The best MPVs and people carriers – driven and tested

Best for: Interior space

More than two decades and almost two million sales ago, Citroën pioneered the van-based MPV with the Berlingo, and this latest (third-generation) model returns to the original's charm and oddball likeability.

A vast interior, which is used intelligently with an array of storage spaces and solutions, sliding rear doors that improve access in tight confines and robust furnishings make this a fine choice.

Keith WR Jones, Contributor

What’s more, its appeal has recently been enhanced by Citroën’s reversal of its decision to drop petrol and diesel versions. 

Both the 1.2-litre petrol and 1.5-diesel have been reinstated, albeit only in the five-seat bodystyle. If you need the seven seats provided by the longer XL version, you’re restricted to the 134bhp electric powertrain with its 50kWh battery, which provides a realistic range of around 110 miles.

Whatever the motive force, there are stout reasons to buy a Berlingo instead of a more conventional MPV. The interior is truly cavernous, with 186 litres of storage space dotted about it. The sliding doors are also a great feature.

Best of all, the Berlingo rides with a languid calmness and steers intuitively, making it a relaxing companion regardless of the quality or type of road. 

Best for: Interior versatility 

Here's another van-based MPV, but this is a full-sized one that’s perfect for the largest of families.

For vans, it’s usually what’s inside that counts, but the T7’s car-derived platform and electrified powertrain make it surprisingly composed and comfortable on the move.

Illya Verpraet, Road Tester

The Transporter-based Multivan is arguably the most stylish and car-like version to appear in ‘T’ history, which can trace its roots back nearly 80 years.

Underpinned by the brand’s MQB car platform rather than a commercial vehicle platform, the T7 drives with all the assurance, comfort and refinement of a very large Golf. The steering is accurate, body control is good and the ride is pliant. 

This is backed up by a punchy engine line-up that runs to a 1.5-litre petrol and 2.0-litre diesel, plus the 2.0-litre TSI petrol from the Golf GTI. There’s also a plug-in hybrid, complete with a claimed EV range of 31 miles, and sliding doors. 

Inside, the Multivan is simply vast and offers the sort of flexibility that other MPVs can only dream of. There are seven individual seats (you can have fewer if you wish) and the ones in the back slide, swivel and fold.

Remove the chairs (at 15kg apiece, they ain’t light) and you can run a removal service at the weekend.

The Multivan is a spacious, comfortable and brilliantly sorted people carrier. But with prices starting at just over £40,000 and rising to within an uncomfortable biscuit of £70,000, so it should be.

Best for: Character

The Volkswagen ID Buzz was one of the industry’s most hotly anticipated vehicles before it arrived. 

The ID Buzz is a surprisingly wieldy, manoeuvrable and composed drive when nipping around urban environments, and it maintains respectable body control out of town.

Matt Saunders, Road test editor

It sits on the Volkswagen Group’s MEB platform, which means this big bus shares the same underpinnings as the ID 3, ID 4 and ID 5. Similarly to the Multivan, the ID Buzz is more of a car than an actual van. 

In fact, the ID Buzz has been available since launch as a five-seat passenger car and as a 2+1 Cargo commercial vehicle variant.

A seven-seat, long-wheelbase version with a larger, 110kWh battery has been available since mid-2024 too, improving its versatility further.

The regular-wheelbase models have a 77kWh battery for an official range of 255 miles – not the highest figure in the world, but a maximum charging speed of 170kW makes top-ups quick. 

Entry-level models are driven by a single 201bhp electric motor, but a sporty GTX variant adds a second motor for four-wheel drive and a combined 335bhp. 

Whether you’re a devotee of Volkswagen’s traditional camper van or after a conventional people carrier, the ID Buzz offers a likeable package of versatility-first electric family motoring. 

Best for: Handling

The latest Tourneo Custom picks up where its underrated predecessor left off. That car delivered Berlingo-style space and utility with genuine dynamic polish, and the latest version is no different.

The Tourneo is now based on the Volkswagen Group’s much-used MQB car platform, whereas previously it was derived from the ubiquitous Transit van, and it certainly feels more car-like to drive than I had been expecting.

