Category Archives: Van News

News and articles about UK vans – especially information relevant to the van hire market. Coverage of new van model launches from all the major manufacturers – Ford, Mercedes, Volkswagen, Peugeot, Fiat and Citroen.

Volkswagen Commercial Vehicle Sales Up 3.5% In 2012

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Volkswagen light commercial vehicle range

L-R, Volkswagen Caddy, Amarok, Transporter & Crafter

Volkswagen proudly announced today that total sales in its commercial vehicle division were up by 3.5% for the year to date, but a quick look at the figures suggests that much of this is the result of the impact of its new Amarok pick-up model — a segment in which VW previously had no models.

VW delivered 220,500 in the first five months of this year, 3.5% more than in the same period of 2011. Amarok deliveries worldwide rose by 31.7 per cent to 30,500 vehicles (January – May 2011: 23,100). Deliveries of the Crafter large van went up by 37.0 per cent to 19,800 vehicles (January – May 2011: 14,400). The T5 Series medium van rose by 0.4 per cent to 66,300 deliveries (January – May 2011: 66,100), while worldwide deliveries of the Caddy small van went down by 3.1 per cent to 63,200 vehicles (January – May 2011: 65,200).

Deliveries of the Brand in Western Europe from January to May 2012 were up by 1.3 per cent, to 117,900 vehicles (January – May 2011: 116,400), while in Eastern Europe deliveries rose by a whopping 32.7% — but from a much lower base of just 13,100, taking this year’s total to 17,400.

Unsurprisingly, Germany was the strongest European market for the brand, with deliveries up by 5.3 per cent to 50,800  (January – May 2011: 48,200).

Interestingly, sales outside Europe are flagging. The strongest region outside Europe was Latin America, where deliveries fell by 2.3% from 57,000 last year to 55,700 in the first five months of this year. Deliveries of the Saveiro model (a small pick-up not sold in Europe) were down by 10.3 per cent to 30,400 units (January – May 2011: 33,800), while the T2 (an antiquated predecessor to the T5 that’s still made in South America) was up by 0.4 per cent to 10,400 deliveries (January – May 2011: 10,350).

Sprinter Takes Fleet Van Award For 7th Year

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Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

The Mercedes Sprinter has won the Motor Transport Fleet Van of the Year award for seven years running.

The Mercedes Sprinter is a favourite of mine and is beloved of courier companies and other demanding van users throughout Europe.

Its status as the ultimate fleet van was confirmed once again on the 13th June at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London, when it won the Motor Transport Fleet Van Of The Year Award for the seventh consecutive year.

The awards are judged by the readers of Motor Transport magazine and so provide an accurate representation of what real van users think of their vehicles.

The Sprinter was praised for ticking so many proverbial boxes for the selection panel, including long service intervals, good fuel economy, strong residual values and offering a wide range of weights and Euro-5 engines.

In addition, the large panel van was rewarded for being backed by an excellent dedicated Commercial Vehicle dealer network and unrivalled reliability.

Steve Bridge, Van Sales & Marketing Director at Mercedes-Benz UK, collected the award and said of the win:

“This is an outstanding achievement to add to an already long list of award wins for the ever-ready Sprinter. The fact that the final judging for the awards was decided by a panel of readers, who are using these vehicles day-in, day-out, is a testament to the genuine affection there is for this tough workhorse.”

“Having a team of dedicated specialists working within both the Mercedes-Benz van team and the dealer network, means that our products and services deliver our customers a first class ownership experience. It’s an honour to receive this award and we value and take pride in each and every one of them”.

New Van Registrations Up In May – First Rise Of 2012

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Throughout this year, new van registrations have been falling, despite strong increases in truck (>3.5t) registrations.

In May, that trend finally changed, with the latest figures from the SMMT showing that van registrations rose by 6.7% to 21,303 units, when compared to May 2011. This was small beer compared to the 31.5% increase in truck registrations, but it is at least an improvement. It’s too early to say whether the turnaround in the van market signify’s a new trend — I have my doubts, given the state of the economy — but it’s a good start.

