Volkswagen's Transporter collects top accolade at this year’s Trade Van Driver Awards.

• Transporter collects top accolade at this year’s Trade Van Driver Awards
• The Transporter claimed ‘Van of the Year’ and ‘Best Medium Van’
• Impeccable handling, well thought-out load area and excellent residual values key to securing awards

Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles’ sixth generation Transporter has extended its award-winning year to claim both ‘Best Medium Van’ and overall ‘Van of the Year’ at this year’s Trade Van Driver Awards 2016. The Transporter’s impeccable handling, efficient engines and market-leading residual values helped to give it the edge over its rivals in the judges’ minds.

The latest Transporter offers an extensive range of wheelbases, roof heights, load volumes and payload options to cater for all business needs within the medium van sector.  Available as a passenger carrier, panel van or more recently chassis cab and dropside variants, the Transporter comes equipped with range of economical 2.0-litre engines, manual and DSG transmissions and two- and four-wheel drive.

The Transporter comes with a comprehensive list of safety equipment, which includes Driver Alert and Automatic Post Collision Braking Systems coming as standard.  The sixth-generation Transporter also boasts an impressive list of additional safety feature options including Adaptive Cruise Control, City Emergency Braking and High Beam Assist.

Trade Van Driver Magazine editor, Matthew Eisenegger commented: “Trade Van Driver Magazine prides itself on offering a true reflection of the thoughts and feelings of its readership. The new styling of the Transporter T6, as well as its ability to work hard and efficiently, make it a worthy class winner. The Transporter’s impeccable handling, functional design, well-thought-out load areas and the best residual values of any van, make the new Volkswagen Transporter T6 the worthy winner of the 2016 Trade Van Driver Awards ‘Van of the Year’.”

Commenting on the awards success, Carl zu Dohna, Director of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, said:  “The Transporter continues to impress judging panels across the industry, which is testament to the quality of this new model. This award is judged by a mix of industry experts and light commercial users which makes the result particularly pleasing!” 

These latest awards come off the back of a number of impressive results for the Transporter in 2016, which have included winning the prestigious ‘International Van of the Year’ award as well as claiming VansA2Z’s ‘Van of the Year 2016’ and Van Fleet World ‘Best New Van’ awards.

Volkswagen Transporter extends winning streak at this year’s Van Fleet World Honours

• Volkswagen Transporter extends winning streak at this year’s Van Fleet World Honours
• Latest generation named ‘Best New Van’ and ‘Best Medium Van’
• Transporter’s wide range, quality ride and smooth engines key to success

Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles’ latest generation Transporter has continued its winning streak, claiming the ‘Best Medium Van’ and ‘Best New Van’ awards at this year’s Van Fleet World Honours. 

The Transporter’s superb drivability, extensive range and smooth, economical engines gave it the edge over its rivals in the hotly contested medium van sector of the LCV market.

The sixth-generation Transporter offers two wheelbase options, three roof heights and a wide choice of load volumes and payloads. The Transporter is also available with a range of 2.0-litre engines, manual and DSG automated transmissions and two- and four-wheel drive.

Dan Gilkes, Van Fleet World editor commented: “All of the players in this market have produced incredibly strong mid-weight contenders. This is perhaps the hardest class to decide, until you get behind the wheel and drive. The T6 Transporter had this award sewn up from the moment we first turned the key in the ignition. Of all the vans that we tried last year, Volkswagen’s T6 Transporter was the one that delivered a winning drive.”

Available as a panel van, kombi, shuttle or Caravelle as well as with chassis cab and dropside variants, the Transporter comes with a comprehensive list of safety equipment which includes standard Driver Alert and Automatic Post Collision Braking Systems.  The sixth generation Transporter also boasts an impressive list of additional safety feature options including Adaptive Cruise Control, City Emergency Braking System and High Beam Assist.

Chris Black, Head of Fleet for Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, collected the awards on behalf of the brand at the ceremony in London, and commented: “This is another excellent result for the Transporter and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles. The Transporter continues to impress judging panels across the industry with its winning blend of flexibility, reliability and drivability, and the judges’ views are also shared by our customers. This latest iteration of the iconic Transporter is proving to be the best yet.”

These latest awards join a growing number in Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles’ trophy cabinet. Recent wins include the prestigious ‘International Van of the Year 2016’ award, and VansA2Z’s ‘Van of the Year 2016’ accolade.

For the 2nd year running, the Vauxhall Vivaro joins its Renault Stable-mate to take Best Medium van award.

Vauxhall’s Brit-built Vivaro has been named Medium Van of the Year, for the second year running, at the prestigious 2016 What Van? Awards, while the previous generation Vivaro picked up the Used Van of the Year title.

“The Vivaro has again proven itself to be the most thought-out and user-friendly medium van on the market, and that combines with its stylish appeal and best-in-class Bi-Turbo engines to create an appealing proposition,” said What Van? Editor Paul Barker. “The fact that it’s British-built and supporting the UK economy is the icing on the cake of a well-thought-out light commercial vehicle proposition.”

