EUROPEAN makes have almost doubled their market share in the light goods vehicle (LGV) market, which has traditionally been dominated by Japanese brands.

Unlike the very heavy goods vehicle part of the market, demand in the LGV sector is fairly steady but sales of European light vans like the Citroen Berlingo, Opel Combo and Fiat Doblo are soaring.

'This type of van accounted for less than 30 per cent of last year's LGV total of about 8,400 units. But because of the unavailability of Japanese models after the Euro 4 emission standard was introduced, the proportion so far this year is now 55 per cent,' says Michael Wong, director and general manager of Triangle Auto, the distributor for Isuzu and Opel commercial vehicles.

On Oct 1, 2006, the government implemented the new Euro 4 emission standard for diesel vehicles. Because Japanese models like the popular Toyota Liteace did not have compatible engines, buyers turned to European alternatives.

The Citroen Berlingo has become so popular that distributor Cycle & Carriage France expects its commercial vehicle sales to account for 70 per cent of the total Citroen volume this year.

'With the implementation of Euro 4, there is a limited number of commercial vehicles available for consumers due to the non-availability of Japanese makes,' says Alvyn Ang, general manager of C&C France, which took over the Citroen brand last October - just as the new official standard was brought in.

'The resulting sharp fall in the COE premium to $1 benefited the European makes, and we achieved good sales. Although the Japanese makes have Euro 4 vehicles this year, the higher cost of Euro 4 engines as compared with the previous Euro 2 engines does not give them the big price advantage they used to enjoy.'

Mr Ang predicts that he will be able to register a total of 1,000 units for both passenger cars and commercial vehicles in 2007, thanks to aggressive marketing campaigns and retail promotions, as well as a new showroom and after-sales building on Leng Kee Road.

'So in terms of market share, we have improved much over the previous distributor,' he says.

Mr Wong says his Opel van sales have also risen but this is partly due to a new product: the Combo 1.3 five-speed MTA or Manual Transmission Automated. This clutchless manual gearbox means that the Opel Combo is the only European light van on the market with an automatic transmission. Previously, Triangle only had the 1.7 TDI with a five-speed manual gearbox.

'We introduced the automated gearbox in end-2006 and the response has been good. Once our customers get used to driving it, they are very happy with it,' he says.

Today, the automatic version makes up 60 per cent of the 80-90 units of Combo sold each month.

Fiat is also moving aggressively into this segment with the Doblo. Recently, it clinched a deal with Fuji Xerox Singapore to sell 56 Doblo 1.9 Multijets at a cost of $2.2 million.

The Doblos replace the company's previous fleet of Toyota Liteace. Fuji Xerox managing director Koh Ching Hong said he chose the Italian model for its environment-friendly Euro 4 diesel engine.