Paul Everitt, SMMT Chief Executive, commented:

“The truck market continued its strong progress, up 31.5% in May and there was a welcome return to growth for the van market, its first rise of 2012. It’s too early to know if the change in fortunes for the van market is a sign of things to come, but coupled with the strong truck performance, it is a welcome signal of increased confidence across the commercial vehicle sector.”

Small Vans Top Sales

In terms of vans, the biggest growth was in the sub-2.0t sector, where sales were 11.6% higher than in May 2011. However, these lightweight vans have seen the biggest falls so far this year, with new registrations down by 21.9% to date, so perhaps van operators are making up for lost time.

The same story seems to apply in the heavy (2.5t-3.5t) weight category; sales were 9.1% higher than at the same time last year but are still down 9.7% on the year to date.

In the middle weight sector (2.0t – 2.5t), the situation is slightly different, with sales only just keeping their head above water last month with a 0.7% increase in last May. However, across the year to date, sales in this category — which includes many variants of popular vans like the Citroen Berlingo and Volkswagen Caddy — are only down by 2.3%, the smallest fall in any weight category.

As I’ve observed before this may be due to the fact that popular small vans like the Berlingo have got heavier — whereas all models used to be sub-2.0t, now only the lighter payload models are. The heavier payload and long wheelbase models all have gross weights over 2,000kg, which I assume places them in a different weight category in the SMMT’s statistics.

SMMT Van & Truck Registrations May 2012

Graph courtesy of SMMT

Rigids Up, Artics Down

As we’ve seen in previous months, the strongest growth was reserved for the rigid truck sector, with a 113% increase in sales of 3.5t – 6.0t rigids, a category that is up 58% over the year to date. At the other end of the weight scale, artic volumes were down slightly for the fourth consecutive month and are now down 6% on the year to date.

The growth in sales of light rigids is interesting, especially as they are limited to 56mph like larger lorries these days. Based purely on the vehicles I see out and about, I wonder if a lot of distributors and parcel delivery firms are scaling down from 7.5t – 12t lorries to this lighter, smaller and cheaper category. It would be interesting to know.

Used Van Values Climb – But Only Just

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The latest used van auction sale figures from BCA, the UK’s largest vehicle auctioneer, show that used van values were higher in May 2012 than May 2011 — but only just.

Used LCV values improved across the board for the second month running in May, rising by £99 (2.3%) compared to April to reach £4,370.  Average age and mileage fell slightly month on month, while CAP performance declined by nearly a point to 98.19%.  There was a marginal increase in fleet & lease values, while part-exchange values reached record levels.

Year-on-year, May 2012 was £152 (3.6%) ahead of the same month in 2011, despite the average age climbing by six months and average mileage increasing by 6,300 to 77,000.  Performance against CAP also improved year-on-year, up by more than two points.

Year-on-year figures, all sizes of vans:

All vans Avg Age Avg Mileage Avg Value Sale vs CAP
May 2011 50.78 70,977 £4,218 96.00%
May 2012 56.82 77,334 £4,370 98.19%
BCA Used Van Values 2010-2012
Graph courtesy of BCA

Average values have been relatively higher since last September and reached a 20-month high in January.   May saw values rise in all three sectors – fleet/lease, dealer part-exchange and nearly new – but supply and demand remains finely balanced.

Duncan Ward BCA’s General Manager – Commercial Vehicles commented:

“There is steady demand for the best examples in the wholesale arena, but sellers need to be aware that buyer confidence is quite fragile despite the relative shortage of stock.  Buyers are sensitive to mileage and condition, and excessive mileage or damage will significantly impact the price performance.

The best prices are paid for vans in good colours with a high specification and any rare or unusual vehicles will generate the most attention.  Sellers also need to manage the supply of similar makes and models, because it can have a direct impact on price performance – even for attractive retail-quality vans.”

