FIAT has made a tremendous reputation in the world of commerce and practicality with its Doblo design. Doblo can be either a lifestyle estate or a van and is extremely good at both.
The Doblo Cargo van has underpinned its sound sense with the double accolades of Editor's Choice in the 2002 Commercial Fleet World honours and Tester's Choice in Commercial Motor magazine 2003 awards.
The Doblo Cargo can be chosen with 60/40 rear side hinged doors and sliders on either side to access the loadspace and is sheer practicality on wheels.
The big event with Doblo in the last year has been the launch of the 1.3 Multijet engine - a remarkable, 16-valve, 70bhp, turbodiesel which wears the crown of the smallest and most advanced second generation common rail diesel in the world.
Common sense dictates that you have to get it absolutely right if you are going to put a small engine in a load lugger such as the Doblo Cargo, but just a few miles with varying weights of load proved that this little engine is the way ahead.
Start up times, exhaust smoke, emissions and fuel consumption are all significantly reduced. I have to admit that the engine had so much 'oomph' I had to check that the factory had not slipped a two-litre in by mistake.
Much of the muscle is allied to a tremendous torque factor - 133lb/ft at only 1,750rpm.
On test, without being particularly light footed I was getting at least 50mpg but an equally important factor that is going to sway many operators is that this engine has an extended lifespan, increased to more than 150,000 miles during which no mechanical maintenance is required - just an oil change every 12,000 miles.
The market sector in which Doblo is sold is a hot one with some fierce competition, mainly from France with the Berlingo from Citroen and Kangoo from Renault.
On two major counts, Doblo scores highly when compared with its French rivals. Loading deck height is lower than the Berlingo and the width between the wheel arches is greater than on both Berlingo and Kangoo.
Another important factor with small commercials is driver appeal. It never used to be, because some of the vans of the 70s were sparse and unfriendly to say the least.
But things have changed very much for the better with an interior on the Doblo that matches a hatchback car for quality and comfort. One of the reasons for this is that many people who run these vehicles own small businesses and do not employ drivers.
In fact the demonstration model I drove was a showcase of how many goodies you can stick in a van. Many were standard features but two of the most useful, satellite navigation and telephone are extra to this model's price of £10,944.
FAST FACTS
Fiat Doblo Cargo 1.3 Multijet 16v diesel
Price: £10,994
Mechanical: 70bhp, 1,248cc 4cyl diesel engine
Torque: 133lb/ft at 1,750rpm
Max speed: 90mph
0-62mph: 16 secs