International Truck and Van of the Year Winners

Two of the most significant commercial vehicles introduced in the past 12 months have been named International Truck and International Van of the Year 2017.

Scania’s brand new S-Series, with its flat floor cab, took the honour of International Truck of the Year 2017, while VW’s new Crafter won the prestigious International Van of the Year.

The awards are decided annually by an international jury of 25 journalists form the commercial vehicle trade press, who come together to evaluate the newest vehicles across the entire CV market.

Scania S 730 4x2 tractor with tanker trailer Malaga, Spain Photo: Gustav Lindh 2016

The new Scania S-Series was praised for its driver comfort, quality and safety innovations, including dual side curtain airbags, which is a first in the truck industry. It was also praised for its fuel efficiency, with improvements of up to 20 per cent over the manufacturer’s previous tractor units.

Jury chairman, Gianenrico Griffini – a renowned Italian automotive journalist – said, “With its new range, Scania has delivered a truck that represents a real state-of-the-art offering in the heavy duty segment, capable of satisfying not only today’s but also tomorrow’s transport needs.”

The S-Series was unveiled last month, and is set to go on sale in the UK in the first half of 2017.

“The award is the leading recognition in the industry that all our engineers and the entire Scania organisation have done an excellent job,” said Henrik Henriksson, Scania’s president and CEO.

“Our goal is to always meet our customers’ expectations and needs, and the jury’s motivation is a clear confirmation that we have followed the right approach with the new truck.”

The winner of the International Van of the Year accolade – the VW Crafter – was unveiled in a standalone ceremony in early September, ahead of its public debut at last week’s IAA Commercial Vehicle Show in Hannover, Germany. It means VW wins the top van award for the second year in succession, after taking the spoils for the Transporter T6 in the 2016 honours.tnb-vw-ecrafter

The Crafter is VW’s entry into the 3.5t to 5.5t sector, and is also the basis for truck maker MAN’s first entry into the LCV sector, the TGE. At the IAA CV Show last week, VW also unveiled an electric-powered version of the van called the eCrafter, which it says will be with customers by the end of next year.

“After the [Transporter T6] award last year, we are delighted to now receive this special award for the new Crafter as well,” said Dr Eckhard Scholz, Chairman of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles.