Astravan wins again!

Named best car-derived van at the acclaimed Professional Van and Light Truck Awards, the British-built Astravan, made at GM’s Ellesmere Port plant in Cheshire, added yet more silverware to the Vauxhall Commercial Vehicles trophy cabinet, which has clocked up over 25 industry awards since 2001.

Astravan’s latest award brings yet more success for the model, which has already been commended in the Commercial Motor Tester’s Choice awards 2007 as well as being given the coveted What Van? Editor’s Choice accolade the previous year.

PV<’s judges singled the Astravan out as having ‘better load capacity and payload than anything else in the category’ as well as remarking on its driver appeal.

The magazine’s publisher, Tim Campbell, said: “From over 90 vans assessed, the Astravan excelled among its rivals for its all-round ability and larger than average size, making it a very worthy winner.”

The news comes as Vauxhall marks the annual Commercial Vehicle Show in Birmingham with one of the biggest stands at the event, exhibiting three new concept models as well as the Movano Luton, its latest addition to a comprehensive range of core conversions.

Astravan production accounts for well over 12,000 vehicles a year from the Ellesmere Port plant in Cheshire, home of the five-door Astra hatchback. It is a significant contributor to GM’s position as the UK’s biggest producer of commercial vehicles, with more than 100,000 LCVs built in the UK in 2007 at both the Astravan plant and the GMM Luton facility, which makes Vivaro-type vans for all European markets.

In 2007, Vauxhall achieved a record number of commercial vehicle sales in the UK, with over 53,000 vans sold to customers. Of those, more than 30,000 were built in the UK.