Kris Culmer, Chief sub-editor

Based on Volkswagen's MQB platform, the Tourneo Connect has been tuned by Ford’s engineers to give it a poised and plush feel that allows it to scythe through corners as effortlessly as it soaks up bumps.

As before, there’s a choice of two bodystyles: a standard five-seater and a longer (Grand Tourneo) seven-seat option. Both deliver acres of interior space and loads of handy storage, while the sliding rear side doors boost an already versatile package.

Go for the seven-seat version and, with both rear benches removed, there’s a cavernous 3100 litres of carrying capacity.

And if you would rather have a VW badge on the nose, there’s the Caddy.

Best for: Daily driving

The Touran feels like a car formed from the very core of the MPV textbook, having been created to deliver great occupant space inside a fairly compact footprint. 

The Touran is a good, if predictable, effort from Volkswagen. It scores highly for its practicality, overall quality, decent chassis and excellent standard-fit safety kit.

Matt Prior, Editor-at-large

It can’t quite match the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer for premium-brand allure or driver appeal and it lacks a bit of charm in its design. But like all great Volkswagens, it's functional in all respects, offering a versatile and pretty roomy seven-seat cabin without the risk of it dwarfing your three-bed semi.

Volkswagen offers the Touran only with its 1.5-litre TSI Evo petrol engine, which develops 148bhp. It hauls the car along easily enough and with creditable refinement and decent economy.

The handling meanwhile is neat, contained and comfortable.

The Touran scores at least eight out of 10 in every department, making it a strong all-rounder.

Best for: Technology 

It’s somewhat surprising that in such a declining sector, premium player BMW has stuck by the MPV.

It’s a more dynamic, better-equipped and versatile choice than its only real remaining rival, the Mercedes-Benz B-Class.

Murray Scullion, Digital editor

In fact, the latest 2 Series Active Tourer isn’t a facelift of the previous model but an all-new vehicle built on the current 1 Series platform. And the result is a classy and composed hatchback that offers a decent dose of extra practicality.

The old seven-seat Gran Tourer has been dropped, so it’s only this five-seat model that remains. Sitting within a footprint not much larger than a 1 Series, it serves up plenty of space for most growing families, with generous room in the rear, where a sliding bench allows you to choose between extra space for luggage or legs. 

As you would expect, the fit and finish is excellent, plus it gets BMW's latest slick infotainment and advanced driver aids.

It feels like a BMW on the move too, with just enough agility and engagement to satisfy your inner keen driver. 

There’s a pair of smooth and responsive 48V mild-hybrid petrols and a diesel, plus the option of four-wheel-drive plug-in hybrids.

The 230e offers a hot-hatch-humbling 322bhp and both PHEVs claim an impressive 56 miles of EV range for an 8% company car tax banding.

Best for: Load-lugging

If maximising the amount of space and passenger-carrying capacity is your top priority, you need to be looking at the passenger versions of medium-sized vans.

UK businesses love the Ford Transit Custom, and judging by the vast number of new examples we spotted in the wild during the course of our road test, that’s unlikely to change any time soon.

Illya Verpraet, Road Tester

The best van to drive is the Transit Custom, and the Tourneo Custom is the same but made more habitable for carrying passengers.

One of our photographers ran a Tourneo Custom PHEV for six months and found that the versatility fitted his lifestyle perfectly, and while it was never going to rival a Focus for driver appeal, it never felt like a chore to drive either.

We would recommend a conventional diesel, though, because the pure-electric range of the PHEV is a paltry 30 miles.

Best for: Style

Mercedes has got the all-electric seven-seater market pretty well served between the EQB and the larger and more expensive EQV.

The MPV is generous in size and tall, so a big battery (90kWh in this case) slips underneath it a treat, with little to no sacrifice in floor height or head room.

Richard Lane, Deputy road test editor

Effectively an electric V-Class, this is a big, tall, van-like vehicle with sliding side doors and captain's chairs in the second row that can spin to face either forwards or backwards.

It's powered by a 204bhp electric motor and has a usable range of just over 200 miles. And with air suspension and plenty of mass rolling along, it's quiet and comfortable, and handles well for something so large and heavy.

You would be lucky to pick up an airport transfer in an EQV – and, allowing for the tax advantages, your chauffeur would be pretty happy to run one, assuming they have easy access to a charger.