Fiat Ducato

The model in brief

The New Fiat Ducato is the heir to a model that has reaped international acclaim and sales success for twenty five years: the 1.7 million or more vehicles sold throughout the world since 1981 tell their own story.

The new Fiat light commercial vehicle offers a distinctive cutting-edge look; it ensures top level comfort and performance; it offers an even greater wealth of telematic and safety equipment - and it ensures low running costs. Not to mention the fact that load compartment access, productivity and payload have all been improved.

Altogether, the New Fiat Ducato has been ‘designed by business’ since it effectively meets all trade transport and leisure needs.

Clever, practical style

The New Ducato, designed by the Fiat Style Centre, is distinctive for its original shape and well-balanced volumes. The new commercial vehicle’s design, inspired by the piercing, aerodynamic lines of high-speed trains, immediately conjures up an impression of dynamism, strength and distinctive personality. And more.

The New Ducato’s design is clever as well because, though function is treated as a priority (as is natural for a light commercial vehicle), its looks have not been overlooked in the least. For example, the bumper is divided into three parts in order to ensure lower repair/replacement costs in the event of an accident and thus lower insurance costs in certain countries. The windscreen pillar rake also offers one of the best drag coefficients in its category (0.31) while sharp, squared-off lines contribute to a more linear load compartment with greater load volume.

Inside, the vehicle offers linear, elegant styling featuring new colours, fabrics and seat, dashboard and door panel designs according to the version. The passenger compartment also boasts a well-lit interior and excellent visibility, achieved by oceans of glass that optimise working conditions by ensuring the greatest comfort.

And more: the new dashboard is designed to ensure excellent practicality and stylish shapes, all within easy reach of the hand or eyes, to make driving easier and reduce the number of distractions to the driver. Altogether, the New Ducato offers a modular, uniform and essential passenger compartment that prioritises practicality and well being and creates a sensation of great safety.

Higher load capacity and reduced running cost.

Light commercial vehicle customers have always focused their attention on the practical and the rational: such as load capacity and running costs. The new Ducato meets these needs through an increase in size (greater volume) and also in load capacity (GVW and payload): versions are now available with GVWs up to 4 tonnes and a payload of up to 2 tonnes. Plus vans with effective volumes up to 17 m3 and interior length in excess of 4 metres. Not to mention the fact that the New Ducato is built to ensure that goods loading and unloading operations can be carried out with greater ease: this is partly due to the reduced load platform ground clearance, which has been cut from the previous figure of 56 centimetres to 53 cm.

The new Fiat light commercial vehicle is also outstanding for its reduced running costs: achievements include a significant reduction in fuel consumption (up to 16% less than the current Ducato); an increase in service intervals (up to 45,000 km) and a significant reduction in repair costs.

Flexible and powerful engines

Customers who use the New Ducato as a working tool will prioritise reliability, low fuel consumption and reduced running costs but also driving flexibility and great torque available from low speeds for a responsive, satisfying drive even in town traffic. For this reason, the new model differs from the previous version in offering three state-of-the-art Common Rail direct injection 16 valve turbo diesel engines (multipoint injection): 120 and 130 bhp 2.3 Multijet (the latter is used only for the Camping Car sector) and a 157 bhp 3.0 Multijet unit. All the engines are gentle on the environment (they meet Euro 4 requirements) and are combined with new 6 speed gearboxes. They offer greater power, improved flexibility and, above all, a higher torque at low rpm: for customers this means lively take-off and pick-up, great driving satisfaction, optimum comfort but above all reduced fuel consumption.

Driving comfort and onboard wellbeing

The new model confirms that the greatest attention has been paid to factors linked with ergonomics and also acoustic, climatic and vibrational comfort. Onboard wellbeing is of paramount importance to the user of a commercial vehicle who spends long hours at the wheel under often demanding conditions. For this reason, the passenger compartment has been designed as a welcoming, well-lit, comfortable and noiseless mobile office with a car-type driving position for ideal mental and physical conditions on the road. Plenty of space is also available (drawers, compartments and shelves) for possessions (PC, road maps and mobile phones).

Heir to a best-seller

The Ducato has always been a greatly appreciated vehicle. It is popular with small businesses working within the craft, trades, building, farming, maintenance and service sectors. But it also appeals to major industry, special customers (local organisations, police forces, government, health organisations etc.), bodyshops-conversion shops specialising in the leisure sector (campers, caravans, motorhomes) or special public transport vehicles (minibuses, school buses, ambulances, disabled vehicles) and goods vehicles (box trucks, insulated trucks, armoured vehicles for transporting valuables, mobile shops).

People buy it due to rational, practical factors such as previous experience with the same brand, price, size and load capacity, performance, reliability, quality, dealer efficiency and service. These are joined by other more emotional reasons associated with the way the vehicle behaves on the road, comfort, handling, performance and the level of equipment. The reasons for its success lie in the great versatility that it has shown over all these years. We must take this as a starting point if we are to appreciate the numerous new features that the New Ducato brings to its segment.

Fiat Ducato: a success story

The Ducato’s extraordinary versatility first became apparent in 1981 with the first series and grew, year in year out, until it reached a turning point in 1994 with the launch of the second series. The stylists now began to treat it not as a single basic model with many specification variants but as many different vehicles specialised for different payload categories and operational missions. The designers, on the other hand applied engineering criteria and state-of-the-art modular structural methods to create no fewer than 500 Fiat Ducato variants (i.e. different combinations of body type, mechanical units and engines).

The public immediately confirmed that the chosen formula was the right one: volumes and market shares exceeded our expectations in the first year alone. And the motoring press acknowledged the vehicle’s innovative features by awarding the Ducato the title ‘Van of the Year 1994’.

The Fiat Ducato has had another ace up its sleeve all these years, i.e. the vitality that comes from Fiat’s constant attention to vehicle technical development and on-going range updates in terms of body types, engines and equipment. In 1997, we saw the arrival of the Sofim 2.8 i.d. TD engine (122 bhp of maximum power, 285 Nm of torque), a natural development of the 2.5 TDI. Two new versions of the Fiat Ducato were also created: the Panorama and Combi with medium wheelbase and high sides that offer greater roominess, more comfort and more luggage space. The conversion base range also benefited from specific options and version variants able to aid the bodyshops in their task.

The operation was also repeated with success in 2000, when we saw the arrival of the Fiat Ducato 2.8 JTD Common Rail with 127 bhp of maximum power and 300 Nm of torque (the most popular member of the range). 2002 saw the arrival of the third generation Fiat Ducato, whose strength lay in the fact it offered many strengths, because it was flexible, innovative, dynamic and satisfying to see and use in everyday activities. 2002 also saw the launch of the Bipower versions – duel fuel methane and petrol systems – while two years later came the turn of the lively 2.8 JTD POWER, a common rail turbo diesel with variable geometry turbine and intercooler that developed 146 bhp of power and a torque of 310 Nm (as opposed to the 127 bhp and 300 Nm of the 2.8 JTD with fixed geometry turbo).

Now comes the turn of the New Fiat Ducato to take up the baton and continue to be one of the most appreciated and biggest-selling light commercial vehicles in Europe.