europe and other markets outside of North America starting in January 2012.

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This 'gawky-eyed', 'wide-mouthed' minivan is Fiat's all-new Doblo that will go on sale across Europe in mid-January 2010. It comes in two body styles, as a five or seven seater MPV with a pair of slidding rear doors, and as a small commercial van under the Cargo moniker with a single sliding rear door on the passenger side.

Fiat says that the next-generation Doblo is based on a new platform boasting the largest wheelbase (2,755 mm) in its segment thus offering improved passenger space and a voluminous 790 liter luggage compartment in MPV form, and a more roomy load compartment with a volume of 3.4 to 4.2 cubic meters and a payload from 750 to 1,000 Kg (depending on the version) as a Cargo van.

The Doblo MPV will be available at launch with a choice of four engines, a 95HP petrol unit and three Multijet diesels with 90, 105 and 135HP, which will later be joined by a Natural Power engine with dual fuel system (petrol and methane) and an additional diesel engine with Dualogic robotized gearbox.

All variants will be equipped with Fiat's Start&Stop system, which cuts off the engine when the car is stopped to reduce fuel consumption and emissions, as standard.

Depending on the version, the Doblo can be fitted with various goodies such as an automatic climate control system with distribution to rear seats, cruise control, parking sensors, a built-in Blue&Me hands-free system and a "Blue&Me TomTom" navigator.

The Doblo Cargo will be offered with a similar engine lineup and 7 different body types including short and long wheelbase van, high top van, short and long wheelbase 5-seater combi and a brand-new short and long drop-framed version that Fiat says can be converted for specific trades such as refrigeration chambers, fixed and tilting flatbed trucks.

According to Fiat, with the 1.3-liter diesel engine, the Doblo Cargo returns a combined fuel consumption of 4.8 lt/100km or 49 mpg US and has a driving range of up to 1,250km or 777 miles.

There is a strong possibility that the Doblo may find its way here in the U.S. as Chrysler's recent product plan makes word of a Fiat-based small commercial van due to be released by Dodge's Ram truck division in 2012.