Geneva show: Citroen refreshes Berlingo

CITROEN has revealed a facelift for its best-selling Berlingo van at the Geneva motor show this week, brandishing a mildly remodelled nose, improved safety, upgraded technology and revised engine choices.

While there is no word as to when the Berlingo Series II will land in Australia, it is unlikely we will see it until at least the end of this year or during the first half of 2016.

The front-end redesign includes a new bumper and grille, which sit lower than before for what Citroen calls a “more robust look”, as well as a more defined double chevron badge that aims to give the compact van a more contemporary visage.

New upholstery features in what is an otherwise subtly altered interior, with the only other significant change being the introduction of a 7.0-inch touchscreen display with smartphone screen mirroring capability and multimedia connectivity.

From November 2015 production, the Berlingo will also offer an Autonomous Emergency Braking system known as Active City Brake that applies the brakes when the driver fails to stop up to 30km/h.

Additionally, a reversing camera and front parking sensors have been added to the options list, while on the powertrain front, some models in Europe gain the option of a Euro-VI emissions-rated 1.6-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel with idle-stop technology, dubbed the BlueHDi 120 S&S engine.

The makeover also brings a six-speed manual gearbox option on the French van for the first time in the series’ 19-year production run.

Citroen only recently updated the exiting Berlingo with a new 1.6-litre HDi variant in the L2 long wheelbase body-style with an automated manual gearbox, stability control and hill-start assist.

This second-generation version was released in Australia in March 2009, and has gone on to become the car-maker's best-selling model, with 280 units finding homes last year – a 57.3 per cent increase over the 178 sold in 2013.

An early rival to the Holden Combo that carved a small niche for itself from the mid-1990s, the first Berlingo arrived Down Under in August 1999. It was joined by the Series II version in 2003.