The new Citroën Relay is the first van to be sold with satellite navigation and stolen vehicle tracking as standard. All panel van buyers get the Trafficmaster Smartnav system for free, including a three-year subscription to the navigation service and one-month of the Safe Speed camera alert function - with a face value of £1,100. Citroën says it is not a delete option, and assures MT that fleet customers will not be able to reduce the price of a new Relay by specifying one without the system. "It differentiates the Relay from the Peugeot equivalent," explains Citroën's CV operations manager Robert Handyside.
The Relay, which went on sale in the UK last week, is available in four lengths, three roof heights and four GVWs - the largest of which takes Citroën into the 4-tonne sector for the first time. The company claims that the newcomer has the widest internal load width and lowest loading sill height of any vehicle in its class. It demonstrated the vans 14.14m turning circle at the launch, showing a video of a Relay and Mercedes-Benz Sprinter turning in the same confined space. There are no prizes for guessing which one successfully completed the manoeuvre and which one drove into a wall.
Power comes from a choice of 2.2HDi or 3.0HDi, and Citroën says the whole range can run on a 30% blend of bio-diesel without any modifications. Servicing intervals have been increased to as much as 25,000 miles - and the length is not affected by the use of bio-diesel. Prices start at £15,150 and all models are covered by Citroën's flexible two-year unlimited mileage/three-year 100,000-mile warranty package.