CITROEN is a company that certainly means business. Its growing range of commercial vehicles has been joined by a remarkably upmarket load lugger.

The new C-Crosser Commercial is aimed squarely at business people who rate image as important as the ability to shift goods.

From the outside, the vehicle is virtually indistinguishable from the C-Crosser 4x4.

Based on the underpinnings of the Mitsubishi Outlander, it has all the presence of a chunky stylish off-roader. Its true nature only becomes clear when you open the tailgate, or one of the rear doors.

Citroen has whipped out the rear seats and replaced them with a flat loadspace that is carpeted wall-to-wall — including the interior of the rear doors.

The level of protection in the load area, which is fitted with six tie-down eyes, makes moving delicate objects extremely easy.

For load security, the C-Crosser Commercial has completely opaque rear side window and tailgate window glazing so that prying eyes cannot see what is in the load area. Thanks to the two rear side doors and a clever two-piece rear tailgate, the C-Crosser Commercial is easy to load and with a completely flat, 1,720mm long load floor it can take surprisingly long objects.

It’s a pretty capable all-rounder with a payload capacity of 743kg, maximum towing weight of 2,410kg, a load compartment volume of 2.3m3 and a load deck height of just 600mm.

For most load carrying, only the top-hinged tailgate needs to be opened, but for heavier/larger loads or to provide a convenient platform at the rear of the vehicle, the top half of the rear bumper section, which forms the lower part of the rear aperture, can be dropped to provide an even larger rear door opening.

Behind the driver and front seat passenger is a full height bulkhead with a window, that seals off the front cab from the rear. What that means is that the cabin is actually quieter than the original C-Crosser and, in addition, it has sacrificed none of the goodies that come with the car. So you get a leather-trimmed steering wheel and gearknob, leather and woven cloth seat trim, a decent CD set-up, air conditioning, cruise control and trip computer. A simple shift-on-the-fly selector enables front wheel drive, four-wheel drive or transmission lock-up mode to be selected at the twist of a knob. Under the bonnet is Citroën’s clean and fuel efficient 2.2-litre, 156 horsepower HDi engine, making the C-Crosser Commercial only the second light commercial vehicle range in Europe (the Citroën Dispatch was the first) to be fitted with an exhaust filter system, that Citroen says cuts particulate emissions to virtually immeasurable levels.

Externally, the VTR+ specification vehicle is fitted with 16-inch alloy wheels, front foglights and twin silver finish roof bars, so it looks the business too.

Auto facts Citroen C-Crosser Commercial

  • Price: £18,425 + VAT
  • Insurance group: 8E
  • Fuel consumption
  • (Combined): 39.2mpg
  • Top speed: 124mph
  • Length: 464.6cm/183in
  • Width: 180.6cm/71.1in
  • Luggage capacity: 1.69 cu m
  • Fuel tank capacity: 13.2 gallons/60 litres
  • CO2 emissions: 191g/km
  • Warranty: 3 yrs/100,000 miles