Pilote brings in new end lounge model for 2025

French manufacturer Pilote is introducing another rear lounge model for the 2025 season.

Last season saw the launch of the 696U, with a rear lounge and washroom up front behind the cab. This season we now have the Pilote 720U Expression, 20cm longer at 7.25m.

The new van has a similar rear lounge, which in the UK is one of the most popular motorhome layouts. It also has a larger washroom upfront opposite a second externally accessed storage space beneath a large wardrobe.

The rear lounge in the Pilote Evidence 720U

Elsewhere, much of the focus for Pilote this year has come in replacing materials used in interiors with more lightweight alternatives. Washrooms have been redesigned and come with a new door. And because the company was so unimpressed with the white front facade on the new Fiat Ducato, all Pilote vans will come with customised black front corners.

Panel vans have also been streamlined so that they now come as either Evidence (the “take or leave it” special editions that now account for 90% of sales) or Expression models (which you can tailor more easily.) Last season’s X Edition special editions have been discontinued, including the Pilote Vega V600G X Edition.

The fridge on the 540G and 600J models has been replaced with a drawer fridge.

Pilote has unveiled its new plans just as rival Rapido brings out more Mercedes-based vans. Another brand to be bringing out a rear-lounge ‘van is Laika, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary with a new addition to the Kosmo range.

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PeterBaber

Peter Baber is Reviews Editor of both Practical Motorhome and Practical Caravan. He has been reviewing motorhomes for the best part of a decade now. His first caravan reviews date back to the early 1990s when he first worked on Practical Caravan, before he embarked on a 20-year career in business journalism which saw him edit a wide variety of magazines, and launch a few too, including one that won an award. Although he enjoyed that, he always knew he wanted to come back. Peter reports on all the new models that make it to dealer forecourts each season, giving his judgement online and in magazine reviews. He has twice been shortlisted for a Caravan Writers Guild award. When he is not working, apart from going on motorhome trips himself (mostly local to where he lives in West Yorkshire, but also last year right across France) he likes trying to write novels, cooking, throwing the odd pot, and has just taken up tennis.