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After years of suffering the knock-on effects of a stagnant economy, the UK's commercial vehicle market enjoyed a good year in 2013, selling a total of 327,291 vehicles.
Of these units, 271,073 were vans, a vehicle type that saw 13.1 per cent more sales, year-on-year.
Out of all vans sold, Ford's Transit range once again came out on top – by a significant margin. 44,143 Transits were sold over 2013 – more than the second and third placed vans combined. Among its accolades was the coveted Auto Express Van of the Year 2013 award – presented for the Transit Custom variation.
With Ford all but impossible to shift out of the top spot, competition was fierce for second position. Mercedes' Sprinter pipped the Vauxhall Vivaro at the post, with 19,154 versus 18,177 sales.
The Vivaro was actually the second best-selling van halfway through the year, but lost out to Mercedes as the year came to a close.
Both the Vivaro and the Sprinter have been praised for their body style ranges and the Vivaro for offering one of the biggest maximum loads in its class.
Volkswagen's Transporter and Citroen's Berlingo sold 15,647 and 13,531 units respectively, completing the top five best sellers in Britain.
Talking about the figures, the SMMT's Mike Hawes said: "The 2013 commercial vehicle market rose 14.7%, making it the best performance in the last five years."
Are you one of our van breakdown insurance customers considering buying a new van? Or perhaps you have already done so. If so, does Ford’s Transit deserve to be regarded as the best available? Or are other vans equally good? Why not leave your thoughts below.
Top five best-selling vans: Make, model, year to date sales
- Ford, Transit – 44,143
- Mercedes, Sprinter – 19,154
- Vauxhall, Vivaro – 18,177
- Volkswagen, Transporter, 15,647
- Citroen, Berlingo – 13,531
The remainder of the 271,073 vans sold were comprised of a variety of other van makes.
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