Multivans distinguish themselves mostly by being more pragmatic than minivans. They seat up to seven just like those, but work as some sort of their “rational counterparts”. That is, while cars like Renault Scénic use cutting-edge platforms, bring long equipment lists with several innovations on habitability and, in cases like Citroën C4 Picasso’s, extravagant designs, examples such as Peugeot Partner and VW Caddy are much more concerned into offering the best possible combination of big internal space with reasonable prices. While the minivan category was founded in the 1980s, the very first multivan is claimed to be Citroën Berlingo, first released in 1996.
However, Fiat Doblò became just as successful even arriving four years later probably because it embraces the concept of multivan a little better. Since Fiat Group sells more expensive cars through other marques, the main division is free to work more practically. In other words, Doblò never tried to give the feeling of a high-end car. Its first generation used Palio Weekend’s platform, and the Italians never bothered to equip it with luxury items because its public simply never needed them – the most sophisticated version it ever had would be the Brazilian Doblò Adventure, whose increased price came from visual accessories and light-off-road preparation.
The best memories will remember that being so objective resulted in an initial “not-so-attractive” styling, but it didn’t last long. Like its competitors, Fiat made big efforts into proving that multivans don’t need to be weird or simply ugly to be practical. The new Doblò manages to look as a deep improvement of the older phase’s styling. It won’t ever abandon the boxy silhouette, but this time it’s paired to more modern lines. Making the front grille taller helps the elevated headlights to make the front fascia look imponent, which suits this car size much better than a “futuristic” look like Qubo’s, for instance.
Nevertheless, the smaller brother is reminded a little for the windows’ ascending base line, which in Doblò look much better with the visual connection created by black-painted pillars, and more for the rear fascia: passenger versions repeated the single-piece trunk lid, but this time it uses a piano-black finishing which is extended to the bumper without a division like Qubo’s steel line holding the company logo. The car whose name was taken from the old Italian coin doblone is still faithful to the multivan category’s concepts, but it’s undeniable that it has never looked better.
Another nice evolution lies at the windows. The rear set dropped the horizontal sliding in favor of a conventional vertical opening, which is better because it’s possible to use all the space. However, talking about “space” means closing the windows and opening the doors, any of them: the new Doblò offers several combinations of colors and materials according to the available trims, but all of them feature the 790-liter trunk, which can be raised to 3200 liters by folding both second and third-row seats. Besides, there are several comfort, entertainment and safety items and even an available parcel shelf, which can be mounted in two different heights and holds up to 70 kg.
When it comes to the powertrain, it’s possible to choose between a gasoline, 95-hp 1.4L or the Multijet 90-hp 1.3L, 105-hp 1.6L and 135-hp 2.0L units. These are also available for the Cargo versions, which are high-top van, five-seater combi, standard van and the brand new drop-frame, the latter three with short or long wheelbase; between these options and the possible side door, rear door, engine, trim level and external color ones, there are almost 400 possible Doblò Cargo combinations. They offer volume from 3.4 to 4.2 m³, payload from 750 kg to 1000 kg and height from 125 cm to 146 cm. All versions include start-stop, stability control and hill-holder.