Trafic/Vivaro voted International Van of the Year

1 January 2002: Renault and Opel have jointly won the European Van of the Year 2002 for their Trafic/Vivaro van, which also won the Semperit Irish Car of the Year 2002 last November.

And Opel doubled its success with the second place won by the new Opel Combo delivery van (which was not launched in Ireland early enough for the ICOTY competition).

The Trafic/Vivaro got the most votes from a jury of commercial vehicle journalists from 20 European countries. It is also van of the year in Denmark.

Produced at Luton in Bedfordshire, the Trafic/Vivaro was also chosen as the best new van in the 2001 Fleet World publication honours.

For the latest international award, the jury assessed 10 vehicles with a gross vehicle weight of up to 3.5 metric tons. With 115 points, the Trafic/Vivaro was well ahead of its chief rivals, the Opel Combo (34 points), the Ford Transit (24) and Fiat Doblo (19).

The Trafic/Vivaro stands out from the crowd with its low operating costs. The routine maintenance interval is now 30,000 kilometres (or two years) and the engines are built to last 250,000 kilometres.

In the field of safety, the vehicle sets out to be the best in its class, due in particular to its impressive braking system which can bring it to a halt in 43 metres maximum, according to AMS-type braking tests.

January 2002