With Peugeot refreshing its Partner Tepee, sister company Citroën has got in on the act by facelifting its remarkably similar Berlingo Multispace. The aim is to try to lure buyers away from more-conventional people carriers.
At a first glance the Berlingo appears untouched, however, a closer look reveals a new positioning of the LED daytime running lights, a brand new bumper and a wider grille. Additionally, the Multispace boasts new upholstery styles and two new body colours - Moka Grey and Cumulus Grey. From November 2015 the hotly anticipated Active City Brake system will be available as an additional extra, designed to prevent collisions at low-speed. November will also bring a technology breakthrough in the form of the Mirror Screen infotainment system which allows drivers to stream the contents of their smartphones onto the seven-inch colour display.
The family-friendly Multispace model might look like a van from the exterior but the interior packs a serious practical punch loaded with functionality. With every model, apart from the entry-level Touch, housing an overhead storage shelf and 3,000 litres of luggage capacity with the seats folded down. If you’re after seven seats an additional Family Pack is available, only with the BlueHDi 100 engine, for £850 but you can remove rows two and three entirely when not in use.
In the top-of-the-range BlueHDi 120 XTR the second-row passengers can enjoy plenty space and extra knee room and headroom. The boot’s a cavernous 675 litres – the same size as the
Peugeot Partner Tepee and way bigger than the Ford C-MAX rival.
Elect for the Modutop roof and you’ll enjoy the liberating feeling that comes from being surrounded by light and air. It will also give you a valuable further 170 litres of storage. On the XTR and Feel models this is a £700 additional extra but one that’s definitely worth having.
As standard on the XTR model, you get rear-parking sensors, 16-inch alloys and the infotainment system. Electric front windows and cruise control are also fitted. The All-Road Pack provides underbody protection, raised suspension and Peugeot’s ‘Grip Control’ which allows you to choose appropriate settings for mud, snow and sand.
There’s plenty of torque surrounding the Multispace and the facelift continues under the bonnet with the BlueHDi 120 engine. The new engine cuts CO2 emissions by 4% and is compliant with the Euro 6 standards. The first Berlingo six-speed manual gearbox is a welcome addition helping you get to 62mph in a modest 11.4 seconds and the fuel economy is more than satisfactory at 64.2mpg.
The Citroën Berlingo Multispace is on sale now with a showroom price of £18,540.
To test drive the new
Citroën Berlingo Multispace or any of the
Citroën range in the South West, get down to Howards Group showrooms in
Taunton or
Weston-Super-Mare.