Van manufacturers speedy transition from combustion engines to electric drivetrains, together with ongoing innovations are to be recognised by the International Van of the Year (IVOTY) jury at the IAA Transportation 2022 in Hannover, Germany on 19 September.
International van of the year SOLUTRANS

All of the six brands nominated for the 31st running of the prestigious pan-European annual award have battery electric options. Among the contenders are new light commercial vehicle offerings from Fiat Professional, Ford Pro, Renault, Nissan, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles.

The announcement and presentation of the IVOTY 2023 trophy will take place at a special ceremony the H’UP Hybrid Event hub, on the eve of the opening day of the IAA Transportation exhibition at the Hannover Messe.

Fiat Professional has both powertrain options from two new models within its revised range with the new Doblò & E-Doblò and the new Scudo & E-Scudo. They both slot smoothly into the Stellantis family, sharing body shells, drivetrains and other components from sister brands such as Peugeot, Citroen, Opel & Vauxhall. Ford Pro is in contention for the main prize with the E-Transit, the next phase of electromobility developments that follow on from the IVOTY 2020 award winning EcoBlue Hybrid Transits.

The Renault-Nissan Alliance, which produces the new Kangoo E-Tech, new Nissan Townstar zero-emission has another collaboration and manufacturing partner with Mercedes-Benz in the shape of the new eCitan. These three new vans will be voted as one in this competition. At the Solutrans 2021 exhibition in Lyon, France, the combustion engine variants of the Kangoo and Citan jointly won the IVOTY Award 2022.

International Van of the Year Logo

Finally, a totally new concept has been created by Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles with the ID.Buzz Cargo. Positioned parallel with the Transporter 6.1, ID.Buzz is targeted at the inter-urban marketplace.

Commenting on the variety and close competition or the 24-strong member IVOTY jury in deciding the overall winner, Jarlath Sweeney, Chairman IVOTY said: “We admire and applaud manufacturers in the LCV sector in which they collectively invest heavily in developing new high-tech, innovative vans. Not only do they meet market trends but also adhering to emission free targets. As the future is carbon free as we know, so too will the next award winning van from this jury, and this will be for the third occasion in the past decade that we honour zero-emission LCVs in this way,” he said.

Winners of the 2022 International ULV of the Year Award
trucks in circulation

Thanks to the industry professionals

With regard to the coronavirus epidemic, the FFC – French Bodywork Federation and organiser of SOLUTRANS, wishes to reiterate its commitment to the transport sector and all the professionals working within it.
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