New Citroen Berlingo Multispace mixes ‘SUV’ and ‘Car’ in to the MPV recipe

The new 2018 Citroen Berlingo Multispace – Citroen’s van-based MPV – arrives with an SUV-like front end, new car-based platform and new engines. Debuts at the Geneva Motor Show.

The MPV may no longer be flavour of the year with car buyers, but Citroen’s van-based Berlingo is still their second best selling model. And now there’s a new Citroen Berlingo Multispace.

Revealed ahead of a debut at the Geneva Motor Show, the new Berlingo gets a new face lifted almost intact from the C3 Aircross, Airbumps on the flanks and a new platform which is Citroen’s EMP2 at the front and an updated version of the current Berlingo platform at the back.

Inside moves in to Citroen’s model mainstream too, with a big jump in quality, an 8″ touchscreen (at least on some models), wireless charging, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Safety stuff arrives in spades too, with new driver assistant technologies on offer including Blind Spot Monitoring, Autonomous Braking and Adaptive Cruise, and there’s even Citroen’s Grip Control for better traction in slippery conditions.

This time round for the Berlingo there’s a choice of sizes, with the ‘M’ 4.4m long and the ‘XL’ 4.75m long, both available with seven seats but the XL offering much more usable space, including an enormous number of storage holes in the cabin.

Engine options are the 1.2 litre PureTech petrol with 108bhp and the 1.5 diesel in 74bhp, 99bhp or 128bhp guises. A more powerful petrol and automatic gearbox options are to follow.

The new Citroen Berlingo arrives in Geneva next month, but won’t arrive in the UK until much later in 2018.