Groupe PSA’s jointly developed Peugeot e-Expert, Citroën ë-Dispatch, Opel Vivaro-e & Vauxhall Vivaro-e presented with the International Van of the Year 2021 (IVOTY) trophy.
Groupe PSA’s jointly developed Peugeot e-Expert, Citroën ë-Dispatch, Opel Vivaro-e & Vauxhall Vivaro-e presented with the International Van of the Year 2021 (IVOTY) trophy.
To officially mark the election of Groupe PSA’s jointly developed Peugeot e-Expert, Citroën ë-Dispatch, Opel Vivaro-e and Vauxhall Vivaro-e as the International Van of the Year 2021 (IVOTY), a special presentation ceremony was held at PSA’s ‘AND’ R&D Center in Velizy, near Paris on Wednesday, 24 February 2021.
French IVOTY jury member Richard Pizzol presented the official trophy to Xavier Peugeot, Senior Vice-President of Groupe PSA’s Light Commercial Vehicles Business Unit on behalf of his colleagues at a live web-based broadcast.
On receiving the prestigious trophy, Xavier Peugeot said: “On behalf of all those who have worked on making these vehicles come true, the engineers, the Commercial Vehicle Business Unit and our colleagues from the different brands Peugeot, Citroën, Opel and Vauxhall, I warmly thank the jury members for this prestigious International Van of the Year 2021 Award. It makes us very proud and happy! No prize can be of greater importance to us, as it comes from highly competent experts from 25 different countries across Europe representing millions of users. Beyond our efforts to develop and introduce these electric vans on the market, this award also confirms the relevance of our LCV strategy at three levels:
First, our electrification takes place with no compromise on performance: Our thermic medium vans are very successful thanks to their practicality and functionality, and our ambition was to deliver the same assets with the electric version. Which we do!
Second: Our electric medium vans are perfectly in line with customers’ needs: We know that 44 % of our customers in the medium van segment never drive more than 300 km per day and, that 83% of them drive less than 200 km per day in average. This is the reason why we are offering a double range autonomy with two different battery sizes of 50 and 75 kW.
Third, we have a full electrification strategy: We announced last year that 100% of our LCV range would be electrified by the end of 2021, and we confirm that it will be the case, especially with the launch in just a few months of our electric small van, Peugeot e-Partner, Citroën ë-Berlingo, Opel Combo-e and Vauxhall Combo-e.
Concretely, more and more companies’ tenders move towards Battery Electric Vehicles, at a much higher pace than expected. Our order books so far show us that the market confirms the choice of the IVOTY jury in Groupe PSA winning the International Van of the Year 2021: Beyond what this trophy symbolises, our electric medium vans from Peugeot, Citroën, Opel and Vauxhall are also commercial successes!’’
Commenting from the virtual stage, Jarlath Sweeney, Chairman, IVOTY said: ‘’Thank you Xavier for your kind words. On the occasion of this 30th edition of our annual award, we dedicate this IVOTY trophy to our former Swedish jury member Anders Karlsson, who passed away last Autumn. Groupe PSA’s electric quadruplets, as the International Van of the Year 2021 title holders, provide a strong push for e-mobility in professional businesses and the scaling up of emission-free transport. They offer a convincing package with flexible two battery-concept, powerful enough, with a smooth and silent driveline and a consistent DC quick charger as standard. We believe that PSA has come with the right offering at the right time. So congratulations to all involved in the development project.’’
Issued by the International Van of the Year Award jury – www.van-of-the-year.com
