Autoblog

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Starting this coming Saturday (Feb 9), Renault will kick off a new international ad campaign in which The Simpsons shill for the new Kangoo minivan. Three new print ads have been revealed, showing Homer & Co. making the most out of the vehicle's features. The fully-reclining seats are perfect for stealing the Christmas tree off the City Hall lawn; the seating arrangement is comfortable enough to replace the couch as the primary tv-watching location; and the overhead storage bins are ideal for hiding Homer's secret fast-food stash. The Roger Rabbit-esque campaign puts the Simpsons in our world, instead of creating an animated Kangoo for them to drive. Since we're not a Renault market, we won't be seeing these ads in our next round of buff books. No matter. You can check them out in the gallery below.

[Source: Renault]

Mercedes Sprinter a bit too big? Renault Kangoo a mote... quirky? Well, General Motors of Europe might have just the thing: The Vauxhall Astro Man Astravan. The UK-built panel wagon debuted Tuesday at the Commercial Vehicle Show in Birmingham, England.

Set to go on sale in September, the two-seat Astravan has been fortified to carry more handyman detritus than previous iterations, and a range of turbodiesel fours make time with a single 1.4-liter gasoline powerplant to ensure thrifty (if deliberate) progress. Saturn Ion commercial wagon, anyone?

(Press release and specs after the jump)

[Sources: Top Gear, Opel]