2020 Peugeot Partner: Review

After a long hiatus the Peugeot Partner is back and looking to claw sales from the top two sellers in the compact LCV niche – a pair that account for over 90 per cent of the market. It's no small task, but then this Peugeot Partner 130 – with its perky 1.2-litre three-cylinder turbo-petrol engine and swift-shifting eight-speed automatic transmission – comes with some impressive credentials to help it gain a toehold…

The 2020 Peugeot Partner 130 re-entered the Australian LCV landscape in 2019 after a six-year hiatus, but the model has already come in for an update.

Priced at $31,490 plus on-road costs, the latest iteration of Peugeot's compact LCV now boasts an 8.0-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay/Android Auto connectivity, along with dual sliding side doors.

The smallest sibling of the Peugeot line-up, which also includes the Peugeot Expert medium van and Peugeot Boxer large van, is facing off against two well-entrenched rivals in the form of Volkswagen's Caddy and Renault's Kangoo.

At the time of writing the Caddy accounts for over 72 per cent of the sub-2.5-tonne GVM light commercial vehicle market, the Kangoo laying claim to nearly 20 per cent.

Our test vehicle is the 2020 Peugeot Partner 130. The front-drive model is powered by a 1.2-litre three-cylinder turbo-petrol engine (96kW/230Nm) with eight-speed automatic transmission. It slots into a three-strong range alongside an 81kW/205Nm variant of the same engine with six-speed manual transmission and a 68kW/230Nm 1.6-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel with five-speed manual. The petrol models have a standard wheelbase, while the diesel has a long wheelbase.

Peugeot says the Partner 130 has a 3.8 cubic metre load volume, a 1000kg payload limit, and an 1817mm long load bay, with up to 3090mm available when utilising the load-through hatch to the cab.

Maximum braked towing capacity is 950kg.

The 2020 Peugeot Partner 130 comes standard with autonomous emergency braking and lane departure warning with dynamic lane keeping, plus front and side airbags for the driver and outboard front passenger, automatic speed sign recognition and adaptive cruise control.

While other Partner variants are two-seater affairs, the Peugeot Partner 130 adopts a three-seat format. All three seats receive head restraints and a three-point seat belt.

While a traditional blind-spot monitoring system is absent, the Peugeot Partner does come with a 'Stereo Surround Vision' unit in place of a rear view mirror.

This utilises two external cameras to give a view to the rear (with predictive guides when reversing) or a view along the nearside, effectively eliminating the nearside blind spot. Front and rear parking sensors are standard.

Despite the impressive (for an LCV) array of safety features, the Peugeot Partner received a four-star ANCAP safety rating when tested. The vehicle fell short for 'vulnerable road user protection', its autonomous emergency braking system rated as 'marginal' due to its inability to detect pedestrians and cyclists.

But the Peugeot Partner 130 isn't lacking when it comes to technology, with auto lights and wipers, the new touchscreen with Apple CarPlay/Android Auto connectivity, an idle-stop system, heated mirrors, a smart instrument cluster with integrated TFT display, cornering lights, and even paddle shifters for the eight-speed auto's manual mode.

Don't be fooled by the Peugeot Partner 130's diminutive 1.2-litre three-cylinder engine: this small-capacity turbo-petrol delivers zesty performance both around town and on the open road.

Peugeot says it's good for a best-in-class 96kW at 5500rpm and 230Nm at 1750rpm, compared to 92kW/220Nm for the equivalent Volkswagen Caddy and 84kW/190Nm for the Renault Kangoo. It even offers identical torque to the larger-capacity four-cylinder turbo-diesel Partner.

On the road the Peugeot Partner 130's engine spins at 1800rpm at 100km/h in eighth gear, while redline is indicated at 5200rpm. It's a flexible powerplant, delivering healthy levels of midrange urge while eagerly revving out to redline in most gears when required.

And the eight-speed auto is a smart performer too. While it's tempting to scoff at the notion of a sports-style flat-bottom steering wheel with paddle shifters in an LCV, this transmission flicks through manual changes with impressive haste and precision.

Otherwise the automatic transmission is controlled via a dial selector on a protruding portion of the centre stack, with the electronic park brake switch located nearby.

Our test load, about 150kg, was sufficient to settle the van's ride but really only put a very modest dent the Peugeot Partner's 1000kg maximum payload limit.

