Mercedes-Benz has announced a new seven-seater version of its Citan van, set to go on sale in spring 2014. There are also two new engines on sale for the rest of the Citan range – a powerful 1.5-litre diesel powerplant and, for the first time, a 1.2-litre petrol unit.
We’ve driven the new diesel and you can read all about it here.
The seven-seater joins the existing five-seater Dualiner variant and will be known as the Traveliner in the UK. It’s based on the longest wheelbase variant in the range with an overall length of 4.7 metres.
As with the majority of seven-seat vehicles, the Citan variant features a third seating row made up of two individual seats. Like the five-seater versions, the second row of passengers sit on a three-person bench which can be easily folded flat in a 60:40 split. The third row is then accessed by scrambling across the flattened second row.
We’ve tried the seven-seat Citan for size at a preview in Frankfurt and found there to be plenty of knee room from the rear two seats once you’ve managed to access them. This is aided by a fore and aft adjustment of 130mm.
There’s also a small amount of storage space in the side wall panels next to the rear two passengers for small items.
Cargo load space varies from 300 to 400 litres depending on the position of the two rear seats.
Both seats can also be removed altogether, increasing load space to 2,200 litres. The seat units weigh 17.8kg each.
A maximum load length of 2,137mm is possible and a load volume of 3.5 cubic metres.
Mercedes says the seven-seater Citan is aimed at commercial passenger transport, for example as a taxi or shuttle vehicle, or for mixed commercial and private use.
There are two engines available, both of which are the two largest diesels in the range: the 89bhp 109 CDI and the new 109bhp 111 CDI.
The 111 CDI is one of two new engines added to the Citan range as a whole, the other being a new 1.2-litre 112 petrol engine with 112bhp. The 111 CDI becomes the largest diesel engine available for the Citan and is expected to make up around 20 percent of sales.
The new seven-seater will be assembled alongside the rest of the Citan range by Renault, Mercedes’ development partner for the van.
It will be priced from £15,885 for the 109 CDI version and £17,380 for the 111 CDI.
You can read all about the rest of the range in our full Mercedes-Benz Citan review here.
