Mitsubishi takes the double at 2006 Professional van and Light Truck Awards

Taking the title of ‘Pick-Up of the Year’, the all-new L200 brushed aside competition from the likes of the Nissan Navara and Toyota Hilux to be voted class champion by a considerable margin. The Shogun 4x4 commercial took top honours over the Jeep Pioneer plus the Land Rover Discovery and Defender. This is the second award for the Shogun commercial this year, having already taken 4x4 Van of the Year in 4x4 magazine’s annual awards in February.

In order to choose its winners, Professional Van & Light Truck magazine deployed a panel of seven judges to spend one very intensive day driving and evaluating over 70 vehicles. Along with two members of the magazine’s editorial team, five business professionals were invited to add their real-life experience to the panel in choosing the best the industry has to offer. All seven judges were given a set quantifiable methodology to follow in order to evaluate each of the products and were also armed with a kit of every-day items such as a clipboard, coffee cup, sandwich box and heavy duty jacket to look at the user-friendliness of each vehicle. At the end of a hard day’s judging the winners of 14 separate categories were decided upon, with the trophies presented at a ceremony during the Commercial Vehicle Show at the Birmingham NEC in April.

On collecting the awards Jim Tyrrell, Managing Director of Mitsubishi Motors UK stated "Having only just launched the new L200 pick-up we are delighted that it has already beaten off all competition to take this award. What’s more, the fact that it was judged by actual tradesmen and business owners is a testament to its appeal in the commercial market."

The L200 has been market leader in the pick-up sector for the last five years and with sales of the new model reaching over 2,400 in its first month on the market it seems the King is in no way going to relinquish his crown. Mitsubishi Motors expects to sell 12,000 new L200s this year plus an additional 5,000 units of the outgoing model.

Mitsubishi’s Shogun commercial vehicle continues to grow in popularity within its niche market and has become an important part of Mitsubishi’s specialist fleet strategy supplying high-profile utility companies such as National Grid PLC and The Environment Agency.