The “International Van of the Year 2013” award was given to the all-new Ford Transit Custom at the Hanover IAA Commercial Vehicle Show. It is actually the fourth car from the Transit family to get this much coveted award. The judges, who are composed of 24 specialist journalists, gave the Transit Custom 117 points from a possible 133 points. Its score is higher than the combined totals of the Dacia Dokker (which placed second) and Mercedes-Benz Citan (which got the No. 3 position). In the 22 years that this award has been given, the Ford Transit won in 2001, 2003, 2007, and now in 2013. Barb Samardzich, vice president of Product Development, Ford of Europe, described the Transit Custom as a new type of 1-tonne van as it has a great look and good handling but is also practical.
The 2013 trophy was given after the first press day of the Hanover show. At this show, Ford is presenting the all-new Transit Custom, which is the first of a totally new generation of 1-tonne commercial vehicles, along with the all-new Transit and all-new Transit Connect. Ford said recently that it is improving its global platform strategy and is completely redesigning all of its commercial vehicles for Europe over the next couple of years.
Transit Custom provides to-of-the-class load-carrying ability. It comes with several innovative loadspace features like the load-through hatch in the bulkhead for very long items, and the integrated roof rack which can be tucked away when not being used. In addition, the driver gains from the newest Ford technologies such as the Lane Keeping Aid and Ford SYNC. The class-leading fuel economy with a CO2 emissions level from 174 g/km is offered by the improved 2.2-litre Duratorq TDCi diesel available with Auto-Start-Stop. Meanwhile, cost-of-ownership is limited by the longest service intervals in the class at two-years/50,000 km/30,000 miles.
