The Citroën marque has been around since 1914. After spending the 1930s supplying Paris with taxicabs, it took the world by storm with the revolutionary 2CV. Now, alongside its popular city cars, Citroën has produced the Berlingo, a car that returns to commercial and trade roots.
The Citroën Berlingo is not quite a van and not quite a car. Solid, high and spacious, this is a car that means business. It looks like the perfect courier vehicle, but the Citroën Berlingo would be suitable for other around-town commercial uses. Or personal uses – most families I know could do with plenty of space to stow sports gear, school bags, etc. In ancient times, those who would be buying and using the Citroën Berlingo would have used a baggage mule rather than a racehorse. This isn’t a particularly powerful beast – the maximum output of the Citroën Berlingo’s 1.4 litre 5-speed manual engine is only 57 kW at 5500 rpm and maximum torque is 113 Nm at 3400 rpm – but it is built to carry stuff in its capacious interior. What the Citroen Berlingo really delivers is great low cost running. And when in diesel form, the 1.6 litre HDi boasts an average fuel economy figure of 5.4 l/100km. This is what business fleet managers love to hear!
So how big a load can the Citroën Berlingo carry? Well, with the seats folded forward, the Citroën Berlingo can take a load that’s nearly two metres long (160 cm if the back seats are up) and 119 cm wide (do your sums and that’s about 3 cubic metres). A special sliding side door measuring 112 cm x 57 cm enables large loads to be loaded safely and easily into the boot from the pavement. This door has a hold-open lock system to prevent the door sliding back and bumping your load halfway in. Six tie-down hooks have been provided as standard, and the rear bumper/step on the Citroën Berlingo can take up to 150 kg. The rear doors are “barn door” style, fully glazed and opening to 90 and 180 degrees. Green tinted glass comes as standard in the Citroën Berlingo, so loads that would be damaged by the sun (e.g. floral arrangements, lab samples) would have some inbuilt protection. For your convenience, the Citroën Berlingo has a light in the cargo bay, which is floored with a rubber mat.
However, the Citroën Berlingo isn’t just set up for carrying loads. Packages and parcels don’t mind too much about what environment they’re in, but people do. Both the cabin and the cargo bay are fully soundproofed to reduce road noise, so the driver can appreciate whatever’s playing on the CD/radio. The manufacturers have also realised that lifting loads in and out of the cargo area is thirsty work, so the door pockets have been made large enough to fit bottles. The heat-reflecting windscreen that comes as standard in the Citroën Berlingo helps stop the cabin overheating from sunglare (so do the already mentioned green tinted windows and the pollen-filtering air conditioning system). Another handy piece of equipment provided in the Citroën Berlingo is the 12 v power outlet that is perfect for charging up the laptop so an operator can keep on top of the paperwork from the convenience of his/her vehicle.
Driver safety is another factor that appears to have been high on the design team’s list of priorities for the Citroën Berlingo. The seats have been designed to “prevent submarining” and the seatbelts are webbing-grabbers with pyrotechnic pretension. A driver’s airbag has been fitted – the Citroën Berlingo is most likely to be used by an operator working/driving alone – and the fuel cut-off system will help prevent fire in the case of an impact. If a crash does occur (even a tiny ding), the bumpers are designed to be recyclable, which is a thoughtful touch. However, the ABS braking with EBD and EBA (Emergency Braking Assistance) will help to keep the Citroën Berlingo safely out of trouble.
Current model series include:
For any more information on the Citroen Berlingo, or for that matter any other new car, contact one of our friendly consultants on 1300 303 181. If you’d like some fleet discount pricing (yes even for private buyers!), we can submit vehicle quotes requests out to our national network of Citroen dealers and come back with pricing within 24 hours. Private Fleet – car buying made easy!
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