Volvo: The FH Electric is Truck of the Year 2024 🎥
AWARD Truck of the Year this year is the Volvo FH Electric and its heavy-duty electric siblings FM and FMX. This is the first time a series-produced electric truck has been chosen by the expert jury.
The prizes for the best truck, best van and best pick-up were awarded at the Solutrans trade fair in Lyon. MAN won the Truck Innovation Award, the Ford Transit Custom was named Van of the Year and the Pick-up Award went jointly to the Ford Ranger and Volkswagen Amarok.
Large selection of equipment
Volvo Trucks started series production of heavy-duty electric trucks around a year ago and has sold its 100th vehicle in Switzerland, for example. For the jury, in which TIR transNews is also represented, the wide range of possible applications for the heavy-duty e-series plays a central role, thanks to the large selection of battery sizes, axle configurations, engine outputs, cabs and chassis variants. With the Mercedes-Benz eActros 300/400, the Scania 45S and the Fuso eCanter, four of the five candidates were equipped with battery-electric drive systems.
MAN received the Truck Innovation Award for its truck automation projects. These projects have abbreviations such as ANITA and ATLAS-L4, in which MAN is working with renowned partners from research and industry to research what is needed for vehicles and the entire respective environment to be able to function autonomously - i.e. without a driver in the cockpit.
Ford Transit Custom on the podium
The Ford Transit Custom, designed on a completely new multi-energy platform, impressed the jury the most overall.
Ford Pro's new Transit Custom is the latest recipient of the "International Van of the Year" for 2024, with the jury of 24 members of leading commercial vehicle publications from across Europe (including TIR transNews) awarding top marks to the new Ford Transit Custom, ahead of the Iveco eDaily and Renault Trafic E-Tech.
Other finalists included the HYVIA Master E-Tech H2, the Mercedes-Benz eCitan and the Opel Vivaro-e Hydrogen, illustrating the variety and choice of powertrains available in the light commercial vehicle sector today.
Joint award for VW and Ford
The Ford Ranger has never been available in as many variants as the current generation. It also offers numerous new innovations for commercial e-use. The Ford Ranger and the Volkswagen Amarok share the Pick-up Award. This means that both Ford Pro and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles have now won the International Pick-up Award three times.
While the Ford Ranger and Volkswagen Amarok completed their hat-trick of IPUA wins, this time it was shared by models from the two brands. This was the first time since the global award was introduced in 2010.
Each model with its own character
Jarlath Sweeney, chairman of the jury: "After the comparative tests, it was impossible to separate the two models, as both the new Ranger and Amarok were developed together and are manufactured at the Ford plant in South Africa. Despite being a joint project, each manufacturer has managed to retain its unique design and driving characteristics, which customers will confirm."
In this seventh edition of the poll, the sixth-generation Ranger adds to the titles won in 2013 and 2020, while the original Amarok won its two previous trophies in 2011 and 2018 with the upgraded version.
