Citroen has announced that Electronic Stability Control (ESC), also known as Electronic Stability Program (ESP), is now standard on all its vans manufactured after the 1st of July 2014, in line with upcoming legislation. Citroen has supplemented the ESC cost increase by introducing minor technological updates, and increasing the list price.
Bosch, which pioneered the technology, claims the technology can cut accidents caused by skidding by 80%. The EU agrees, and in 2011 announced that any vehicles, both cars and vans, manufactured after the 31st of October must have it fitted.
Electronic Stability Control uses steering angle data and other information from the vehicle to detect if the van is about to travel in a different direction to that indicated by the steering wheel position. The system then automatically reduces engine power and brakes the appropriate wheel (or wheels) to help the driver maintain control.
New transmissions and equipment
The ESC introduction has also given the engineers at Citroen a chance to undertake minor technological updates in the range.
On the Nemo, the automatic EGS (Electronic Gearbox System) transmission has been replaced by the quicker and smoother ETG (Efficient Tronic Gearbox) unit and Hill Start Assist is now a standard feature on all Berlingos. For both the Nemo and Berlingo, prices have increased by £50 plus VAT although the HDi 75 Stop & Start ETG 660 LX, Berlingo ETG6 and Berlingo Electric vans will not see a price increase as ESC was already standard.
Dispatch buyers will see the biggest technological improvement, and price increase, though. For £80 more, cruise control with a driver programmable speed limiter becomes standard on all Dispatch vehicles and larger, 16 inch wheels with rear disc brakes are now standard on the 89bhp L1H1 van.
“Citroën continues to improve the specification of its award-winning LCV range. These latest changes to the Nemo, Berlingo and Dispatch, together with the recently launched New Relay, will further enhance the competitive positioning of our LCV range and will significantly benefit fleet and business customers here in the UK”, commented Jeremy Smith, Citroën’s Head of Commercial Vehicles & Business Sector Operations.
The changes only apply to vehicles manufactured after the 1st of July 2014.
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