New Peugeot Partner review

The Peugeot Partner is one of five closely related small vans that each look very similar but have their own unique qualities and quirks.

So what sets the Partner apart from its badge-engineered stablemates? Answer: it’s got a Peugeot-specific driver's display and steering wheel. That might not sound groundbreaking, but it makes the Partner feel a bit different when you're behind the wheel.

The related Stellantis models are the Citroën Berlingo Van, the Fiat Doblo Cargo, the Toyota Proace City and the Vauxhall Combo Cargo and they've all been refreshed for 2024.

As part of that, the Partner's interior has been updated, giving some versions a new 10in infotainment touchscreen. On the outside, there's a new grille with bold lion claw marks stretching towards the middle from the redesigned headlights.

It’s a rather light touch for a compact van that’s been around for six years – so is it enough to keep the Peugeot Partner competitive against rivals ranging from the Ford Transit Connect and Mercedes Citan to the Renault Kangoo and VW Caddy? Read on to find out...

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The Peugeot Partner comes with a 1.5-litre diesel engine with a choice of either 100bhp or 128bhp. The more powerful version gets an eight-speed automatic gearbox and 221lb/ft of torque but most buyers will opt for the lower-powered model, which has a six-speed manual gearbox and 184lb/ft.

Both engines are smooth, pleasant to use and potent enough at low speeds. The healthy amount of torque gets the van moving off the line pretty quickly, although its enthusiasm wanes as speeds increase. We tried the Partner with a couple of hundred kilograms of cargo in the back and couldn’t tell we were carrying anything – although there’ll be quite a difference if you’ve loaded up with a tonne.

The Partner shares underpinnings with Stellantis road cars including the Peugeot 2008 and Vauxhall Corsa – and the result is impressive ride and handling. In fact, it feels much like any small hatchback, with similar steering responses and body roll.

Okay, you won’t be handing back the keys to your VW Golf GTI but the Partner makes a decent effort to be engaging and enjoyable to drive. That said, recent improvements to the Mercedes Citan, Nissan Townstar and Renault Kangoo – mean the Partner no longer leads the pack. The next-gen Ford Transit Connect will be in the mix too.

Taking your van to mucky site compounds? An optional Worksite pack raises the suspension a little, adds mud and snow tyres, provides some underbody protection, and includes some specific traction control software. It’s not a replacement for a four-wheel-drive vehicle but it’ll get the van through rougher terrain than the standard model.

We should point out that, as with many small vans now, there's an all-electric version of the Partner available. To read about that see our Peugeot e-Partner review.

At a glance, the Partner's interior looks identical to other Stellantis small vans but its dashboard stands out as unique. As with Peugeot car models you get the i-Cockpit – a combination of a squared-off steering wheel set low down and a driver's display set high up.

The idea is that you look over the wheel at your instruments, and when it works, it works very well. The wheel is small, giving the sensation that the van is a little more agile and the instruments looks clear and crisp. No other van offers anything like it, but not everybody can find a seating position that works with the set-up, so it’s one to try for yourself.

The entry-level trim for the Partner is called Professional and gets traditional analogue dials in the high-set instrument panel and an integrated phone mount in the middle of the dashboard. There's no touchscreen – you're expected to use your smartphone's sat-nav apps for navigation, for example.

Upgrading to the oddly-named Asphalt model sees everything go digital, with a 10in customisable panel ahead of the driver and a 10in infotainment touchscreen with TomTom navigation, and Android Auto and Apple CarPlay smartphone mirroring.

The swish instrument panel doesn’t compensate for the hard and scratchy plastics covering every surface of the interior, including the top of the door panels where you’re likely to rest your elbow. Of course, it’s a commercial vehicle, so it needs to be a bit more hard-wearing than a family hatchback, but a bit of added comfort would have gone down well.

Beneath the screen (or phone cradle on base models) are physical controls for heating and ventilation, along with a slot that can hold a mobile phone or wallet.

Entry-level Partner Professional vans have just one passenger seat, which obviously restricts you to taking one workmate on a job, but does make the interior seem more spacious.