Ward added:

“Now is the time for volume sellers to really get back to basics and ensure their vans are given the best opportunity to sell the first time they are offered.  This means full documentation and service histories for vehicles being sold, pre-sale preparation and presentation, valuing stock in line with market sentiment and effective sale day representation to make swift decisions on provisional sales.  Make it an easy choice for buyers to purchase your vans!”

Van News In Brief: Isuzu, Red Bull F1 & Nissan

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Nissan To Supply Red Bull Vans

Nissan vans and Red Bull F1Nissan’s contract to supply the Red Bull Formula One team with light commercial vehicles has been extended for the remainder of the 2012 season.

To support the transportation needs of Red Bull Racing at their factory in Milton Keynes and for all operations throughout the 2012 Formula One season, Nissan will supply a fleet of over 30 vehicles, including the award-winning Nissan NV200 and the Nissan NV400 large van.

The choice is unsurprising, as Nissan’s premium brand Infiniti (equivalent to Toyota’s Lexus brand) is one of the team’s main sponsors. Indeed, I believe that Red Bull’s Renault engines are branded as Infiniti, as a result of the long-standing high-level partnership between Nissan and Renault.

Red Bull will use Nissan’s  NV200 and NV400 vans to support the team. The NV200 is Nissan’s own design, but the NV400 is of course a rebadged Renault Master – see here (NV400) and here (Master).

For more information visit www.redbullracing.com or www.nissan.co.uk.

New Isuzu Dealer In Preston

New Isuzu D-Max Pick-Up driving through waterIsuzu UK has added a new dealer to its network, Browns, in Preston, Lancashire. Browns is a family-run business with a strong presence in the local agricultural market, so it expects Isuzu’s new D-Max pick-up to be well received.

Browns Dealer Principal, Roy Brown, commented:

“With a strong local history in agriculture, we are experienced in tailoring our services to meet the needs of individual customers and commercial buyers alike, I believe the Isuzu brand will prove to be a very appealing prospect.  The all-new Isuzu D-Max, with its outstanding load-lugging capacity and all-terrain capabilities, means we’ll have the perfect vehicle to meet the needs of outdoor workers in this area,” he added.

William Brown, General Manager of Isuzu UK, said:

“Browns joins the Isuzu network at a very exciting time for our brand.  Isuzu has doubled its UK pick-up sales in the last three years and has reinforced its reputation as a supplier of dependable, rugged and highly capable pick-ups.  We have just launched the all-new Isuzu D-Max, further raising the bar for refinement, performance and efficiency in the sector, backed by Isuzu’s unique-in-class five year, 120,000 mile warranty.  Browns is ideally placed to capitalise on this new product launch in this important location for Isuzu.”

The all-new Isuzu D-Max is available in three body styles – single, extended and double cab – with prices starting from £14,499 (CVOTR) for the entry-level single cab 4×2, rising to £21,499 (CVOTR) for the top-of-the-range Utah double cab 4×4 Automatic.  All new Isuzu pick-ups are available with the company’s recently-launched, class-leading, five-year, 120,000 mile warranty.  The Isuzu D-Max is fitted with a completely re-engineered, 2.5-litre twin-turbo diesel engine, producing 163 ps and 400 Nm of torque, available with a six-speed manual or five-speed automatic transmission.

For more information visit www.isuzu.co.uk.

Travel Business Class With Citroën Vans

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Citroen's four year business class warranty promotion

Citroen's 4 Year 'Business Class' Warranty deal...

Citroën vans are now available with a new no-cost ‘Upgrade to Business Class’ extended four year warranty, servicing and Citroën Assistance package.

This is an attractive upgrade to the standard Citroën van package, which is made up of a two year unlimited mileage manufacturer’s warranty and a no-fee customer option of one year’s dealer provided 100,000 mile warranty.

