BRENTWOOD, Essex, UK, March 20, 2015 – Ford’s market-leading commercial vehicle range scooped five major trophies at the 2015 VansA2Z Awards, including the Editor’s Choice title with the all-new Transit Courier.

The smallest van in the Transit range, the Courier was praised for its excellent choice of engines, refinement levels and handling.

For the third year running, the Transit Custom won the Small Panel Van of the Year title with the Transit taking Large Panel Van of the Year with the judges complimenting its ride, low noise levels and running costs. In the Best Small Van category, the Fiesta van took the top prize.

Finally, the lifetime Achievement Award was presented to the Ford Transit in recognition of its 50th anniversary which is being celebrated this year. Neil McIntee, VansA2Z editor, said: “It's astonishing to think that it has been 50 years since the first Ford Transit rolled off the production line. Since then it has become a genuine automotive legend and the foremost player in an always hard-fought UK van market. Where Transit leads, others follow”.

In addition to these awards, Transit Connect, Ranger and Transit Minibus came highly commended in the Best Light Van, Best Pick-up and Best Minibus categories respectively.

David Petts, Transit product manager, Ford of Britain, said: “Ford has invested heavily into its new commercial vehicle range and we are thrilled that it continues to be regarded with such esteem within the industry, particularly in Transit’s 50th year. Year to date, both the Transit and Transit Custom are leading their respective segments with the latter boasting 37 per cent market share in the UK. Fiesta van also leads its segment with a whopping 74 per cent market share and over 1,000 units have already been sold year to date. We are looking forward to another year of CV leadership in the UK”.

The majority of the design and engineering work on the new Ford commercial vehicle range was conducted at Ford’s Dunton Technical Centre, Essex – the global centre of excellence for the company’s commercial vehicles and powertrain development.

                                                                                                                         
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Notes to editors

• Held at the Twickenham Rugby Stadium, the awards were decided by a panel of judges from the VansA2Z editorial team. 

• VansA2Z is a free-to-use site providing a fully comprehensive specification list for all vans and light trucks on sale in the UK. For each model range there is an independent appraisal and video road test along with the latest news.