Given the uniquely European nature of a van like this, it makes sense the remaining options offered to us are only from French and German makers.
In fact, this Peugeot Partner is one of just three left for you to choose from. Starting from $39,990, before on-roads (for a Pro SWB), the Partner goes into battle against its Gallic nemesis, the Renault Kangoo, and the defending small van champion in the form of VW’s popular fifth-generation Caddy.
Unlike its rivals, though, the Partner range is automatic only and exclusively powered by a three-cylinder, turbo-petrol engine (if you exclude the electric ePartner).
This immediately gives it a leg up, as in its most affordable form, it already undercuts the base manual Caddy (TSI220 SWB - $40,990) and most affordable automatic Kangoo (SWB auto - $41,990) although the Renault holds onto the most affordable price-tag in the segment if you’re happy shifting yourself, at $38,990 for its SWB manual.
The specific version we’re looking at for this review is the Premium LWB, which wears a price-tag of $45,990 and adds an additional 350mm to its length over the SWB.
Standard kit on Premium versions includes items otherwise missing on the Pro, like 16-inch alloy wheels instead of steel wheels, LED headlights instead of halogen, push-start ignition instead of turn-key, dual-zone climate instead of single-zone as well as body-coloured highlights, rails and door handles in place of plain plastic fittings.
Standard items across the range include a 10-inch central touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a digital instrument cluster, cloth seat trim, a 180-degree reversing camera, a digital rear vision mirror to make up for the standard windowless barn doors, a glaze-finish bulkhead to separate the cabin and load area, as well as an array of active safety items we’ll explore later.
The fetching blue scheme our car was painted in comes at an additional $690, and from there you can modify further with an array of factory options.
Key among them are a choice of windows for each sliding door ($486 each) or the barn door ($503), a metal cargo barrier to protect the bulkhead ($1146), an LED cargo light kit ($350), roof racks ($536) or a more comprehensive roof kit ($2610).
Additionally, long-wheelbase versions can be equipped with a cargo bay floor kit ($894), wall protection kit ($960) or the rubber floor mat which our van had ($600).
A complete towing set-up will set you back $1045 for the towbar and $510 for the wiring harness.
From a base of nearly $50K then, you can easily add a few thousand to the price once you start ticking boxes, but it is important to note not every commercial van, even ones a size up, offer this level of factory customisation.
This gives the Partner deeper (and warranty-covered) customisation for various trade purposes straight from the factory.
For what it’s worth, I matched our test car in the configurator and ended up with a final price of $52,429 with drive-away pricing set to Sydney.
Out of curiosity, I also priced up a VW Caddy Cargo LWB petrol auto with as close as I could get to the same equipment as this Partner Premium, and was surprised to find I had to tick a lot more option boxes to get LED headlights, alloy wheels (although the Caddy alloys are larger at 17-inches), premium paint, colour matching body panels, keyless entry with push-start and a rubber floor mat.
The total price for the spec-matching Caddy came in at $57,952 drive-away in Sydney.