BRENTWOOD, Essex, 20 November 2009 – Ford has been named as Britain's most reliable van manufacturer in an authoritative survey of more than one million vehicles.
In a double success, the Transit was named the most reliable van for the third year running, with the Transit Connect in third place.
The annual reliability survey is published by Fleet News magazine and polls the UK's leading leasing companies, which together operate over 1,000,000 vehicles.
The leasing and contract hire companies – all running multi marque fleets – rated vehicles according to breakdowns per 100 of each model. This year's survey covered a total of 840,000 cars and 183,000 light commercial vehicles.
Steve Kimber, Ford of Britain commercial vehicle director, said: "Ford models have led the commercial vehicle market for 44 years. Their reliability record is of paramount importance, so I'm delighted by this Ford endorsement from top UK fleets."
Ford's continual investment in its commercial vehicles – much of it at Dunton technical centre in Essex and at Dagenham where most Transit diesel engines are built – ensures they continue to offer leading reliability and cost of ownership.
Stephen Briers, editor of Fleet News said: “This survey is the largest of its kind in the country and is based on feedback from those who really know about the reliability of vehicles – people who run hundreds of thousands of vehicles over many hundreds of thousands of miles.”
Most reliable van manufacturer
1. Ford
Most reliable van
1. Ford Transit