Local Peugeot Distributor Inchcape has announced it is gearing up to update its LCV range for 2022.
The famous French brand has been in and out of the light commercial market in Australia over the years but seems now to be reasonably committed to a long term stake in the van market with its three different models spanning from the small Partner panel van, through the Expert mid-size van and the large Boxer models
Peugeot is calling it a revitalised van range with what it is calling a ‘broadened family’ with the introduction of City, Pro, Premium and Sport model grades and changes to specifications giving customers more choice.
The specification realignment to Peugeot’s entire light commercial family, moves the brand from a ‘one size fits all’ strategy to a more comprehensive model range, which the company says will ‘maximise versatility and will meet the varying needs of both owner-operators and owner-drivers, including small-to-medium businesses and ‘tool of trade’ buyers’.
The company has announced it has introduced to the line-up two new variants with the Partner Long automatic and the Expert Long with manual transmission, to meet specific buyer needs.
It has also announced the Expert Sport Limited Edition which Peugeot says offers ‘plenty of advantages to some buyers who may otherwise have only considered a ute’.
Peugeot says the new Partner, Expert and Boxer have each been designed for maximum practicality and functionality, ‘addressing demands for safety, functionality, low daily running costs and reduced total ownership costs while broadening overall buyer appeal’.
Peugeot Australia general manager, Kate Gillis, said the revitalised LCV range presents a significant opportunity for Peugeot’s continued growth in the commercial segment.
“We have seen how Peugeot’s LCV range has resonated with Australian consumers, particularly with small and medium-sized business owners, since its 2019 launch and we are confident the new range will further increase that appeal,” said Kate Gillis.
“With a line-up that now caters to a broader variety of customer needs and aligns with the expectations of our buyers, there is great anticipation for the arrival of the new range,” Gillis added.
While Peugeot believes its commercials have resonated with Australian buyers that hasn’t necessarily been backed up with actual sales with most of the brand’s models failing to bother the VFACTS scorers too much.
For the year to date at the end of September the Peugeot Partner had found 228 buyers with 36 being sold in September, making it a reasonable performer in a market of three brands up against VW’s market leading Caddy and Renault’s Kangoo.
The Expert van struggled to 210 sales year to date, moving just 15 in September registering a market share of just 0.7 per cent for the month and 1.1 per cent ytd.
The bigger Boxer, which did not properly arrive here until late 2020, has seen just 33 sold so far in 2021 for a measly 0.2 percent market share ytd. with six of those being sold in September.
Peugeot says stock availability of the outgoing LCV range is almost exhausted, pointing perhaps to modest stock orders over the past 12 months given the meagre sales performance.
This is a pity because the Peugeot product is very good, and is even reasonably priced against its Euro opposition from VW, Mercedes and Renault.
Peugeot says that pre-order is available now for the first arrivals of the MY22 LCV range, which is expected to arrive in showrooms in Q1 next year.
Peugeot’s smallest van, the Partner is priced from an entry level of $26,990 up to $36,990, and is available in two body lengths, but from MY22 three new Long variants in the form of City, Pro and Premium, will be introduced, with an eight-speed hydraulic automatic transmission.
Built on the Peugeot’s EMP2 platform shared with the brand’s small passenger cars and SUVs features i-CockpitTM cabin design, and boasts a kerb-to-kerb turning radius of 10.82m in the short and 11.43m for the long which will be an attraction for city operations.
Partner has a payload of 629-660kg in the short and from 898-1,000kg long with up to 3.9 cubic metres volume, or up to 4.4 cubic meters in Pro Long and Premium Long variants with load-thru bulkheads.
Power comes from for Peugeot’s Euro6.3-compliant turbocharged, 1.2 litre, four-cylinder petrol engine with 96 kilowatts mated to the eight-speed automatic.
The City Short Manual is available only with the 81kW engine and manual transmission combination while all other variants have the 96kW engine and eight-speed automatic as standard.
The Peugeot Expert is priced from $38,990 up to $48,990 and comes in both Short and Long variants, at 4.95m and 5.30m overall length respectively, with a 1.94m roof height powered by a Euro5-compliant 2.0 litre, four-cylinder turbo diesel delivering 110kW and 370Nm via a six-speed manual transmission in the base model and an eight speed auto as an option in other variants.
Dual side sliding doors, 180-degree swinging rear doors, three front seats and up to 1.4-tonnes cargo capacity and safety features including Autonomous Emergency Braking, Forward Collision and Blindspot Warning, reversing camera and rear parking sensors are all part of the package.
There is also an Expert Premium variant with a swag of standard equipment over the other models while the new Expert Sport LE is a limited edition that will be an alternative to a dual-cab ute for tradies and others, using a Euro6-compliant version of the 2.0 litre turbo diesel delivering 130kW and 400Nm, and an eight-speed automatic with paddle shift.
The slow selling Boxer flagship of the Peugeot commercial range Peugeot’s will be available in only one variant for MY22, with the Boxer Pro Long, with a 1.59-tonne and 13 cubic metre cargo space and a 3.7m load length.
Peugeot says it has adjusted the price and specification of the Boxer to meet the needs of the owner-driver courier market.
Boxer is powered by the Euro6 2.0 litre, four-cylinder turbo-diesel with 120kW and 310Nm and is only available with a six-speed manual transmission and has an rrp of $48,990.
