Building on an existing partnership to develop and manufacture a range of compact and mid-sized commercial vans, Stellantis and Toyota will now work together to design a large commercial van for the European market.
This new large van, which will have both traditional combustion-powered and all-electric variants, will be developed at Stellantis’s plants in Poland and Italy – currently scheduled for a 2024 release.
Once ready, the new van will be rebranded for sale by Toyota and a number of brands under the Stellantis umbrella – likely Citroën, Fiat, Peugeot and Vauxhall.
This will mark Toyota’s first foray into the large van market in the UK, and both Toyota and Stellatis will hope that this new van collaboration will be able to successfully challenge the sales of established rivals like the best-selling Ford Transit and Mercedes-Benz Sprinter.
This expanding partnership has already brought sales success for the two brands, dating back to 2012 when Stellantis and Toyota began work on a mid-sized commercial van project that soon spawned the Citroën Dispatch, Fiat Scudo, Peugeot Expert, Toyota ProAce and Vauxhall Vivaro.
In 2019, Stellantis and Toyota developed a compact commercial van for the European market that was sold as the Citroën Berlingo, Peugeot Partner, Toyota ProAce City and Vauxhall Combo in the UK.
Stating the company’s bold ambitions moving forward, Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares commented, “This agreement moves us a step closer to realising our ‘Dare Forward 2030’ goal of becoming the undisputed global light commercial vehicle leader, in terms of technology, manufacturing, market share and profitability.”
The latest van registration data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) lists Ford as currently having the biggest share of the LCV market, with nearly 40% of all sales. Stellantis currently has a market share of just over 30%, based on the LCV sales of Citroën, Fiat, Peugeot and Vauxhall.
