Van Centre:
Whatever you call them, the Caddy has gained recognition from lots of respected bodies. Here are some of the most recent awards we have received.
The Fleet World Honours are presented annually to those motor manufacturers who have, in the opinion of the judges, achieved the highest possible level of excellence in their sector. In the Commercial Vehicle awards, Volkswagen's Caddy won the accolade for Best Small Van.
The judging panel is chaired by industry professional, George Emmerson, who has managed fleets at IBM, NHBC and Black Horse Agencies. Members of the panel include Ken Rogers, John Kendall, and Ross Durkin from Fleet World's editorial team, and fleet manager Jackie Pomfrett. Residual value, maintenance cost and reliability data is also provided by ALD Automotive, Masterlease and ING Car Lease.
Volkswagen's Head of Fleet Services, Vincent Kinner, said: "We're delighted to have been recognised in this way. Our products are key to the brand's popularity, but of equal importance to me is to ensure our people and the fleet back-up we provide to customers large and small are just as good, if not better."
John Kendall, Editor of Commercial Fleet World commented: "Good build quality and an expanding range of proven diesel engines are important factors in Volkswagen’s success. The company has added the Caddy Maxi range, offering a choice of cargo and passenger carrying combinations."
National Fleet Manager at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, Chris Blue, added: "These awards are a great endorsement for us and add to the already impressive list of accolades given to these vans. I’m very proud of our vehicles and our network of dedicated Van Centres who serve our fleet customers across the UK."
A panel of industry experts has judged the Volkswagen Caddy to be the Best Small Van in the 2008 Fleet News Awards, and also shortlisted the Volkswagen Transporter and Crafter for the Best Medium Van and Best Large Van awards.
Commenting on the awards, the judges said the Volkswagen Caddy had "superb build quality, proven reliability and fantastic residual values".
Chris Blue, National Fleet Manager, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles said: "A strong reputation for reliability and class-leading whole life costs are key strengths of the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles range, so we're delighted that the Caddy as well as the Transporter and Crafter vans all achieved such a high profile in these awards.
These strengths, plus the back-up of Volkswagen's unique network of dedicated Van
Centres, helped deliver record sales again last year – and more satisfied fleet
customers,"
he continued.
The judges for the van awards consisted of Peter Howard – Head of Fleet Supply at British Telecom, Nick Skillman – Director Northgate PLC, David Fildes – LCV valuation manager at CAP, plus Martyn Moore and Trevor Gelken – editors of Fleet News and Fleet Van, respectively.
With the Caddy, Transporter, Crafter, plus the Caddy Maxi, the award-winning Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles range offers a van to suit every customer, with load volumes from 3.2 m3 up to 17.0 m3 and payloads from 720 kg up to 2,418 kg.
For the second year running, the Volkswagen Caddy DSG (Direct Shift Gearbox) has achieved honours at the What Van? magazine Van of the Year Awards.
The Caddy DSG, which uses twin clutch technology to provide faster gear changes than a conventional automatic gearbox, received the exclusive Editor’s Choice award at the magazine’s 2007 awards ceremony in London on Wednesday 28th November. Last year the Volkswagen DSG won the What Van? Technology Award.
‘More and more manufacturers are offering an alternative to the conventional manual gearbox as an extra-cost option. Nobody, however, has come up with a solution that is quite as novel – or quite as effective – as Volkswagen’s DSG. It’s so impressive that it’s a worthy winner of the What Van? Editor’s Choice Award for 2007,’ said Neil McIntee, the Editor of What Van? magazine.
Gemma Cox, Product Manager, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles said: ‘The What Van? awards are a great testament to Volkswagen’s advanced and efficient technology in the Caddy DSG and the quality Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles provide.’
The efficient, six-speed Volkswagen DSG uses two clutches which allow gear changes to occur in less than four hundredths of a second, enabling it to achieve the same 0-62 mph time of 13.3 seconds as the manual transmission with the same 1.9-litre, 104 PS TDI PD engine.
For the driver, the DSG is as easy to use as a conventional automatic transmission with added bonus of being able to select a manual mode and change gear by simply nudging the gearlever up or down.
The DSG is unique in the commercial vehicle market and is exclusively available in the Volkswagen Caddy van with an on the road price of £12,836.28 excluding VAT – a premium of only £1,000 over the equivalent model with manual transmission.
Other recent awards for the Volkswagen Caddy include Best Small Van from Van Fleet World and Professional Van & Light Truck magazines.
The revolutionary double clutch DSG gearbox, available as an option on the Caddy, claimed the What Van? Technology award. The judges commented: ‘For several years manufacturers have been searching for an alternative to the conventional manual gearbox in a bid to make the lives of drivers on stop-start delivery work in city centres a bit easier. Some manufacturers have offered conventional automatic boxes as an option. Some have offered automated manual transmissions. But none of them have come up with a ‘box that’s as technically elegant - or as enjoyable to use - as Volkswagen's six-speed DSG; the winner of What Van?’s Technology award for 2006.’
Commenting on the company’s successes, Ralf Schueler, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles’ Head of Marketing said: ‘We’re delighted that our products have been recognised by What Van? in these awards. We strive to offer our customers the best products to enable them to run their businesses successfully. At the same time, we continue to offer them the very highest standards of customer service to keep them on the road.’
This news comes in the week that Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles broke the 24,000 unit barrier, surpassing last year’s total sales in just ten and a half months and setting a sixth consecutive record for the brand.
The Volkswagen Caddy was awarded the best small van honour and the Crafter won the hard fought best large panel van title at the prestigious Professional Van and Light Truck Awards, held in Birmingham recently.
The Caddy was singled out for particular praise, commended by the judges as it scored an emphatic win. John Fife, Editor of Professional Van & Light Truck Magazine said: “The new Caddy introduced new levels of driver and passenger comfort to the small van market. The introduction of the DSG gearbox to the range highlights Volkswagen’s commitment to commercial vehicles.”
The cut glass trophy was presented to Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles’ head of marketing, Ralf Schueler. On collecting the award Schueler said: “This is a tremendous honour, the Caddy has proved a sustained success for Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles and continues to grow in popularity - helping us to achieve record sales in the UK.”
Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles enjoyed a record 110,100 sales worldwide in the first-quarter of 2007. Revealing the results Stefan Shaller, spokesman for the Volkswagen board, commented: “Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles has continued its record journey in the first quarter of this year which is great motivation. This is the best first quarter in the history of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles.”
The Crafter scooped the best large van award on the first anniversary of its debut at the 2006 Commercial Vehicles Show. Now available with the advanced new Shiftmatic automated gearbox which deletes the clutch pedal and speeds up changes and with a range of new official conversions, including a tipper and dropside bodies the Crafter has proved a hit with UK van buyers.
Fife commented: “The judges liked the vehicle’s versatility and the new 2.5-litre, five-cylinder engine which not only performs well but also sounds good!”
Robert Hazelwood, Director of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles UK, commented: “To win two awards is a tremendous achievement which underlines the quality of the product. Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles continues to go from strength to strength with exciting new vehicles and a committed network of Van Centres striving to build on our already high standards of customer care.”