It had to happen: in the run-up to the merger of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and PSA, Renault and Fiat are already ending their commercial car deal. The road to a new Fiat Scudo seems to have started.
There are irrevocable casualties when two groups are merged. Not infrequently, the first victims can be found in the commercial vehicle corner, because it is almost impossible to comprehend how much there is collaboration between different manufacturers. Fiat bought its medium-sized buyer in recent years from Renault, where the Trafic was renamed Fiat Talento.
That is of course not possible if FCA, the concern that Fiat falls under, is merged with the PSA of Renault’s biggest rivals Peugeot and Citroën. According to Reuters, it is now official that the deal between Renault and Fiat will be ended. Renault would be looking for a new company car partner, because with the disappearance of the Fiat variant and earlier Opel version Vivaro (also to PSA), the Trafic is all on its own.
Scudo
Under ‘Stellantis’, as the new concern is called, it seems that Fiat is returning to the old source for its vans. Between 1995 and 2016, Talento predecessor Fiat Scudo was also a derivative of the Peugeot and Citroën orderers. Only the most recent generation has turned to Renault.
When Fiat once again equips itself with a Peugeot and Citroën van, the largest van family in Europe will be further expanded. After the takeover of Opel by PSA, the Opel Vivaro was also added to the Peugeot Expert, Citroën Jumpy and Toyota ProAce series. That car was also a brother of the Renault Trafic. With the addition of a Fiat variant, the total of brands for this specific van comes to five, not even including Opel’s English brother Vauxhall.
Incidentally, Fiat’s largest delivery van, the Ducato, has always been related to PSA products. So nothing needs to change.
Difficult to fathom
The above mash makes it very clear that the state of affairs in van land is difficult to fathom. Car manufacturers are happy to seek each other out to build and deliver a company car, which leads to the most wonderful collaborations. While Fiat’s largest bus comes from PSA and its medium size (still) from Renault, Opel’s own Doblò was loaned to Opel for the second generation of the Combo. Under PSA, the Combo is a brother of the Peugeot Partner and Citroën Berlingo, a series to which a new Doblò will undoubtedly be added. The even smaller Fiorino also comes from the PSA stables, but the Peugeot Bipper and Citroën Nemo are no longer on the price list.
Interesting detail: Opel’s largest commercial vehicle, the Movano, is still a Renault product. The Master derivative even received a minor facelift last year.