Work on the second generation of Fiat Ducato began as early as 1987. Giorgetto Giugiaro from Ital Design was responsible for the body design. The new Ducato was to be a breakthrough in the field of commercial vehicle aerodynamics, thanks to the optimal (at that time) reduction of air resistance. The streamlined front of the second generation Ducato contributed to the result of Cx = 0.35, which was the best result among European vans at that time. The old style was completely abandoned, following the passage of time. The internal, working naming of the new vehicle was the term Type 230.
The second generation Ducato was presented for the first time in March 1994 at the Geneva Fair. A year later, the Italian van won first place in the prestigious Van Of The Year competition. Some design solutions that have worked in the previous generation have been maintained. They decided to use front-wheel drive and to place engine transversely. The front suspension is based on McPhersons, while the rear has a rigid axle on parabolic springs. The focus was, however, on creating many variations of the body with different lengths, heights and few kinds of wheelbases. Instead of developing Fiat Tolento, it was simply decided to create a smaller, more compact version of the Ducato II with a length of 4521-5681 mm and a wheelbase of 2850-3700 mm. The Fiat Ducato II was intended to be more modern, aerodynamic and adapted to the needs of the widest range of customers. The most common were versions with 1.9D diesel engines. At the beginning, only one version of the 109 HP gasoline engine was available. In September 2000, production of Fiat Ducato II started in Sete Lagoas, Brazil.
In 2002, Fiat Ducato was modernized. In addition to body facelift, the interior of the vehicle and the range of engines available have also been changed. It was also the first Ducato version available with a 4x4 drive in the factory version. In addition, the range of petrol engines has been developed. They were still two-liter units, but versions powered by CNG (97 HP) and LPG (109 HP) were introduced. The internal designation of the renewed van was Type 244. The changes were so big that many people considered the refreshed version to be a completely new generation of Fiat’s van. The most important elements of the vehicle, such as the running gear, came from the Type 230. But these changes are only considered as facelift. All diesel units that powered the Ducato II were equipped with Common Rail injection. This have impact in the level of combustion reduction and increasing power of the engine. The strongest unit generated 146 HP. On December 15, 2005, the company announced that the 3 millionth Fiat Ducato was produced. This result contributed to the increase in production to 9 vehicles per day. It’s worth mentioning that the post facelifting version of Ducato II had such popularity in Brazil that it was produced until 2018. This was possible because there were no emissions restrictions in South America.
