Fiat, PSA unveil all-new baby LCV

Fiat, Peugeot and Citroen have unveiled the latest fruits of their cooperative efforts, and the vehicles in question are baby light commercials in the vein of the Holden Combo and Renault Kangoo (more here).

Dubbed -- respectively -- the Fiat Fiorino, the Citroen Nemo and the Peugeot Bipper, the trio is said to offer great versatility and storage capacity within compact external dimensions.

Measuring a diminutive 3.86 metres in length, the new vans offer a load volume of 2.4 m3. A stowable passenger seat enables capacity to be increased to 2.8 m3, while providing a loading space length of 2.5 metres.

The three carmakers are also boasting of "optimal loading height and large side-hinged rear doors and sliding side doors that make the loading bay easily accessible."

As you'd expect in today's market, power steering, ABS anti-lock brakes and a driver airbag are standard fare.

However, options usually found in higher-priced segments will also be available, including parking sensors, a separate cab locking system and additional storage space.

The vehicles will be offered internationally with a range of petrol and diesel engines
 -- the latter emitting just 119g/km of CO2.

Fiat and PSA say bringing the new line-up to market required a total investment of $605 million, of which just over $300 million was for research and development.

The vans will be manufactured by Tofas at its plant in Bursa, Turkey, which has an installed capacity of 158,000 vehicles a year. Tofas is Turkey's leading automobile manufacturer and is equally owned by Fiat and Koc.

The latest launch comes just a few months after Fiat and PSA revitalised their jointly developed line-ups of large vans (Fiat Ducato, Citroen Relay, Peugeot Boxer) and compact vans (Fiat Scudo, Citroen Dispatch, Peugeot Expert).

Fiat's sole commercial vehicle offering in Australia for now is the Ducato (731 sales until the end of September), while Citroen is represented by the Berlingo (440 sales year-to-date). Peugeot, meanwhile, has opted to focus exclusively on passenger cars.