Water company Affinity Water has signed a solus deal with Ford for the supply of commercial vehicles and cars, citing Ford’s wide range of recently introduced models as a key factor in its choice.

Affinity Water expects to replace around 300 of its 570 cars and light commercials with Ford models over the coming three years.

Affinity Water, the largest water-only supplier in the UK, previously sourced its vehicles from a number of different manufacturers.

The majority of the fleet are light commercials operated by engineers maintaining the firm’s water-supply infrastructure which serves more than 3.5 million people in parts of London, Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and Surrey.

“One of the reasons Ford scored more highly than other manufacturers on our shortlist was because of the wide range of models on offer,” said Leroy Thomas, Affinity Water’s fleet services contract manager. “Ford was the only company able to supply the range required: everything from Fiesta Van through Transit Connect and Transit Custom through to the full-size Transit, as well as the Ranger.

“Ford has also recently renewed a lot of its range. The models are new and therefore offer increased safety features, better mpg and CO₂ emissions across the range. We also recognised the fact that Ford has for three years in a row been voted number one manufacturer by the top 50 fleet management companies for vehicles requiring the fewest days off the road for maintenance.”

Alison Geddes, Affinity Water’s procurement category manager added:

“These factors, including the savings we have been able to make in terms of acquisition and leasing costs, helped us reach the decision that Ford was the right manufacturer for us.”

Ford last year recorded its highest share of the European CV market since 2007 and sold 72,238 commercial vehicles in the UK, an increase of 5,781 year-on-year, growth driven by demand for the new Ford Transit Custom and the Ford Ranger pick-up.