Citroen Nemo Van Review

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Our Review of the Citroen Nemo

Citroen Nemo 'offers surprising storage and clever features'

The Citroen Nemo is part of an increasingly popular range of compact commercial vehicles designed with inner-city usage in mind.

Built at the same plant as the similarly-sized Fiat Fiorino and Peugeot Bipper, the Nemo is described by the French marque as a "massive workhorse" with an "ant-like footprint".

The Nemo and its Fiat and Peugeot-branded alternatives occupy a space in the market between the larger Citroen Berlingo, Fiat Doblo Cargo and Peugeot Partner, and the even more compact Grande Punto, 207 and C2 Enterprise.

Its compact dimensions mean it is capable of squeezing into small city centre parking spaces without too much hassle, traversing tight multi-storey car parks and generally manoeuvring around urban areas with ease.

Despite Citroen's efforts to make the Nemo as diminutive as possible, prospective van leasing customers will find the vehicle sacrifices little in terms of storage space. It offers a load length of 1.52 m and a maximum capacity of 2.5 m3, and it can transport a surprisingly large payload of 660 kg. Furthermore, its low sill means all sorts of heavy cargo can be loaded into the van.

By folding the Extenso passenger seat fully flat, users can expand the load length to 2.49 m, boosting the load volume to an impressive 2.8 m3.

The Nemo comes with a choice between X and LX trim. The former entry-level option boasts extras such as ABS brakes, pre-tensioner seatbelts and a driver's airbag, while the LX version adds a nearside sliding door, remote central locking, the folding passenger seat and electric front windows.

But what do the experts think of this compact light commercial vehicle?

Matthew Eisenegger, heavy truck expert at Van Trader, was particularly impressed with the relatively high seating position, which allows for "very good forward vision". Even on a long motorway journey, he declared that the seats offer "no discomfort for the driver".

He pointed out that the 1.4 litre HDi engine churns out a "very respectable" 70 hp, meaning it is more than powerful enough to use as an inner-city runaround. The reviewer described the Citroen Nemo as the "perfect choice" for florists, chemists making door-to-door prescription runs and small tradesmen.

The quite large and relatively flat side panels also mean that the van can be fitted out with company branding fairly easily, Mr Eisenegger said.

"From my week or so living with the Nemo I have decided it really is a good little van. It drives well, looks good and has been thoughtfully designed and planned to suit the driver and user," he added.

VansandTrucks.co.uk stressed that neither of the Nemo's engines offer particularly earth-shattering speed, but noted that the urban areas in which the vehicle is designed to operate mean the chances of reaching the speed limit are pretty slim, rendering this slight criticism somewhat irrelevant.

The motoring website was satisfied by the dashboard-mounted gearlever, declaring it to be an improvement on previous models in the Citroen range.

It is also a cost-effective option, with the diesel engine returning almost 63 mpg and producing only 119 g/km of carbon emissions.

"There's now a small Citroen van to suit the full range of requirements and the Nemo could well be the pick of the bunch," the website concluded.

Meanwhile, Honest John awarded the Citroen Nemo a steady three stars out of five, describing the van as surprisingly spacious and praising clever features such as the folding seat. The cheap running costs and the option to add twin sliding doors were also praised.

However, the reviewer highlighted the fact that this van is intended for urban usage by stating that the ride can be "somewhat choppy" and it can be noisy when taken on motorway journeys.