FIAT Professional

Conversions profile: FIAT PROFESSIONAL

FIAT Professional’s Head of Commercial Vehicles, Richard Chamberlain, pictured earlier this year with two Company Car & Van awards for the Ducato and eDucato

Ducato conversion options mean it’s the ‘King of Versatility’

Company Car & Van caught up with FIAT Professional’s Head of Commercial Vehicles, Richard Chamberlain, to learn more about conversions available on its range.

Company Car & Van: Fiat Professional was a double winner in our awards, with Ducato and eDucato. How well have both models been received by British businesses?

Richard Chamberlain: Both vehicles have been extremely well received. The latest version of the highly successful Ducato has received a significant upgrade to the level of equipment on board and our customers have acknowledged the additional benefit from these features, whether it be the easier access of the electric parking brake, additional safety features that allow up to level 2 autonomous driving to be achieved, as well as upgrades to the in car entertainment system.

New engines and enhanced refinement have also reduced running costs and allow the cabin to become a quieter working environment.

On E-Ducato, the feedback from customers has been overwhelmingly positive, particularly, the impressive battery range provides customer confidence in being able to complete work cycles, alleviating range anxiety with customers now adjusting to operating in an EV world.

available on Ducato and eDucato and how quickly are these taking to build in the current climate?

RC: We have a number of off-the-shelf conversions on the Ducato range – Tipper, Dropside, Luton Box and Low floor Luton – however, the Ducato range of vehicles is incredibly versatile for all types of conversion.

Today, Ducato is used for a wide spread of applications from front line A&E Ambulances through to horse boxes, motor homes, traffic management vehicles, minibuses, welfare vehicles, car transporters, grounds maintenance vehicles, the list is endless. We also supply Ducato as a back-to-back chassis that allows a customised low floor chassis to be added, providing increased operational scope. We are increasingly starting to see conversions on our E-Ducato (pictured below), most notably I recently saw a caged Tipper and Dropside with a tail lift that will be used by a local council.

The vehicle perfectly lends itself to this application in an urban environment.

CC&V: The eDucato offers an increased battery range over its competitors. Has this been a factor in persuading customers to opt for your large electric van over your competitors?

RC: Uptake on the 79kWh battery has been very high as customers appreciate the benefit of the enhanced range and versatility that this provides rather than compromising on the vehicle’s application. In the large van sector, the availability of vehicles – especially those with an extended range -– has been limited. E-Ducato provides the versatility to have a payload up to 1900 KG – the same as its ICE counterpart – or a range up to 230 miles in urban use.

Clearly the larger battery is key to delivering this range.

CC&V: The new Scudo has just been

launched, giving the brand a massive opportunity in the medium van sector. What are your hopes for Scudo and will there be supply in 2022?

Scudo has just been launched in the medium van sector, which is the largest segment of the commercial vehicle market, so clearly, it’s a strong opportunity for Fiat.

The Fiat Scudo is a sister product to Vauxhall Vivaro, Citroen Dispatch and the Peugeot Expert with all brands under the ownership of Stellantis.

The other products have been in the market for a couple of years and have performed extremely well and taken many industry awards, therefore we anticipate a similar level of success for the Scudo.

Production for the Scudo started in March and we are now starting to see a strong order book develop.

Also launched at the same time is the e-Scudo, which has a range of over 200 miles and is available with a 50kWh or 75 kWh battery and up to a 1.2t payload.

CC&V: The industry has experienced a roller-coaster ride since March 2020. Are you hopeful that 2023 will finally see things settle down, with CV supply improving?

RC: Since the start of the pandemic, we have experienced challenging circumstances from showrooms closed, to limited supply of components and the geo-political tensions in Europe which brings further challenges.

For sure, 2022 will remain challenging, however we are hopeful that the situation in 2023 will be normalised.