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BLINDING NEMO?
Citroen does a nice line in compact vans these days and the Nemo could be the best of the lot. Steve Walker reports

Sooner or later, the trends that sweep the passenger car market usually filter through to arena of the commercial vehicle. That process can take a while but as we’ve seen with common-rail diesel engines and various items of safety equipment, vans eventually come to benefit from most of the relevant innovations that arise in cars. Citroen’s Nemo is representative of a trend that’s been extremely prevalent in the car sector for a number of years now; namely that of diversification. It’s a van that can lay claim to being first aboard the sub-compact van bandwagon.

Actually, it’s a little bit more complicated than all that. A reshuffle of the Citroen commercial vehicle range has made space for the Nemo rather than any ground-breaking design innovation on the manufacturer’s part. The latest Citroen Berlingo compact van has grown in capacity, nuzzling-up beneath the Despatch panel van and that shift left a space below, which the Nemo neatly fills. The model’s bijou dimensions means it sits above the tiny C2 car-derived van, in close proximity to the Berlingo First model which is actually the old Berlingo soldiering on as an uncomplicated budget option. That just about sums it up, but before you declare yourself in possession of all the facts concerning the Nemo’s market positioning, remember that it’s just one part of a three-pronged attack of the small van sector. Citroen’s sister brand Peugeot and their long-standing LCV partner Fiat also have versions of the van called the Bipper and the Fiorino respectively.

"Citroen is banking on more and more operators coming to the conclusion that small is beautiful"

The Nemo’s size and weight allows it to get away with smaller 1.4-litre engines as opposed to the units of 1.6-litres and larger that Citroen fits to its Berlingo. The petrol option is a 1.4-litre 75bhp affair but its 118Nm of torque at 2,600rpm highlights its shortcomings compared to the 1.4-litre diesel. The Nemo’s oil-burner comes with less power - only 70bhp is available - but 160Nm from 1,750rpm means it has the low-end muscle that drivers like for getting their payload smartly off the line. Neither Nemo is earth-shatteringly quick but the chance to approach the speed limit has become a rare luxury in the areas where it’s designed to work, so that shouldn’t unduly matter. The Nemo has independent front suspension braced with an anti-roll bar, while at the rear is the old commercial vehicle standard transverse beam. The set-up works well helping to give the Nemo the lively and energetic feel on the road that the latest supersized Berlingo has partially lost. The downside is that the Nemo is less comfortable a proposition on the open road, but around town its short overhangs and teeny dimensions make it highly manoeuvrable. The turning circle is super-tight at under 10 metres kerb to kerb. The Nemo mounts its gearlever on the dash as is the fashion these days and the abrupt short-throw action is an improvement over the sloppy set-ups that let some of the marque’s other models down. The Nemo’s styling should win it many admirers, the van displaying a swollen look that might hint at a cargo of highly compressed air. The bumpers, the wheelarches and even the windscreen dome outwards and along with the wide track, this creates a squat, planted stance. The inherent chunkiness also suggests the Nemo is a tough customer and there’s not much to dissuade you from that opinion on the inside. Fiat’s influence on the project is evident in the cab. The air-vents, the stereo and other components have been seen before in Fiat products but all feel solid and look the part. The design is simple and the materials robust but storage could be more generous. Space is adequate for driver and passenger but larger occupants might find it a little confined during a long day at the wheel. The Nemo measures just 3,860mm in length but uses its interior space to full effect in offering a 2.5m3 load volume and a 610kg maximum payload. The space itself is usefully square and a ladder frame bulkhead protects the rear of the driver’s seat. Choose the optional Extenso folding passenger seat and that load volume can be increased to 2.8m3 with the load length upped from 1,520mm to 2.5mm, ideal for pipes, planks of wood or other long items. The loadbay can be got at through the Nemo’s asymmetrically-hinged rear doors that open to 180 degrees. The resulting aperture is surprisingly wide and tall with a low loading height to help when hauling heavy items inside. There’s a lip between the bumper and the load floor which can make sliding cargo in slightly problematic and the sliding side doors are fairly narrow but lashing eyes and the uniform shape of the compartment count in the plus column. Given its size, the Nemo is an extremely practical proposition. The Nemo should be adept at saving its owners money. 41mpg from the petrol engine is nothing to get too excited about but the more satisfactory diesel can return nearly 63mpg which is great going by any standards. It produces just 119g/km in the process too and with lengthy 2-year/20,000-mile service intervals, that should be money in the bank for operators. The Citroen Nemo is available in X or LX trim, with the entry-level X model featuring an MP3-compatible CD stereo, a trip computer, ABS brakes, a driver’s airbag and pre-tensioner seatbelts. The LX adds the sliding side door on the nearside, electric front windows, remote central locking, the folding passenger seat and heated electric mirrors. Air-conditioning is an option, as are a Bluetooth hands-free kit and rear parking sensors. All models come with a five-speed manual gearbox but Citroen’s Sensodrive clutchless gearbox is an option with the diesel engine. To succeed from its unorthodox position betwixt the car-derived C2 van and the Berlingo compact van, the Nemo is going to have to persuade a sufficient number of buyers that it is the optimum size for them. Look at the dimensions and it’s closer to the extremely popular previous generation Berlingo than the latest Berlingo is. The bottom of Citroen’s LCV line-up looks decidedly crowded. Citroen has proved itself to have a steady hand on the LCV marketing tiller, however, growing the business consistently in recent years. It would be a brave person who bets against the firm’s judgement in this instance. The Citroen Nemo doesn’t fit in with the conventional structure of the light commercial vehicle market but times change and with traffic levels increasing along with fuel costs and the tax burden, Citroen is banking on more and more operators coming to the conclusion that small is beautiful. It’s a gamble that could easily pay off. The smaller end of the Citroen van range offers more choice than ever in the Nemo’s presence. Its pleasantly chunky styling, its nimble driving experience and its surprisingly generous capacities will all help to persuade any doubters. There’s now a small Citroen van to suit the full range of requirements and the Nemo could well be the pick of the bunch.