The Asphalt trim gets you a two-person bench on the passenger side of the van, although the seats are rather compact and whoever gets the middle seat gets a large lump of dashboard where their knees should go. The seats on Asphalt vans fold up to reveal a load-through hatch, which allows you to carry very long items by threading them through to the footwell.

Peugeot makes the Partner van available in two body lengths with pleasingly simple names: Standard and Long. The difference between the two is significant, with the models separated by 350mm, taking the van's length from 4.4m to 4.75m.

Going for the Long van gets you a 20% bigger load bay, taking the storage volume from 3.3m³ to 3.9m³. You can also get a Crew version of the Long model, which sacrifices 2.1m³ of load volume to give you an extra row of seats.

Thanks to its upright side panels, the Partner’s load area is more extensive than most rivals.

The Standard model is slightly longer than the Mercedes Citan, Nissan Townstar and Renault Kangoo, 20mm longer than the VW Caddy Cargo, and 31mm longer than the Ford Transit Connect. The Long version's dimensions are similarly competitive, although the extended Kangoo, the Citan and the Townstar, with their 420mm stretch, are 60mm longer with 0.3m³ more storage volume.

The Partner also leads the sector in payload capacity – which is handy if you want to carry heavy loads in a compact van.

The Standard length BlueHDi 130 Auto in Professional spec can carry up to 1,059kg, while the Long model can handle 953kg. That's over 100kg more than the Transit Connect, 200kg more than the Kangoo, and more than 350kg ahead of the Caddy. The difference narrows with the Long models, but the Partner still beats the Caddy and Transit Connect, although the Kangoo can carry an extra 34kg, totalling 987kg.

Gross vehicle weights range from 2,370kg to 2,400kg, so there won’t be any concerns about drivers needing the correct categories on their licences. Most models will also tow a tonne, with a few going marginally better and rated at 1,050kg.

Both lengths of Partner can take two Euro pallets in the back through the double rear doors (which open to 180 degrees). The Long models feature a sliding door on each side, while the Standard models have a single door on the nearside.

Asphalt trim includes a load-through area from the cargo box to the cab, adding another half a cubic meter of volume. Useful for smaller, long items like pipes or timber, it extends the model's maximum load length to 3,090mm with the Standard and 3,440mm for the Long. The Caddy and Transit Connect get a similar feature but not the Kangoo.

While the Peugeot Partner range starts from a little over £20,000, that gets a parsimoniously equipped van. Upgrading from the entry-level Professional trim to the plusher Asphalt model costs more than £3,000, which is quite an asking price when the main difference is the infotainment system. That said, the vagaries of leasing and residual values mean you won’t pay much more on a monthly basis.

Professional is bare enough to fit the hard plastic vibe of the van well, although it still gets a decent smattering of kit to keep you comfortable. There’s air-conditioning, cruise control, controls on the steering wheel for the audio and rear parking sensors.

Asphalt spec vans gain automatic LED headlights, automatic wipers, a 10in infotainment touchscreen and dynamic surround view (a camera-based system that broadcasts a view from the rear and side of the van to a digital screen where a traditional rearview mirror would be).

The Stellantis quartet are all within a tiny margin of each other, as are the Ford Transit Connect, Mercedes Citan and Nissan Townstar. The Renault Kangoo is an outlier, undercutting the Partner and others, while the Toyota Proace City and VW Caddy Cargo go the other way, being noticeably more expensive.

Peugeot covers the Partner for just three years and has the same 100,000-mile limit, as do the Citroën Berlingo Van and Vauxhall Combo Cargo. Oddly, the Fiat Doblo Cargo is limited to 62,000 miles, despite being the same van. The Kangoo-based vans (Citan, Kangoo and Townstar) all have different warranties, but all match or exceed Peugeot’s cover. Ford’s 60,000-mile limit looks less than generous in comparison. The Proace City (like every Toyota model) beats them with a service-activated warranty that can run for up to 10 years or 100,000 miles.

Fuel economy across the entire compact van sector is pretty consistent, with every vehicle promising returns of more than 50mpg, and the Partner is no different. Official figures range from 51.9mpg for the automatic gearbox model to 54.4mpg with a manual gearbox. The Transit Connect tops the list, with a best figure of 58.8mpg, while the Caddy and Kangoo-based trio all sit in the low 50s.

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