Fiat plots LCV onslaught

Fiat’s ‘rebirth’ Down Under is not confined to cars, with the local importer planning to significantly boost its light commercial vehicle range in Australia over the next 12 months, beginning with a new Volkswagen Caddy-sized competitor and a 12-seat mini-bus.

Fiat’s LCV range in Australia is currently confined to Ducato and Scudo van variants, limiting its share of the 25,000 annual van/light bus market in Australia to less than five per cent. But that’s about to change as the Fiat factory, which assumed local distribution last year, aims for a much bigger slice of the market with a rollout of new models and variants as well as sharper pricing and other incentives.

Fiat Professional Director Sales, Robert Moorcroft, said the compact, Volkswagen Caddy-sized Doblo van is expected to land in the first half of 2014 and will be available in short and medium wheelbase lengths with both petrol and diesel engines as well as automatic and manual transmissions.

In Europe, the two-seat Doblo van offers up to one-tonne capacity and up to 4.2 square metres of load space, and is powered by a range of four-cylinder engines from 1.3-litre to 2.0-litre capacity.

The Doblo will compete in the sub-2.5-tonne van segment currently dominated by the Caddy, followed by Suzuki’s APV.

Moorcraft said more variants of the large Ducato van are also on the way, including a short-wheelbase automatic Ducato due early 2014, filling a gap between the six-speed manual-only Scudo and entry-level Ducato.

Also arriving soon is a 12-seat van that Fiat hopes will steal market share from the segment-dominating Toyota HiAce bus. Moorcroft said the new model will be based on a 14-seat van but with two seats removed to create more luggage space.

Advantages of the Fiat mini-bus over its competitors will be include a lower entry-step, full standing room inside and enough luggage capacity so as to not have to tow a trailer.

Moorcraft said all Fiat commercial vehicles available in right-hand drive are under consideration for Australia, although dismissed ‘niche’ models such as the Strada ute and tiny Fiat Fiorino van as unsuitable for the Australian market.

With the Fiat Ducato cab-chassis currently used for around 50 per cent of all motorhome conversions built in Australia, Fiat has the grey nomad market covered. But Moorcraft hopes to expand the appeal of the cab-chassis with new variants including a tray-back and pantech small truck for the rental market.

“We think there’s definitely a market for this van outside just motorhomes,” he said.

The Fiat van ‘revival’ in Australia comes as the van market becomes increasingly competitive, with Mercedes-Benz launching an updated, safer Sprinter van next week and Renault successfully boosting market share as well as recently introducing new rear-wheel drive vans.

While sales of Fiat’s ‘Professional’ range are up significantly in 2013, market share remains small with the Scudo and Ducato commanding just 1.3 per cent and 7.6 per cent share in their respective segments.

Moorcraft said Fiat vans remain “Australia’s best-kept secret” despite multiple awards in Europe and  sales of 2.4 million Ducato vans worldwide since 1981.

“Brand awareness is a bit problem -- a lot of people don’t even know we sell vans in Australia,” he said.

To highlight what it believes are among the best-value vans on the market, Fiat recently introduced a $32,000 drive-away price for its Scudo range.

It’s also about to introduce capped-price servicing across the range, while all Ducato vans sold before December 31 benefit from a five-year/300,000km warranty, as well as three years of free scheduled servicing.

Since taking over Australian distribution rights from Ateco Automotive in mid-2012, Fiat Australia has also boosted its nationwide dealer/service network for its vans from 12 to 52, with plans to increase that to 60.

It also recently produced the first TV commercial for Fiat vans in Australia. Due to air shortly, it will be followed by a series of similar, tongue-in-cheek commercials.

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