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The words Van' and glamorous' used to be mutually exclusive, but that was before Ford decided to shake things up in the LCV sector with models such as the Fiesta SportVan.
New van registrations m down by 50% compared with the same time last year, but that hasn't deterred Ford one iota, especially if you look at its current commercial vehicle line-up.
There's its 'über-frugal' Transit ECOnetic, facelifted Ranger pickup, revised Transit Connect, and now this, the Fiesta Van. Tested here in range-topping SportVan trim, the new Resta Van aims to build on the successes of its predecessor in terms of practicality, build-quality, refinement and appeal.
Right from the get-go things look promising for the Blue Oval's baby, with its thoroughly modern and attractive exterior that brings a much-needed shot of pizzazz to the car-derived van segment.
The first thing you notice about this van are the extra body bits such as the rear diffuser, roof -mounted spoiler, low-slung bumper and 16-inch alloys, which all contribute to the overall desirability of the Fiesta, but their practicality in the rough-and-tough commercial world is still open to debate.
Sitting below the SportVan in the line-up is the Trend version, which will no doubt grab a significant portion of overall sales thanks to its cheaper list price and near-identical levels of practicality and comfort. However, Ford predicts that the real volume-seller will be its base version, forecast to grab 65% of overall sales, and at least maintain the vehicle's 25% share of the car-derived van market.
However, don't think that the new Fiesta has got it all sewn up just yet, because rivals such as the Vauxhall Corsavan, Peugeot 207 van and Fiat Punto van are snapping at the Fiesta's heels and all are equally capable.
Then, of course, there's the price. The Fiesta van seems expensive, especially when viewed in the context of the current economic downturn.
In the range, it's only the 1.25 petrol and 1.4TDCi base variants that cost less than £10,000, while you'll get little change from £12,500 for the range-topping SportVan model. Our test example costs a whopping £14,468 (incl. VAT), which includes extras such as metallic paint (£250), automatic climate control (£550) and a perimeter alarm (£150), but it did still...