Facts At A Glance MANUFACTURER: Citroen MODEL: Nemo BHP: 70bhp - 75bhp PAYLOAD CAPACITY: 610kg LOAD VOLUME: 2.5m3 GROSS VEHICLE WEIGHT: 1,680kg – 1,700kg LENGTH: 3,864mm WIDTH: 1,589mm HEIGHT: 1,721mm May 7th 2008

THE GEAR FACTOR
An automatic gearbox in a small urban van makes sense on paper but how about in the real world? Steve Walker looks at the Citroen Nemo SensoDrive

The Citroen Nemo with the SensoDrive gearbox is more economical than the manual model, it’s easier to use around town and it doesn’t cost too much more. Automatic vans aren’t commonplace on our roads but models like this could well change all that.

If there was ever a van ideally suited to an automatic gearbox, the Citroen Nemo is it. The little Citroen is a highly specialised sort designed to operate in busy urban areas where picking a path through the traffic can be hell in anything even remotely large or unwieldy. It’s the kind of environment where the van driver can be on and off the clutch like he’s trying to inflate a bouncy castle with a foot pump but a good automatic gearbox has the potential to eliminate all that effort at a stroke. But can it do more? Citroen reckons that if you specific your Nemo with its clever SensoDrive transmission, then the answer is yes. The Nemo is yet another Citroen van built in partnership with Peugeot and Fiat. Peugeot’s version is called the Bipper which, for us, instantly puts it at a competitive disadvantage and the Fiat model is rather more elegantly dubbed the Fiorino. Along with its cousins, the Nemo is a highly significant vehicle in that it plugs a gap between the established compact van sector (think Citroen Berlingo van) and smaller supermini-derived vans (think Vauxhall Corsavan), an area where few other products dare to tread. We could call it a sub-compact van if you like, but the point is that it’s small, mobile and nimble enough to excel in congested urban areas when carrying a big load isn’t necessary but it remains large enough to be of day to day use. In this kind of role, the SensoDrive automatic gearbox would appear to make very good sense.

