The new fleet of Barker Group Nissans

Nissan has continued to make progress with its drive into the fleet market with two further SME wins, include one where the customer chose to switch to Nissan from Mercedes-Benz.

Bournemouth-based Barker Group, the long established laundry and dry cleaning company, will now use six Primastars and one NV400 (click here for our guide to van sizes) to cover the firm’s operations in the southern counties, including some blue chip clients in London.

The vehicles were chosen by Barker Group after a search to find a better value alternative to the Mercedes LCVs that were previously on its fleet. A detailed presentation led by Nissan Westway Fleet Operations revealed the Nissan vehicles selected offer the best value for pence-per-mile operation.

Matthew Barker, Barker Group managing director said:

“We’re really excited by the new partnership with Nissan that will allow us to grow our business even further. As well as offering fantastic value for money we’ve received great early feedback from drivers about the performance and versatility of the vehicles.”

In the Midlands, Derby-based plumbing and heating firm Vinshire Plumbing and Heating has also made the choice to switch to Nissan, and has added 11 NV200s to its fleet for use by its servicing and maintenance engineers. The vans will cover up to 20,000 miles per year and have been well-received so far, as Vinshire’s Quality Control Manager Simon Burdell explains:

“The NV200s have proved to be a great addition to our fleet and are ideal for the needs of both our maintenance and installation engineers. The feedback has been universally positive so far with the ordering of more vehicles from Nissan a real possibility.”

Although Nissan’s overall share of the UK van market remains small, the firm’s ongoing stream of wins suggests that it is committed to the UK LCV market and can offer highly competitive running costs compared to the ‘incumbent’ manufacturers.