Design 2013 Nissan NV200

Design 2013 Nissan NV200

It’s difficult to imagine a cargo-van war, so let’s think of this as a skirmish in the city streets, with FedEx guys, plumbers, florists, and the like wielding the combatants in this contest: Nissan’s NV200 compact cargo van versus Ford’s Transit Connect.

There’s nothing pretty, fancy, or delicate about these commercial vehicles on which bumpers really are meant to fend off damage. There’s a nose for the drivetrain, a cabin for two, and then, abruptly, plenty of square footage of painted metal and all sorts of braces and reinforcements with lots of holes.

It all looks a bit higgledy-piggledy, but it’s a well-planned layout for affixing shelves, bins, or brackets whatever gets the job done. In the NV200, that would mean working within 122.7 cubic feet of cargo area in a vehicle that measures 186.3 inches nose to tail and rolls on a 115.2-inch wheelbase. The maximum cargo width is 54.8 inches; max cargo height is 53.0 inches. The payload capacity is 1500 pounds. This is in the same ballpark as the current Transit Connect.

Currently, Nissan hasn’t announced any plans to field a passenger version of the NV200, but with the taxi nearing production, Nissan could have a civilian-hauler version ready quickly if Ford’s 5-to-7-passenger 2014 Transit Connect wagon is a success. As it is, the Nissan has seating for two in carlike surroundings, with a dashboard that could be from an automobile. Ditto on the standard and optional equipment, including airbags, sound systems, and voice-command navigation. Seat materials are commercial use ready (how about vinyl wear patches?) and so, too, is the handy forward-folding passenger seatback with indentations for a computer and, by contrast, a pencil.