"The SensoDrive gearbox only adds to the Nemo’s suitability for the urban role…"

The SensoDrive ‘box is mated to the Nemo’s 1.4-litre HDi diesel engine. It’s an automated manual gearbox with a mechanical clutch taking care of the shifting on command and negating the need for a clutch pedal. The idea behind it is that operators get the two-pedal driving benefits of a proper automatic with the economy of a conventional manual. The system works well too. It can be operated in fully automatic mode or prompted to change gear manually with the stubby dash-mounted lever. If you adopt a relaxed driving style and are relatively gentle with the throttle, progress is smooth. The 1.4-litre engine develops 70bhp which doesn’t sound a whole lot but 160Nm from 1,750rpm means it has the low-end muscle that drivers like for getting their payload smartly off the line. The Nemo isn’t earth-shatteringly quick but the chance to approach the speed limit has become a rare luxury in the areas where it’s designed to work, so that shouldn’t unduly matter. The Nemo has independent front suspension braced with an anti-roll bar, while at the rear is the old commercial vehicle standard transverse beam. The set-up works well helping to give the Nemo the lively and energetic feel on the road that the latest supersized Berlingo has partially lost. The downside is that the Nemo is less comfortable a proposition on the open road, but around town its short overhangs and teeny dimensions make it highly manoeuvrable. The turning circle is super-tight at under 10 metres kerb to kerb. There’s little doubt that the Citroen Nemo SensoDrive does what it sets out to do in making the lot of drivers in urban areas that little bit easier. Whether enough van drivers get the chance to have their lives made a bit easier, however, will depend on whether the Nemo SensoDrive can persuade the people who hold the company purse strings. It gets off to a promising start by actually consuming less fuel than a 1.4 HDi Nemo with the five-speed manual gearbox. On the combined cycle, the SensoDrive model returns 64.2mpg compared to 62.8mpg in the manual and around town, it’s 51.4mpg plays 49.6mpg. Emissions are a similar story with 116g/km of CO2 coming out of the SensoDrive model and 119g/km emerging from the manual. With the SensoDrive Nemo costing £400 more than the manual, fleet managers will be doing their sums and one suspects that many buying decisions will come out in the SensoDrive’s favour. The Nemo measures just 3,860mm in length but uses its interior space to full effect in offering a 2.5m3 load volume and a 610kg maximum payload. The space itself is usefully square and a ladder frame bulkhead protects the rear of the driver’s seat. Choose the optional Extenso folding passenger seat and that load volume can be increased to 2.8m3 with the load length upped from 1,520mm to 2.5m, ideal for pipes, planks of wood or other long items. Its styling should win the Nemo many admirers. The bumpers, the wheelarches and even the windscreen dome outwards and along with the wide track, this creates a squat, planted stance. The inherent chunkiness also suggests the Nemo is a tough customer and there’s not much to dissuade you from that opinion on the inside. Fiat’s influence on the project is evident in the cab. The air-vents, the stereo and other components have been seen before in Fiat products but all feel solid and look the part. The design is simple and the materials robust but storage could be more generous. Space is adequate for driver and passenger but larger occupants might find it a little confined during a long day at the wheel. The Citroen Nemo SensoDrive is available only in LX trim. That means it gets standard equipment such as an MP3-compatible CD stereo, a trip computer, ABS brakes, a driver’s airbag and pre-tensioner seatbelts but also benefits from the LX extras. These run to a sliding side door on the nearside, electric front windows, remote central locking, the folding passenger seat and heated electric mirrors. Air-conditioning is an option, as are a Bluetooth hands-free kit and rear parking sensors. Automatic gearboxes don’t always make much sense in commercial vehicles. The sometimes sizable price premium and fuel economy penalties make the extra convenience of self shifters a tough thing to justify. Citroen’s Nemo SensoDrive is an altogether different proposition as not only is the van designed for use in urban areas where the benefits of an auto are magnified, but the gearbox is actually more fuel efficient than the equivalent manual. With only a modest price premium required to get one, the SensoDrive gearbox looks a great fit in the Nemo. This vehicle’s carrying capacity isn’t great but the advantages of its compact size will be felt more keenly by urban operators than any lack of space in the rear. The van offers good visibility and a tight turning circle, while the SensoDrive ‘box only adds to its suitability for the urban role.

Facts At A Glance MANUFACTURER: Citroen MODEL: Nemo SensoDrive BHP: 70bhp PAYLOAD CAPACITY: 610kg LOAD VOLUME: 2.5m3 GROSS VEHICLE WEIGHT: 1,680kg – 1,700kg LENGTH: 3,864mm WIDTH: 1,589mm HEIGHT: 1,721mm November 18th 2008