On the occasion of the Conference: "Transport Research Arena Europe 2006", promoted by the European Commission in Göteborg (Sweden) last week, Iveco presented a prototype light-weight vehicle, based on the Daily structure, in the framework of the EU Project FIDEUS (“Freight Innovative Delivery of Goods in European Urban Space”). The vehicle is characterised by innovative solutions for the urban transport of goods with the aim of reducing the short/medium-term environmental and traffic impact without any unfavourable effects on the transport efficiency and security.

The initiative aims at contributing at the European Research Space (ERS), i.e. the “common market” of research and innovation the European Commission has been working on. ERS rationale has many similarities with the common market of goods and services, aiming at better use of the European scientific resources. In the framework of road transport, the ERS aims at creating a more competitive, sustainable, secure and efficient system.

The FIDEUS Iveco Daily on display in Göteborg reflects the three slogans of the project, i.e. “Ergo Load”, “Green Van” and “Urban Delivery”, which are synonyms for: improved manoeuvring, safety and efficiency, all thanks to the innovative drive assistance system; great attention for the environment, witness the emissions lower than those indicated in the future EEV standard (Environmentally Enhanced Vehicle, well below the Euro-5 emission thresholds), reduced consumption and sound pollution; and ptimised loading and unloading, thanks to state-of-the-art computerised solutions.

The FIDEUS project ( which stands for: “Freight Innovative Delivery of Goods in European Urban Space”) is co-financed by the European Commission within the sixth Framework Programme. FIDEUS is being co-ordinated by the Fiat Research Centre.

It has been developed in co-operation with Iveco, Fraunhofer Institute for Production Systems and Design Technology in Berlin, DHL, TNT, the Hanover region, Mizar Automazione, Renault Trucks, Impacts, University of Westminster, Municipality of Lyon, ECA. The project started in 2005 and will end in 2008. During some development stages of the FIDEUS Daily prototype, Iveco was technically supported by the University of Genoa.