Volkswagen is having a good time of things in Hanover ahead of this week’s big International Truck Show scooping the pool in both the International Truck of the Year award with its subsidiary Scania and its S Series and also in the International Van of the Year with its new Crafter.
The international jury of commercial vehicle journalists from 24 European countries chose the new Crafter on the basis of its innovative design, economy, function and suitability for everyday use.
The new Crafter, which is still yet to be launched officially, was independently developed and produced to meet customers’ wishes featuring many innovations as well as extensive assistance systems.
It is being manufactured in a purpose-built facility in Poland and incorporates several technologies not previously seen in the commercial vehicle segment, including lane-keeping assist.
The Crafter scored a total of 191 points, just eight points ahead of the PSA Group’s joint-engineered van, which is sold as the Peugeot Expert, Citroën Dispatch and Toyota Proace.
Third place was awarded to the latest Euro-6 version of the Iveco Daily, which received a total of 145 points.
The stand-out van in a strong field, the judges were impressed by Volkswagen Commercial Vehicle’s commitment in developing the Crafter themselves, having ended their previous agreement to share the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter platform.
Chairman of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, Dr Eckhard Scholz, accepted the award tt from the chairman of the selection jury, Jarlath Sweeney, at IAA expo in Hanover.
“After the T-series last year, we are delighted to now receive this special award for the new Crafter as well.” said Dr Scholz,
“We are very proud of our latest product and of our team whose hard work has made the Crafter the best large transport van. We will be using this award to spearhead a successful launch,” he added.
