WHAT VAN ? - The Ultimate award goes to not one, but three models, all made on the same underpinnings.

The Citroen Dispatch, Peugeot Expert and Toyota Proace are the 2017 What Van? Light Commercial Vehicles of the Year. It is the first time the award has been shared between three outstanding vans.

Citroen, Peugeot and Toyota collected the coveted trophy at the exclusive What Van? Awards luncheon held in partnership with Truckman, FORS (the Fleet Operators Recognition Scheme), Crystal Ball and Trucksmith at the Brewery in central London on 13 December.

The models also jointly won the won the Medium Van of the year Award.

PSA Peugeot-Citroen builds the new Dispatch, Expert and Proace at its Sevelnord plant near Lille in northern France and What Van? Editor James Dallas said:

“The vans represent a significant step up in terms of quality, practicality and economy compared with their predecessors.”

The trio have entered the biggest-selling sector of the UK light commercial market and one that is extremely competitive with high-quality models such as the Ford Transit Custom, Renault Trafic, Vauxhall Vivaro, Volkswagen Transporter and Mercedes Vito all vying for attention.

Dallas added: “The PSA pair and Toyota needed to up their game – and with the new generation models they most certainly have done.”

There were two new inductees into the What Van? Hall of Fame, Dave Petts of Ford, who has done so much to establish the Transit as the UK’s most famous and biggest-selling van brand, and What Van? magazine itself, which was originally known as the Good Van Guide and is celebrating its 30^th anniversary before undergoing a major redesign in the New Year.

Fiat Professional scooped both the Small Van and Light Van of the Year prizes for its respective Fiorino and Doblo Cargo vans while the Iveco Daily was crowned Large Van of the Year.

The Nissan Navara took the Pick-up Award and Volkswagen was recognised for having the best website.

Other winners included Dacia, Renault, Vauxhall, Mitsubishi, FORS, Trucksmith and MediaFleet WrapidCoat.

“The last 12 months have been exceptional in terms of the outstanding new product that has come to market,” Dallas said, “so it’s a pleasure to be able to recognise the best in the business.”

Specialist Renault division to start construction of the Bollore Bluecar, Electric car.

• The Groupe Renault plant in Dieppe is starting assembly of Bolloré's Bluecar
• Renault and Bolloré are stepping up electric vehicle cooperation following the partnership agreement of 9 September 2014

INDUSTRIAL COOPERATION AGREEMENT

In June 2015, the Groupe Renault Dieppe plant in northern France starts assembling the all-electric city car Bluecar, from bodies and parts brought in by Bolloré. Groupe Bolloré is phasing in assembly by Groupe Renault of its Bluecar model, previously only made in Italy. At Dieppe, the agreement is warmly welcomed for its positive impact on employment and as a sign of recognition of the plant's capabilities and know-how.

GROUPE RENAULT DIEPPE, SPECIALISTS IN SMALL PRODUCTION RUNS

The Dieppe plant, which dates to 1969, specializes in small production runs. It currently makes Clio Renaultsport 200 EDC and competition vehicles. A dedicated assembly shop has been set up within the plant to handle the work on Bluecar, and will eventually employ thirty people. This provides Bolloré with access to a modern production system tailored to its needs.

“Bluecar is a great additional business opportunity for the Dieppe plant, and we appreciate Bolloré's trust in Renault Groupe’s capability to meet their exacting quality and response-time demands”, said Laurent Delannay, Renault Groupe, Dieppe Director.

DIEPPE PLANT

Opened May 1969

Headcount: 280 employees

Production: more than 400,000 vehicles since opening

Model: Clio Renaultsport 200 EDC, one-seaters, Renault competition vehicles

BLUECAR

Length 3.65 m; Width 1.70 m; Height 1.61 m; Boot volume: 350 dm3

More than 4,500 Bluecars on the road in France since end of 2011.

Renault expects to produce between 3,000 - 5,000 Alpine sports cars per year.

A Renault executive today revealed the output expectations for the automaker's Alpine-badged sports car.

"In terms of scale, on average [annual production] volume will be about 3,000 cars, with a peak of 5,000 initially due to the novelty factor," Alpine head Bernard Ollivier told Reuters in an interview.

Renault plans to launch production of the sporty brand at the end of 2016 and start selling Alpine models in Europe and key emerging market economies the following year, Ollivier, interviewed on the sidelines of an auto festival in Paris, said.

No further details were revealed, but a spokesman told Automotive News Europe that the project is "on schedule," adding that the automaker is "on track to deliver the model to customers in about two years."

Alpines have not been made since 1995. The new sports car will have a rear-mounted engine and be built at Renault's plant in Dieppe, northern France.

News of the revival coincides with Renault's celebration of the Alpine brand's 60th birthday. To mark the occasion, Alpine has created the Alpine Vision Gran Turismo, a virtual racing car that will feature in the Gran Turismo 6 video game.

REPORT HERE