Fleet managers in the UK have voted the BMW 5 Series ‘New Company Car of the Year’, while BMW has been named ‘Fleet Manufacturer of the Year’ at the biggest ever Fleet News Awards ceremony.
The two headline awards are voted for in an online poll by fleet manager readers, where only those with responsibility for their company fleet are sent a unique code with their copy of Fleet News allowing them to take part and to vote just once.
Most of the awards are voted for by panels of experts, whose discussions are audited by Deloitte to ensure the judging process has been fair and unbiased.
On the two headline award wins, Fleet News editor-in-chief Stephen Briers said: “The BMW 5 Series has been freshened with a broader range of diesel versions which reduce running costs, but one thing that hasn’t changed is its peerless driver appeal. The 5 Series remains the benchmark in the sector.
“BMW continues to set the standard when it comes to providing a range of outstanding, low cost model backed with the excellent level of support needed to satisfy fleets. It remains the most desirable brand for both fleets and their drivers to have on their choice lists.”
The BMW 5 Series, revised in summer 2013, also won Best Executive Car, while the i3 took the ‘Best Ultra-low Carbon Car’ award. BMW was also chosen as the ‘Green Fleet Manufacturer of the Year’.
Skoda picked up two awards: one for the Octavia estate as ‘Best Estate Car’ and the other for the Yeti as ‘Best Crossover’.
Volvo’s latest Drive-E engine allowed the S60 and V60 to wrestle away the ‘Best Premium Car’ trophy from the BMW 3 Series, while the Seat Leon took the ‘Best Lower-medium Car’.
The Vauxhall (Opel) Insignia was judged ‘Best Upper-medium Car’, with the Peugeot 208 taking the ‘Best Small Car’ title.
Citroen’s Grand C4 Picasso was awarded ‘Best Seven-seat People Carrier’, while the Land Rover Discovery won ‘Best All-round 4×4′.
Mercedes-Benz picked up two awards: the S-Class took the ‘Best Chauffeur Car’ award, while the company was also judged to be the ‘Most Improved Fleet Manufacturer’.
Fleet News Awards Winners
New Company Car of the Year – BMW 5 Series,
Fleet Manufacturer of the Year – BMW,
Best Small Car – Peugeot 208,
Best Lower Medium Car – Seat Leon,
Best Upper Medium Car – Vauxhall Insignia,
Best Estate Car – Skoda Octavia estate,
Best Chauffeur Car – Mercedes-Benz S-Class,
Best All-round 4×4 – Land Rover Discovery,
Best Seven-seat People Carrier – Citroen Grand C4 Picasso,
Best Crossover – Skoda Yeti,
Best Premium Car – Volvo S60/V60,
Best Executive Car – BMW 5 Series,
Best Ultra-low CO2 Car – BMW i3,
Green Fleet Manufacturer of the Year – BMW,
Most Improved Fleet Manufacturer of the Year – Mercedes-Benz.