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.

History of the joint venture between the Fiat and PSA Peugeot Citroën Groups

Since 1978, the date on which Sevel (Società Europea Veicoli Leggeri) was set up in Atessa (CH), cooperation between the Fiat Group and the PSA Peugeot Citroën Group has offered a blend of engineering and manufacturing know-how that places it at the cutting edge of the European light commercial vehicle sector. Work started at the Val di Sangro plant in 1981, when the output was 350 vehicles per day. The plant was then extended to cope with the manufacture of more products, until levels reached the current capacity of 900 vehicles per day (including the Ducato for Fiat and the Peugeot Boxer and Citroën Jumper for PSA Peugeot Citroën).
 

This number will rise by more than 10% upon the marketing launch of the new vehicle family. On 15 December 2005, we reached our production target of 3 million vehicles. If all these vehicles were placed end to end, they would form a line 15,000 km long, roughly the distance between Val di Sangro and Sydney.

Boosted by its great marketing success throughout Europe, the joint venture between the Groups consolidated over the years and now satisfies most of the demand from light commercial vehicle customers. In January 2002, the agreement was extended to 2017. The continuation of this fruitful cooperation allows both partners to achieve major synergies in the design and production of the new X250 (the code identifying new generations of the Fiat Ducato, Peugeot Boxer and Citroën Jumper) that will be manufactured in the Val di Sangro Sevel plant, where annual production may rise to 260,000 units. For this reason, more than 1.1 bn Euros have been allocated, of which 700 million are earmarked for the development of the new product and equipping of the suppliers. The other 400 million Euros have been set aside to extend the panel and assembly shops, add new production machinery, produce a new logistics depot and a new paint shop equipped with the most up-to-date technology. The partners have an equal holding and the plant is managed by Fiat Auto.

Sevel: a record-breaking factory

The Sevel (Società Europea Veicoli Leggeri) plant in Val di Sangro, Italy is the largest light commercial vehicle assembly plant in Europe. The factory, set up in 1981 as part of a joint venture partnership between Fiat and PSA Peugeot Citroën, is located between the towns of Atessa and Paglieta in the Province of Chieti. It covers an area of more than 1,200,000 square metres (120 hectares), of which 344,000 are covered (34 hectares), and is equipped for the entire manufacturing cycle: panel working, painting and assembly.

It currently employs 5200 people (more than 95% of whom live in Abruzzo). Two hundred and fifty articulated trucks enter its gates every day carrying parts, and 200 low loaders and 4 trains leave every day bearing the finished products. And more: the Panel shops manufacture some 300 different types of body, the Paint shop uses 122 colours and the Assembly shop produces more than 6000 versions and more than 150 options. These incredible numbers are the result of the wide range of requirements of our professional users and the fleets that Sevel products have to satisfy. One of Sevel’s many strengths is its ability to manage product complexity. As confirmation of the high regard in which the vehicle is held in the market, manufacturing has continued unabated for 25 years. Far from taking a break, production, employment and investments have risen steadily. The plant also meets the highest standards of quality and respect for the environment: the quality system is Iso 9001 certified (Vision 2000) and the environmental management system has achieved Iso 14001 certification.

One major breakthrough is Sevel’s new painting system. This is one of the most advanced systems of its type in Europe in terms of technology and respect for the environment (the use of water-based enamel is one example.) The building is 330 metres long and 60 metres wide. It houses 150 workers per shift and 23 robots to apply the sealant and enamel. Not to mention the cataphoretic baths and the drying and stoving ovens. All automated. The employees are responsible only for supervising the process and monitoring the result. The preparation of surfaces for painting is also a partly automatic process: this is done by emu feather rollers that are particularly suitable for the task because they do not become charged with static electricity by friction.

Unlike cars, light commercial vehicle bodies are also painted inside because the surfaces of cargo versions are visible. For this reason, some 65 square metres of sheet steel must be coated for each New Ducato vehicle: this requires 10 kilograms of enamel and 137 metres of sealant. In one year, we use 25 million metres, roughly four times the earth’s radius. Lastly, the new painting system offers a well-ventilated, light, noiseless environment. This has been achieved through the use of a powerful air exchange system and vehicle conveyor lines that use rubber belts and are therefore silent.

The light commercial vehicle market

Over the past ten years, the European light commercial vehicle market has enjoyed a growing trend, rising from some 1,300,000 units in 1995 to more than 2 million in 2005. And these numbers tell us that even today the Fiat Ducato is always at the top of the European best-seller lists (some 100,000 sold in 2005) and first place in the Italian lists: last year, approximately 35,000 vehicles were delivered for a market share of more than 37%. And more. In the leisure conversion sector, the Fiat model has achieved European leadership in recent years: two camper vans out of three are now built on Ducato bases. This percentage exceeded 72% in Germany, in 2004. The credit goes to the technical specifications of a vehicle that has been designed for easy conversion by body shops.

These important results have contributed to the achievement of leadership by the Fiat Light Commercial vehicle brand in Italy: in 2005, deliveries rose to 87,350 and the market share rose overall to more than 40% (in Europe it was 10.7%). The credit goes to the outstanding performances by all our main models (Punto Van, Doblò Cargo, Scudo and Ducato) that head the sales rankings in their respective segments. This confirms we offer a broad range with a good level of quality that is always in line with customer needs.