Groupe PSA’s jointly developed Peugeot e-Expert, Citroën e-Dispatch/ë-Jumpy, Opel & 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 e-Dispatch/ë-Jumpy, Opel & Vauxhall Vivaro-e as the International Van of the Year 2021 (IVOTY), a special presentation ceremony was held at PSA’s ADN 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, Senior Vice-President of Groupe PSA’s Light Commercial Vehicles Business Unit said: “On behalf of all those who have worked on making these vehicles come true, the Commercial Vehicle Business Unit and also colleagues from the different brands Peugeot, Citroën, Opel and Vauxhall, I warmly thank the jury members for this recognition, which is very important to us. We are all very proud and happy – to receive this prestigious International Van of the Year 2021 Award. 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 crowns both the LCV and the electrification strategies of the PSA Group.
We understand that it confirms the relevance of the electrification strategy we have designed for our LCV range – in which electrification comes with no compromise on performance nor functionality for our customers. 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.
We also know that 50% of our customers are highly BEV compatible through their uses and charging ability. So we strongly believe – and the IVOTY jury does too – that our electric medium van is the greatest solution to conciliate the more and more antagonist requirements of stringent local regulations and the urgent needs of entrepreneurs.
We all see more and more cities raising restrictions that aim at decreasing pollution and congestion charges on one hand … and on the other hand eCommerce is growing rapidly with its requirements for last miles deliveries at the heart of urban areas. As a result, more and more companies tenders move towards Battery Electric Vehicles, at a much higher pace than expected. In June last year we said that we expected to achieve 5% in sales penetration for the BEV version of our medium van for its first full year on the market in 2021.
I am pleased to inform you that while our electric vans have been on the market for a few months and we have a good perception of the trends, that the ratio of our electric sales in the medium van segment might even be twice as high in 2021! We expected 5%, we might end up around 10%! So all the trends 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, it also is a commercial success! And we hope we can continue on that path : as you know, the next step of our electrification strategy will come as early as this year, with the launch of our electric compact vans, the Peugeot e-Partner, Citroën e-Berlingo, Opel Combo-e and Vauxhall Combo-e.’’
Commenting from the virtual stage, Jarlath Sweeney, Chairman, IVOTY said : ‘’Thank you Xavier for your kind words. On the occasion of this, the 30th edition of our annual award, we dedicate this IVOTY trophy to our former Swedish jury member Anders Karlasson, 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 the 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 the PSA has come with the right offering at the right time. So congratulations to all involved in the development project.’’