What is it?
The latest version of the Vauxhall Combo, and the first to be developed with the PSA group, is the best yet, offering easy access, generous cargo weights and a host of personalisation options. It’s certainly making its mark in the competitive small-to-medium market and its complete redesign makes it stand out on the road. What Car? certainly agrees too, awarding it with LCV Van of the Year and Light Van Award 2019.
What’s new?
The new Combo has been developed from the ground-up and showcases a bigger, squarer, more usable load bay, an abundance of flexible cargo options and a completely new chassis. The low floor provides easy access and the payload allows up to one tonne of cargo in the back. A useful addition is the load indicator which gives you a warning if you are overloading the van.
How does it look?
The Combo is a modern-looking van, with its Insignia-inspired headlights and radiator grille offering more car-like features. The curvier appearance will appeal to customers who value style but it retains a business-like rear end, which is designed to do a job – one that the Combo does very well indeed.
What’s it like inside?
Inside the Combo is a real treat. It’s well laid out with multiple storage areas including deep door pockets, a driver’s side glove compartment and multiple drinks holders. If you opt for the Flex Cargo option, you also get a middle seat that folds down to become a work surface, and a left-hand seat that can be folded up and out of the way to accommodate long loads such as ladders.
The load area is the Combo’s real strength – flat, low and square, it offers plenty of room between the wheel arches to manoeuvre a Euro pallet. It’s easily accessible via the two side-loading doors as well as a choice of twin rear doors or a tailgate.
There will also be a long-wheelbase version arriving later in 2019 which will be big enough to house two complete pallets.
What’s the spec like?
The Combo is available in three trim levels – Edition, Sportive and LE Nav.
All vans come with heated electric door mirrors, electric windows and a single sliding side door as standard (you can add a second sliding side door on the L2 version). It’s safe too, with features that include a driver's airbag, auto lights, hill start assist and a full steel bulkhead.
The Edition features a fixed steel bulkhead, overhead storage, a five-inch infotainment screen with Bluetooth and DAB, one-touch windows and steel wheels. This is the entry level spec and is a functional option for large fleets.
Upgrading to the Sportive will give you more storage 16-inch alloy wheels, air conditioning and body coloured bumpers, plus cruise control and rear parking sensors.
The top end LE Nav adds an eight-inch touchscreen with sat nav and smartphone mirroring, which is offered as an option on other trim levels.
A Crew Van is also available, with three seats in the back.
Verdict
The new Vauxhall Combo is a huge step forward for Vauxhall, with class-leading loadspace, a variety of clever flexibility options and a safety innovation in the form of its overload indicator that set new benchmarks for the car-derived van market. It’s one of the best small vans on the market, both functionally and dynamically, and is also very competitively priced. When the new engine range comes on stream, it’ll be a very difficult package to beat.
The New Vauxhall Combo Van is available to order in dealerships now. View our offers here.
