The Great British Fleet Awards 2024 took place this week at the Marshall Area in Milton Keynes, after a day of exhibitions and conferences.
The Van Manufacturer of the Year award went to Stellantis, which is the umbrella group for Vauxhall, Peugeot, Citroen & Fiat.
The award comes soon after Stellantis launched a new line-up for all its van brands. Each brand has a brand new small, medium, and large representative with improved technology, upgraded performance, and a visual facelift. Electric variants have been given particular attention, with range boots and new features.
John Kendall, Editor, Van Fleet World (the sponsors of this award), said: “Merging two vehicle brands is enough of a challenge, but trying to bring five together, while striking a deal to supply vans to another, certainly isn’t for the faint-hearted. In the past year, Stellantis has revised the van ranges for Citroën, Fiat, Peugeot, Vauxhall and Opel. Each model has received a facelift and range has been extended for all electric models. All new vans are now equipped for connectivity from the factory. The largest electric vans now all get the same motor and battery, while there are new transmissions for diesel models. At the same time, Stellantis has formed a new business unit, Pro One to handle LCV sales for all brands. It’s been quite a year.”
Lee Titchner, Director, Stellantis ProOne UK, said: “This award reinforces our status as the UK’s best-selling van manufacturer and highlights the strength of our commercial vehicle range. We are proud to be leading the way in the electrification of LCVs, with all four brands offering an electric variant of every model in their line-ups. We are grateful to the Great British Fleet Awards for recognising our status as a leading provider of practical and affordable vans for our professional customers.”
Stellantis has shown strong sales performance in 2024, with its brands combining to account for 31% of new vans registered this year.
Electric sales are similarly strong, with Stellantis having a market share of 44% year-to-date.
Stellantis is the only OEM currently producing vans in volume in the UK. The manufacturing group produces the Citroën E-Berlingo, Vauxhall Combo Electric, Peugeot E-Partner and Fiat E-Doblo at its Ellesmere Port plant, the UK’s first EV-only volume manufacturing facility. In 2025, Stellantis will also begin limited production of electric vans at its Luton plant, alongside continued production of ICE vans.