While the Peugeot Partner 130 comes with an ADR Combined Cycle fuel economy of 6.3L/100km, we achieved an average fuel economy of 7.1L/100km over the course of this test. With a 60-litre fuel tank, that's a safe working range of around 800km.

That's not a bad figure per se, but be sure to factor in that the Peugeot Partner 130 requires a minimum of 95RON unleaded fuel when crunching the numbers.

With a compact 2785mm wheelbase this Peugeot Partner 130 is exceedingly easy to drive, with its tight 10.8-metre turning circle and reasonably short steering ratio (3.25 turns lock to lock) making light work of tight situations.

The Peugeot Partner 130 rides on a coil/shock arrangement at all four corners and it's built upon the PSA Group's EMP2 platform, which it shares with many of the group's passenger cars and SUVs.

When unladen the ride is a bit brittle over smaller road imperfections, although it doesn't require too much weight to smooth out the bumps and get the Peugeot Partner in its sweet spot.

It maintains its composure through the bends, where body roll is nicely controlled, while the brakes offer plenty of power along with reasonable initial bite.

Cabin ingress and egress is easy thanks to a large door aperture and a low seat height. The driver's seat is a basic cloth-upholstered unit with six-way manual adjustment, but it's comfy enough given this model's intended usage.

Vision from behind the wheel is good and a general feeling of spaciousness is amplified by the forward-set windscreen.

The cockpit layout just works. All the various controls and buttons are within easy reach and intuitive to use, and we like the clear and informative instrument display and the clever 'Multi-Flex' seating. This sees the outboard passenger seat base fold up for access to a storage bay, while the seat back folds down to reveal a load-through flap for longer items. There's more storage beneath the centre seat, along with a rotating work table.

There's no lockable glove box – just an open compartment – but there's a good amount of sizeable (and hidden) storage beneath the passenger seats.

The 8.0-inch multimedia touchscreen with Apple CarPlay/Android Auto is a welcome step up from the slightly clunky and dated-looking unit in the 2019 Peugeot Partner.

The unit has a USB port, while a 12-volt socket is located at the bottom of the centre stack.

In line with its commercial focus, the cab is a fairly 'plasticky' affair with hard surfaces, the odd sharp edge and varying panel tolerances. It should at least prove easy to clean and hard wearing, while the LCV feel is softened somewhat by the 'sports' steering wheel, with its piano black trim.

More difficult to diffuse, however, are cabin noise levels, with plenty of mainly road noise intruding despite the full bulkhead. It's particularly noticeable when driving on coarse-chip surfaces.

The 2020 Peugeot Partner 130 has a load bay with twin sliding side doors and 60/40 split rear barn doors that open to 90 or 180 degrees.

The load bay floor is 550mm off the deck, while the load bay itself comes fitted with six sturdy tie-down anchor points plus mid-height plastic wall protection and a rear light, but no 12-volt outlet.

The full bulkhead has a small window plus a load-through flap for accommodating longer items.

We measured 1180mm between the wheel arches so the Peugeot Partner will accept a standard Australian pallet. The rear aperture measures 1230mm wide by 1150mm high while the side apertures are 560mm wide at their narrowest point by 1060mm high.

The 2020 Peugeot Partner comes with a five-year, 200,000km factory warranty with complimentary roadside assistance.

Service intervals are pegged at every 12 months or 15,000km, while servicing costs are capped for the first five years, totalling $2795 for an average of $559 per service.

We were prepared for a certain level of Gallic quirkiness in the Peugeot Partner 130, but instead found this compact LCV to be a nicely rounded, well-equipped, practical and capable package.

The Peugeot Expert medium van impressed in our 2019 Best Commercial Van awards and we'll shortly put the Peugeot Boxer large van through its paces too, but it seems clear Peugeot is putting its best foot forward with its new LCV line-up.

The Peugeot Partner's pricing is right on point too, so there's plenty of substance here to woo prospective buyers.

Whether those buyers are prepared to look beyond the entrenched market leaders in this commercial space remains to be seen but, based on this first drive, we'd say Peugeot Citroen Australia has a solid proposition on its hands with the Peugeot Partner 130.

Price: $31,490 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Engine: 1.2-litre three-cylinder turbo-petrol
Output: 96kW/230Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 6.3L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 142g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Four-star (ANCAP 2018)