The fourth year of warranty will be an insurance product providing cover up to 120,000 miles — so not suitable for high mileage users but very attractive for tradesmen and others employed on local work.

Participating Citroën dealers and Business Centres are offering the no-cost ‘Upgrade to Business Class’ package on any Euro 5 Citroën Nemo, Berlingo, Dispatch or Relay ordered by qualifying customers and delivered by 31 July 2012.

The no-cost Citroën ‘Upgrade to Business Class’ package includes:

  • 4 years/60,000 mile servicing (whichever comes first), allowing customers to have their LCVs serviced annually over this period
  • 4 years Citroën Assistance (provided by the AA), with Roadside Assistance, At Home Assistance, Recovery, Onward Travel and European cover
  • Warranty extension to 4 years/120,000 miles (whichever comes first)

Scott Michael, Citroën’s Commercial Vehicle Operations Manager, commented;

“Prior to the introduction of the  ‘Upgrade to Business Class’ programme we carried out extensive consultation with our dealers to develop the optimum package to meet the needs of our LCV customers – particularly small and medium enterprises (SMEs).  Now, with ‘Upgrade to Business Class’, Citroën customers are able to purchase not just competitively priced, well-equipped LCVs with class-leading fuel efficiency and low emissions, but they can also take advantage of all the benefits of a comprehensive four year motoring package.”

The ‘Upgrade to Business Class’ package can also be used by Citroën LCV customers in conjunction with a Citroën Finance Lease product. This is a popular finance solution for many business users including partnerships, limited companies, self-employed and sole traders. With Citroën Finance Lease, the customer pays a monthly rental on an LCV for the contract period, which can be up to 60 months.

Toyota Hilux Sold Down The River

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Toyota Hilux belonging to The Broads Authority

The Broads Authority has chosen Toyota Hilux pickups for its rangers and construction teams

The Toyota Hilux has an enviable and global reputation as a supremely capable and tough off-road vehicle — so it should come as no surprise to find that it was the first choice of The Broads Authority, a member of the National Park family, when it came time to buy nine new pick-ups to add to its fleet for use by rangers and construction maintenance teams across its sites around the Broads.

The Norfolk and Suffolk Broads is Britain’s largest protected wetland and third largest inland waterway. Holding national park status it is home to some of the rarest plants and animals in the UK.

The Broads Authority was set up in 1989 and holds responsibility for conservation, planning, recreation and waterways.

With a real need for reliable, excellent off road robust vehicles that meet the requirements of the Broads onsite teams, the organisation favoured the outright purchase of the Toyota Hilux HL2Double Cabs from Dingles Toyota in Norwich.

The cars will be used by rangers in their bid to patrol the Broads sites and maintain the surrounding countryside. They will carry equipment for countryside management and attend events to tell people about the Broads and the work of the Authority. The construction and maintenance team undertake a variety of duties, from dredging mud to maintaining the moorings, and so again need vehicles that can accommodate tools with a good towing capacity.

Rob Holman, Director of Resources at The Broad Authority, commented: “The Authority is striving to reduce its CO2 emissions at every opportunity and these vehicles will help us achieve that – and save money.

“Our Rangers and Construction & Maintenance Teams need vehicles that have a good towing and carrying capacity, together with the ability to ‘rough it’ off road. The new Toyota Hilux met all our operational requirements and will cut the equivalent of their own weight in CO2 emissions in a year compared to some of our existing vehicles.

“They are much more fuel efficient and buying them, as opposed to leasing our current fleet, will save us a significant sum within a few years. It goes to show that going green is not always more expensive.”

The model chosen, the 4WD Toyota Hilux HL2 Double Cab costs £18,290 on the road and has a 144bhp 2.5-litre D-4D engine with a combined fuel consumption figure of 38.7mpg. Features include air conditioning, Auto Disconnecting Differential, rear locking differential, remote central locking and heated electrically adjustable door mirrors.

