Citroen van range gets even smarter

Even more Citroen commercial vehicle customers will benefit from satellite navigation and stolen vehicle tracking from this month, with Trafficmaster Smartnav and Trackstar both fitted as standard to the new Citroen Dispatch.

Following the successful launch the Citroen Relay, which was the first van in the UK to feature Trafficmaster’s advanced navigation and stolen vehicle tracking as standard, the manufacturer has opted to extend this to its new Dispatch model.

The Citroen Dispatch van is targeted at the trade professional who may travel long distances, visiting a number of different addresses in one day. The addition of Smartnav intelligent satellite navigation will not only strengthen the residual value of the vehicle, but will help make driving better for businesses by reducing mileage, cutting fuel consumption, improving response and delivery times and enhancing driver and vehicle safety.

From February 2007, all new Dispatch vans will be delivered with a dedicated Trafficmaster service package, specifically designed for Citroen’s commercial market. This comprises a three-year subscription to the navigation service; three-year subscription to the UK’s leading GPS stolen vehicle tracking service, Trackstar; three month’s free use of Trafficmaster’s live traffic data to help calculate routes around delays and one month’s access to SafeSpeed speed camera alerts.

Robert Handyside, Citroen’s commercial vehicle operations manager, said: “Satellite navigation is now one of the most requested options within the fleet market and is estimated to deliver annual cost savings of up £2,000 per vehicle. The unique Trafficmaster system developed for Citroen can also be remotely upgraded to add additional services and options in the future, such as the facility to record private and business mileage.”

Tony Eales, Chief Executive of Trafficmaster, commented: “The success of Citroen Relay with Smartnav and Trackstar has also shown how highly, commercial vehicle owners and drivers rate intelligent services that help make driving better.”