One of Bevan Group’s new Nissan NV400 vans

Nissan’s drive to gain market share in the fleet market has taken another step forward with an order from Bevan Group, one of the UK’s leading vehicle bodybuilders, which has purchased 20 Nissan NV400 vans for use by its national network of mobile technicians.

The fleet of 3.5 tonne GVW front-wheel drive 125PS NV400s in SE trim will be used as mobile workshops to maintain and repair all makes and models of truck and van bodies as well as ancillary equipment such as tail lifts, cranes and roller shutter doors.

Halesowen-based Bevan Group chose Nissan after an extensive test drive programme led by the mobile technicians. They liked the NV400’s performance, low load access height and maximum payload.

Nissan was eventually preferred ahead of vehicles from three other leading manufacturers (it’s interesting to note here that Nissan was — by implication — chosen ahead of Vauxhall and Renault, both of which sell the same van, badged as the Movano and Master respectively).

The vans also feature factory-fitted satellite navigation systems and supplying dealer West Way Nissan has fitted ply-lining kits, deadlocks, alarms, immobilisers and roof-mounted beacons. Bevan will run the vehicles for three years and 105,000 miles.

Simon Dryburgh, Bevan’s Aftercare Manager said:

“By the end of July we’ll have 20 new Nissan vans on the road, that’s six more than we ran previously reflecting the growing demand for our aftercare services.

“The vans are critical for us to help keep our clients’ vehicles on the road. Our team of technicians were impressed with all aspects of the NV400. From a company perspective reliability and running costs are very important and we believe the NV400 will deliver across all of these areas,” he added.

Thanks to the Bevan’s in-house graphics division, the vans’ striking liveries will ensure they also act as a high-profile mobile billboard for Bevan as its technicians travel the length and breadth of the country.

Incidentally, one of Bevan’s own van conversions has featured in these pages before. Bevan’s futuristic ICON luton body aims to cut fuel costs,  something that Lenham Storage has been putting to the test.