Fleet Van of the Year awards stress green credentials

Ford was named "Van Manufacturer of the Year" for the second successive year at the Fleet Van Awards. This major award was based on a recent survey conducted by Fleet Van on more than 169,000 vans. Ford's new Fiesta Van, launched in March this year, collected the City Van category award for 2009. Low running costs make this new entry into the car-derived market a sound business proposition. Frugal fuel economy of up to 67.3mpg, insurance groups of 1E and 2E and a choice of engines and trim levels make it a class-leading package. Citroën also did well with Berlingo winning two of the top honours.
	For the second year in succession, the Citroën Berlingo was voted outright Van of the Year and Small Van of the Year. The judging panel, which included major fleet operators and independent van experts, singled out the Berlingo for these top honours against very strong competition. The Citroën Berlingo (*left*) was the judges' choice as Van of the Year thanks to its versatility, breadth of range, advanced design and many features unmatched by its rivals.
In gaining the Fleet Van Awards Small Van of the Year title, the Citroën Berlingo defeated some very strong, well established product. Since its success last year, the Berlingo has strengthened its position as best small van thanks to new models, including the five-seat Crew Van and a unique, enhanced-traction XTR+ model. For the second year running, the Volkswagen Transporter has been voted ‘Best Medium Van' in the Fleet Van Awards with the judges saying ‘it excels on quality, durability, reputation and image and has real driver appeal'. The award is all the more impressive because the Transporter not only beat all its popular rivals, but is also only weeks away from being succeeded by the new generation Transporter which arrives in UK showrooms in January 2010. This new van promises more refinement and a new range of Euro V engines as well as a new appearance. Renault is celebrating its third fleet title van award of the year after New Kangoo Van won ‘Green Van of the Year - Conventional Fuels ' at the Fleet Van Awards. Renault eco² vehicles, like the New Kangoo Van dCi 85, must emit less than 140g/km of CO2, be manufactured in a plant that has been certified ISO 14001, and be 95% recoverable at the end of their lifecycle and ensure 5% of the plastics used are from recycled sources. Added to this, in dCi 85 form, the Kangoo Van offers an impressive 54.3 mpg on the combined cycle. From this month, this same engine will distance itself even further from rivals in the three-metre cubed compact van sector with an even healthier, class-leading 57.6 mpg and 130 grams per kilometre of CO2 emissions. The continuing drive by Fiat Professional - the commercial vehicle arm of Fiat Group Automobiles SpA - to produce top quality, high value vans, has been given a huge boost in the Awards. The company has just been presented with the top prize for ‘Most Improved Van Manufacturer of the Year' .