Volkswagen Group has triumphed in the International Van of the Year 2017 competition, with its Crafter impressing the jury made up of 24 journalists from commercial vehicle magazines across Europe.
The Crafter scored a total of 101 points, just 12 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 (Euro-6). The Ford Transit Custom Euro-6 and the all-new Hyundai H350 were the two other shortlisted vans which were whittled down from a field of more than 10 new vehicles that have been launched in the past 12 months.
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.
The all-new Crafter is being manufactured in a purpose-built facility near Poznan, Poland, and incorporates several technologies not previously seen in the commercial vehicle segment, including lane-keeping assist.
