Major What Van? awards success for Citroen
Hot on the heels of its earlier industry triumphs Citroen LCVs have now just scooped the pot in the prestigious What Van? Awards – with no less than four top awards as well as a highly commended. At the What Van? Awards 2008 ceremony held in London on 9 December the strength of Citroen’s LCV range was recognised with the following awards:
Nemo – What Van? Van of the year
Nemo – What Van? Light van of the year
Dispatch – What Van? Small panel van of the year
Ready to Run – What Van? One-stop shop award
Relay minibus – Highly commended
Robert Handyside, Citroen’s commercial vehicle operations manager, comments, “Citroen’s huge success in the What Van? Awards 2008 is yet further proof that the company’s comprehensive LCV range is leading the field. We believe – and the unrivalled amount of independent recognition the range has gained in 2008 – that Citroen LCVs are the commercial vehicles for today’s economic climate setting the pace with their low cost of operation, fuel efficiency, practicality and excellent environmental credentials.”
Citroen Nemo – What Van? Van of the year & What Van? Light van of the year
The judges commented that the Nemo was the first of a whole new class of van, slotting neatly between hatchback car-derived light commercials and larger high-cube. They also remarked upon the Nemo’s compact yet practical 2.5cu.m load compartment, with six load tie-down rings and the fact that sliding load doors can be specified for one or both sides of the van.
In addition the judges mentioned that the Nemo was already available, as part of the Ready to Run programme in dual fuel (petrol/LPG) format and a semi-automatic gearbox is available. In summary the judges commented, “No matter which model you pick, we doubt you’ll be disappointed and with impressive fuel economy and low running costs, its an icon for today’s grim times.”
Citroen Dispatch – What Van? Small panel van of the year
The judges commented that purchasers get to pick from two common rail diesel engines, both of which are biodiesel-friendly. On offer are a 1.6-litre with 90bhp on tap and a 2.0-litre generating either 120bhp or 136bhp, a choice of three different cargo area capacities and 1,000 or 1,200 kg payloads.
They also remarked that, “Access to the Dispatch van’s three-man cab is exemplary. The comfortable and supportive seat is set at just the right height for people on multi-drop delivery runs who have to hop in and out of the cab continually during the working day. Remember that Dispatch is equipped in almost all cases with Trafficmaster’s Smartnav satellite navigation package and Trackstar, its GPS-based stolen vehicle tracking service.”
Citroen Ready to Run – What Van? One-stop shop award
The Citroen Ready to Run range includes Advanced minibuses, Buckstone Luton Vans, KFS car transporters, Ingimex dropsides, Nicholson McLaren dual fuel conversions, Somers temperature controlled vans, Supertrucks glass carriers, and Tipmaster tippers.
The judges commented, “With over 80 specially converted light commercial vehicles now available in the UK, the breadth of Citroen’s Ready to Run programme is astounding. That’s one reason why its has won What Van? One-Stop Shop award for 2008.
“Recent additions to this already-praiseworthy line-up include chilled fridge conversions for Nemo, chilled and frozen conversions for Berlingo and box bodies built to chilled and frozen specifications for Relay. Berlingos transformed into glass carriers by Supertrucks have just joined the party. So have versions of Nemo, Berlingo First and Berlingo converted to run on liquefied petroleum gas (lpg) by Nicholson McLaren Engineering (NME).
“In another first, vans that have been worked on by NME can also be converted to temperature-controlled specifications by Somers. As a result they can deliver sandwiches and other snacks to city centre workers in an environmentally friendly manner. If they do so in London the lpg conversions mean that they won’t be subject to the congestion tax.”