“We’re thrilled to see the Vivaro recognised yet again,” said Richard Collier, Vauxhall’s National Commercial Vehicle & B2B Sales Manager. “It continues to prove itself over and over to commercial vehicle operators, offering style, practicality, comfort and efficiency.”

The win is the third in recent months, with the Vivaro also taking Fleet Van of the Year at this year’s Motor Transport Awards and Best Medium Panel Van at the Commercial Fleet Awards. The Vivaro is a popular choice for companies including BT Fleet, British Gas and Homeserve.

Vauxhall’s popular Corsavan was also highly commended in the Small Van of the Year award.

What Van? offers light commercial vehicle buying and owning advice, and the awards are decided by its expert editorial panel comprising decades of experience in the industry.

For the second year running, the Renault Trafic takes the "Best Medium Van" award from What Van?

• Renault Trafic wins Best Medium Van title for second consecutive year
• Praised by What Van? judges for its innovation and design
• Available in Panel Van, Crew Van & Passenger variants from £18,245 (exc. VAT)

The Renault Trafic has been awarded the title of ‘Best Medium Van’ for the second consecutive year at the What Van? Awards 2016, held today at a ceremony in Central London.  

The latest third generation of Trafic was launched in the second half of 2014, with a versatile load carrying ability, powerful yet economical engines, a car-like interior with ‘mobile office’ environment and innovative storage solutions.

Paul Barker, Editor, What Van? said of the Trafic win: “The Renault Trafic is proof that innovation and stylish design are alive and well in the light commercial vehicle market, while its twin-turbo engines are among the best on offer in the light commercial vehicle sector. The Trafic is up against some very impressive products in this most competitive of sectors, so the fact that we believe it comes out on top for overall ownership experience speaks volumes about the quality of the Trafic.”

Steve Wilson, LCV Product Manager, Renault UK, commented: “We’re delighted that What Van? has yet again recognised Trafic with the title of Best Medium Van. Trafic’s diverse and innovative range caters for all kinds of trade applications, thanks to its three different bodystyles, versatile cabin and cargo space with ownership peace of mind coming from our low running costs and four year warranty.”

The Renault Trafic is available with four efficient turbodiesel engines, in a choice of three bodystyles – Panel Van, Crew Van, to carry up to six people and equipment; and Passenger, which seats up to nine people in comfort. Trafic boasts fuel economy of up to 50.4mpg (NEDC Combined) and CO₂ emissions as low as 149g/km, and is priced from £18,245 excluding VAT.

The Trafic provides the best load capacities on the medium panel van market with clever solutions to make the loading area more practical. Innovative features such as keyless entry, touch-screen infotainment, mobile office storage and functionality, as well as sophisticated stability control, are available.

The What Van? Awards are decided by the expert editorial panel of What Van? Magazine, calling on their combined decades of experience in the light commercial vehicle industry. The What Van? Awards seek to reward the best products, companies and services in the industry for their ability to make life easier, cleaner, safer and more efficient for light commercial vehicle operators in the UK.

Renault LCV sales in the UK were up 33.6 per cent year-to-date, as at the end of November 2015, to 21,312 vehicles – outpacing the UK van market, which was up by 15.7 per cent, by over double.

Vauxhall's UK made Vivaro Van takes double honours at What Van ? Awards ceremony.

• Luton-made Vauxhall Vivaro wins What Van? 2015 Best Medium Van
• Innovation Award for Vivaro’s innovative blind spot mirror
• New BiTurbo engines also highly commended

Vauxhall’s Luton-built Vivaro van won two What Van? awards at a ceremony in London.

The two honours included best medium van and the innovation award for its blind-spot mirror, a very simple solution to a big problem. 

“The new UK-built Vauxhall Vivaro is a huge step forward from its predecessor, and provides an unprecedented level of user-friendly interior functionality for operators that need their vehicle to double-up as a mobile workspace,” said What Van? Editor Paul Barker. “Class-leading refinement and excellent new engines add to the innovative ideas to offer an efficient and cost-effective all-rounder.”

Vivaro was also highly commended for its BiTurbo engines in the editor’s choice category.

"We're delighted to receive these awards from What Van?," said Richard Collier, Vauxhall's National Commercial Vehicle and B2B Sales Manager.  “The all-new Brit-built Vivaro has proved to be a very popular choice for our customers and has been our most successful commercial vehicle launch ever.”

Building on the success of the previous two generations, the all-new Vivaro offers class-leading build quality and practicality with improved cargo dimensions and excellent payload capability.

The bold new exterior design features Vauxhall’s trademark sculptural design language used for the very first time on a commercial vehicle.

It also is equipped with a range of new powertrains including a cutting edge BiTurbo that delivers up to 47.9mpg and CO₂ emissions as low as 155g/km.

The enhanced cabin is designed for comfort and control with high levels of specification that turns the new Vivaro in to a mobile office incorporating the very latest infotainment. Van drivers spend hours behind the wheel and now they have car-like comfort and technology to go with a great driving van and a brilliantly practical workhorse.