What is it?
With our ever-growing appetite for SUVs having left a big dent in the demand for traditional people carriers, van-based MPVs are some of the last bastions of practicality.
The recipe (five or seven spacious seats, sliding doors for easy access, ample room in the back for almost anything you’d care to transport) was established almost two decades ago by the Citroen Berlingo, and now Vauxhall is following suit with the Combo Life.
Unlike the last-generation Combo, which only ever made it to the UK in van form, the Combo Life was designed from the ground up as a car first. That’s important, because it also needs to appeal to Zafira tourer customers, now that model has been retired.
It follows the Grandland X SUV as only the second Vauxhall to be based on new owner PSA Group’s EMP2 architecture, and shares its platform with the new Citroen Berlingo and Peugeot’s crossover-inspired Rifter.
The Combo shares many of its underpinnings with the Grandland X, including a MacPherson strut and torsion beam rear suspension setup. It will be offered in 1.2-litre, three-cylinder turbo petrol and 1.5-litre, four-cylinder turbo diesel forms, but only the highest-powered 128bhp diesel can be optioned with an 8-speed automatic gearbox.
This most practical of MPVs will also arrive as a long wheelbase variant, and with space for an extra two passengers in the rear. A hybrid version should follow at some point, too.
The Combo is tested here in short wheelbase, five-seater guise, with power from the entry-level 99bhp diesel sent through a five-speed manual gearbox.
Our car’s top-spec Energy trim includes 16in alloy wheels, body-coloured exterior trim, front and rear parking sensors, and an 8in touchscreen infotainment system with Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
Join the debate
Add your comment
@ianp55
it looks to be ok, given that they're investing over £100million in to the place and are planning to almost double the output by making peugoet and citroen vans there as well as the vauxhall and opel ones
Vauxhall Combo Life
The previous Vauxhall Combo MPV was available in the UK,it was known as the Fiat Doblo and was built for Fiat and GM by Tofas in Turkey. So now instead we've got a rebadged Berlingo/Rifter built in France, not looking that good for Vauxhall or building vans in Luton is it?
This rather quirky-looking
This rather quirky-looking van would be entirely forgiveable were they not replacing such an iconic and well refined/revered model as the Zafira. Vauxhall had refined the Zafira to such a degree, the very latest iteration looked good, was a pleasure to drive and didnt feel like you were making a compromise to own a people mover. This thing is just a van with extra seats and some pointless toys to lure the 'young folk' who (we're lead to believe) presumably only buy a car if it has at least one screen and a collection of pointless driving aids fitted. Its a shame that Vauxhall will only now continue as a badge-engineering exercise for PSA group but I guess one has to accept this; they're keeping people employed and offering a choice to folk who simply dont want a French badge on their drive.Personally, were I rich/daft enough to go out and buy a vehicle brand new I'd go for the new Berlingo which frankly knocks this ugly duckling back into the river. The wise buy of course would be a top-spec 12 month old Zafira - although it remains to be seen if the very latest ones now go up in price due to forced demand!