On the eve of this year’s CV show in Birmingham, Fiat Professional’s award-winning Doblò Cargo van has just scooped another important accolade, having won the Most Versatile Trades Van award in the 2012 Trade Van Driver Awards.
Fiat Professional has also won the TVD Editor’s Choice award with the Fiat Fiorino.
“Fiat really upped the ante in the mid-range sector with the launch of the new Doblò Cargo in 2010,” said the Trade Van Driver Judges. “Since then it has been winning prizes across the world and our award here recognises the superb build quality and the huge number of variants Fiat has made available to trade buyers.”
Fiat Professional’s Doblò Cargo sits on an all-new platform that makes it a class leader in all the areas that matter most to professional drivers. It has great carrying capacity in both weight and size terms: up to 1 Ton payload and up to 4.2 m3 volume. The new Bi-Link suspension ensures a smooth ride, and a new range of Euro 5-compliant engines makes it cleaner and cheaper to run.
The popular load-carrier is available with a choice of five low emissions, Euro 5-specification engines, and comes in several different forms – Cargo, Cargo Maxi, Cargo SX, Cargo Maxi SX, Combi, Combi Maxi, Platform Cab and Work Up – to offer solutions for a wide spectrum of commercial vehicle users.
The engine line-up comprises a 1.4-litre 16v 95bhp petrol unit and four MultiJet 16v diesels – 1.3 (90bhp), 1.6 (105bhp), 1.6 Comfort-Matic (90bhp) and 2.0 (135bhp).
TVD Editor Matthew Eisenegger chose the Fiat Fiorino as his favourite for several reasons… “It’s very competitive to buy and run, it’s great to drive and it carries a great deal of cargo for its size. It also possesses the classic Italian style of design, which I personally like.”
Euro 5 engines in the Fiorino range include a 95bhp 1.3- litre MultiJet II diesel, a 73bhp 1.4-litre 8v petrol unit and a 75bhp 1.3-litre MultiJet II diesel which has a Combined Cycle fuel consumption figure of 68.9mpg when fitted with the Comfort-Matic gearbox.
Fiorino Adventure versions meet the needs of customers who have particular traction requirements due to their off-road assignments, such as building sites and rural locations, or who need to negotiate difficult terrain, such as mud and snow.
Commenting on the double success for Fiat Professional, Sebastiano Fedrigo, director, Fiat Professional UK says: “We are delighted to receive these accolades for our class-leading vans from Trade Van Driver. It is particularly pleasing that our models have not only been recognised by an expert panel of journalists, but also by a panel of readers who use light commercial vehicles as part of their businesses.”
On the stand at this year’s CV Show in Birmingham (24-26 April) Fiat Professional will be exhibiting a Fiat Doblò Work Up 1.6 105 MultiJet Diesel LWB, a Doblò Cargo eco:Drive Professional simulator, a Fiorino Cargo 1.3 95 MultiJet II Diesel and a Fiorino Combi Adventure 5-seat 1.3 95 MultiJet II Diesel.
The TVD Awards aim to give recognition to the manufacturers who, in the opinion of the judges, offer the very best to retail van buyers.