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MOTORHOMENEWS

~ A personal take by Christopher Macgowan on tourism, travel and motorhomes.

MOTORHOMENEWS

Tag Archives: Fiat

The Adria range at Brownhills, Newark.

03 Saturday Oct 2020

Posted by chrismacgowan in Motorhomes

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#motorhomes, adria, Brownhills, Christopher Macgowan, Fiat, motorhomenews

Adria is showing 2020 and 2021 models through a series of dealer events and I popped in to Brownhills Newark to take a look. With sales of new and used motorhomes running at extremely healthy levels I wasn’t too sure how many models would be on display but in the event it was a very healthy line-up.

The new generation Coral and Matrix models were on show and, like so many manufacturers, it is obvious that van conversions are becoming increasingly popular and the layouts are evolving with increasing sophistication. In my personal view, they are popular for a number of reasons but drivability is a key one where both partners in a relationship feel equally comfortable doing the driving. The Fiat Ducati with an automatic transmission is hugely popular in this sector.

A good example is the new for 2021 Twin Supreme 640SPB Family with an “any licence” 3500kg maximum authorised weight, a great layout and a transverse bed. It could be one of their star performers for 2021.

Christopher Macgowan

@motorhomenews

A Russian Ducato?

10 Saturday Aug 2013

Posted by chrismacgowan in Motorhomes

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Christopher Macgowan, Ducato, Fiat, motorhomenews, Renault, Russia

20130810-180604.jpgThere is an unsubstantiated news story doing the rounds this week that Renault and Fiat either have signed or are about to sign an agreement to jointly build a Ducato style commercial vehicle in Russia.

The gist of it is that the production would be handled by Russian truckmaker ZIL and that starting as early as 2014 it would produce about 25,000 Renault Masters and 25,000 Fiat Ducatos.

Such agreements in the commercial vehicle market are common simply because very few manufacturers can make the numbers add up by themselves whereas with cars the production numbers are bigger and such joint agreements are therefore less well known – Peugeot and Toyota possibly being one of the best known in the UK. By contrast we see such agreements between Volkswagen and Mercedes and Fiat/Citroen/Peugeot in commercial vehicles and as motorhomers we are pretty clear what we are getting when we purchase.

Even Ford recently found it impossible to sustain its Transit factory in the UK and moved production to a bigger more flexible facility in Turkey – again to make the production numbers add up. Those familiar with the Southampton plant will know only too well how constrained it was with a railway and major road down two sides of it. I am reminded of the identical constraint at the main Porsche factory which was resolved by building upwards on several different levels – something that could be considered to protect the valuable Porsche heritage and tradition but which would hardly be feasible for a Transit van.

The question is therefore, might my next motorhome – be it a Fiat or a Renault – come from Russia and does any of this have an impact on the market leading Ducato Sevel plant we are all so familiar with? The Fiat PSA agreement goes all the way back to 1981 and Fiat has built it in a number of plants around the world – including Russia – so maybe what goes round comes round?

I acknowledge the source I first saw this from:
http://www.autonews.com

Christopher Macgowan
twitter: motorhomenews

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