The Mercedes Benz Vito has been voted Continental Irish Van of the Year 2016 by the Irish Motoring Writers Association. The announcement was made today by Padraic Deane, chairman of the van jury of the Irish Motoring Writers’ Association (IMWA ).
Value-for-money, reliability, versatility, and lasting residual value were among the attributes sought by the judging panel.
Announcing the award, Padraic said: “Our five-man jury has a combined 100 years+ experienced in test driving and writing about vans and all light commercial vehicles. When we honour one van as the best by awarding it the Continental Irish Van of the Year title, it is something that you can take as a serious endorsement of any vehicle.”
“This year, the new Mercedes-Benz Vito Van is such a vehicle,” he commented. “It was the unanimous choice of all jury members and a very worthy overall winner from 14 excellent contenders.”
“Congratulations also to Citroen with the new Berlingo which was selected as the Continental Irish Small/ Compact Van of the Year 2016. The Peugeot 3008 Van was awarded the Continental Irish Car Derived Van of the Year 2016, while the new Mitsubishi L200 was awarded the 2016 Continental Irish Pick-Up of the Year.
“The light commercial vehicle market continues to recover at a great pace with ever improving quality, safety, fuel economy, and driver friendliness. All this, as well the enhanced choice of vehicles, is providing van owners and fleet managers with a wonderful and interesting dilemma about which LCVs to buy”.
The Vito succeeds the Ford Transit, last year’s winner.