Ford Slams New Transit Custom

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Ford Transit Custom side door slam testing

How many times have I told you not to slam that door...

The all-new Ford Transit Custom made its debut at the recent CV Show in Birmingham and is due to hit the road in the UK towards the end of this year. Transits have always had a reputation for being fairly durable, and the Brentwood boys are keen to make sure that this new version lives up to expectations.

With that in mind, engineers at the company’s Dunton Technical Centre, near Basildon, have been subjecting the new Transit Custom to a wide variety of abuse, including slamming the doors a total of 550,000 times to make sure than it can withstand the day-to-day usage of some of the most demanding customers over the course of many years.

Ford slammed the Transit Custom front doors 250,000 times, the sliding side door 150,000 times, and the rear cargo door 150,000 times in a special test facility where temperatures can be plunged to -40 degrees Celsius, sent soaring to 82 degrees Celsius, and deliver 85 per cent humidity.

“This is a modern-day torture test, more than half-a-million slams, in everything from tropical heat to Arctic cold,” said Barry Gale, Ford’s chief commercial vehicle engineer, based at Dunton Technical Centre, in Essex – Ford’s research and development centre for all its vans.

The all-new Ford Transit Custom one-tonne commercial vehicle will go on sale in the UK later this year and made its debut at April’s CV Show in Birmingham.  The Transit will be available with advanced technology including Ford SYNC, which enables hands-free voice-controlled use of mobile phones and MP3 players, plus fuel-saving technologies such as Auto-Start-Stop and smart regenerative charging.

The 550,000 door-slam test is just one of a range of rigorous testing procedures Ford has used to make sure the all-new vehicle further enhances Transit’s reputation for superb reliability.

The 250,000 front door slams compare to 84,000 slams delivered by the equivalent car test. This reflects the greater frequency of door-use and tougher treatment of working vans.

Ford records and analyses real-life slams so the test machinery replicates real-life customer behaviour. This includes observing and recording the speed and the degree of force used to slam a door, including both regular and severe slams. The test replicates the fastest speeds used by 90 per cent of customers.

Testing takes place within a purpose-designed automated rig at Ford’s development centre, with engineers monitoring the precision testing and checking the doors regularly for any sign of damage or weakness.

Volkswagen Finance Deals From £199+VAT/Month

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Volkswagen Transporter T5Volkswagen is running a range of attractive finance deals for new Caddy, Transporter and Crafter vans until the end 30th June 2012.

The headline figures for new contract hire and finance lease deals are:

  • Caddy from £199/month
  • Transporter from £239/month
  • Crafter from £309/month

All prices are plus VAT and have an initial rental charge.

If you prefer traditional hire purchase, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles is offering flat rate finance at 3.99% and three year’s free servicing. This isn’t available for the Crafter, which gets a £2,000 deposit contribution instead.

If you need a new van and fancy a Volkswagen — as well you might — then get yourself over to www.volkswagen-vans.co.uk for more information.

Mitsubishi Launches L200 Barbarian Black

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Mitsubishi L200 Barbarian Black

The new Mitsubishi L200 Barbarian Black

This, er, mean moody beast is the new Mitsubishi L200 Barbarian Black Edition.

It costs £1,000+VAT more than a standard Barbarian, for which buyers get this stylish range of extras (that’s what it says here!):

  • Black 17” alloy wheels
  • Black wrapped roof
  • Black front resin guard
  • Black fog lamp surrounds
  • Black front sports grille
  • Black wing mirrors
  • Black door handles and recess covers
  • Black side steps
  • Black fuel filler cap
  • Black tailgate handle cover
  • Black rear bar
  • Stunning new embossed leather design
  • Outside Temperature/Direction/MPG display panel – a conveniently located complement to the Kenwood system
  • Barbarian Black side decals

It comes in a range of colours as well as white and can be specified as a manual or automatic.

What else can I say? You either love it or you don’t. If you do, then get yourself along to www.mitsubishi-cars.co.uk to find out more.