Christmas came early for many of the most outstanding manufacturers, services and individuals in the light commercial vehicle industry as the prestigious What Van? Awards once more returned to the Brewery in central London on 13 December.
More than 280 guests, double the number of the previous year and comprising the most prominent figures in the sector, gathered at the exclusive venue to honour the best in the business.
Attendees enjoyed a delicious three-course luncheon washed down by fine wines and were later entertained by the celebrity host, comedian Zoe Lyons, following an opening address from What Van? editor James Dallas.
“The LCV market is constantly evolving, improving and rising to meet the challenges that confront it, “ said Dallas, “so it’s a pleasure to be able to honour the best in the business in terms of product, innovations and services.”
Lyons revealed the award winners and highly commended recipients and the trophies were then handed to the successful candidates by editor Dallas and the 2018 What Van? Awards sponsors: Alphabet, FORS, Lightfoot and Allianz, ODO, Scot Seat, Sortimo and Trucksmith.
For 2018, we expanded the most coveted pantheon of independent accolades in the LCV industry to embrace 19 categories as well as the big one – the overall What Van? 2018 Light Commercial Vehicle of the Year, which went to the stand-out model debut of the previous 12 months, Volkswagen’s Crafter van.
“Once in a while a model comes along that looks as though it could not only be a game-changer for its manufacturer but could also shake up an entire sector’s established order. VW’s large van is such a vehicle,” Dallas commented.
VW’s Carl Zu Dohna collects the LCV of the Year Award from comedian Zoe Lyons and What Van? editor James Dallas
Last year’s winners of the top award, the Citroen Dispatch, Peugeot Expert and Toyota Proace, retained the Medium Van prize, the new Isuzu D-max was named best Pick-up and other winners included Fiat Professional, which captured the Light Van award for the third consecutive year, but had to settle for the runner-up spot in the Small Van category, with last year’s winner, the Fiorino, losing out to Ford’s Transit Courier this time around. Ford’s baby van line-up now includes a Sport Van in its ranks.
The blue-oval brand also scooped the Used Van Award for the Transit Custom, which gained a Highly Commended nod in the Medium Van category too. It’s big brother, the Transit AWD, was the Highly Commended 4×4 van, finishing behind the Dacia Duster Commercial, the top dog for the third consecutive year.
Dacia’s parent, Renault, took the Green Award for its Z.E. Kangoo, which now has an extended range of 124 miles under real-world conditions courtesy of a new battery.
Volkswagen retained the gong for best website; the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) took the Safety Award in recognition of its tireless efforts to make our roads safer; dashcam firm Nextbase captured Risk Management; Fleet Source won the Innovation prize for its TRIP (Terrorism Risk and Incident Prevention) course to help LCV operators better tackle the threat of terrorism; and the Editor’s Choice Award went to the Royal Mail for its pioneering use of Arrival’s dual-mode electric/petrol vans coupled with its procurement of 100 electric Peugeot Partners.
Our reader-voted Converter Award returned for a fourth year and Trucksmith, the 2017 winner, became the first company to retain the prize.
New Industry awards were introduced to recognise Fleet Manager of the Year (Steve Hobbs, BML Utility), Driver of the Year (Stephen Bray, CEF), Green Fleet of the Year (the London Borough of Hackney), and Service, Maintenance and Repair (Royal Mail Fleet).
Last but certainly not least, What Van? welcomed Martin Flach, Iveco’s alternative fuels director who has worked diligently to make electric drivetrains a viable option on large vans, into its Hall of Fame.
We are delighted to confirm that the 2019 What Van? Awards will take place on 12 December 2018.
Iveco’s Martin Flach is inducted into the Hall of Fame
