VAUXHALL'S Vivaro van range has entered a third generation and has a fresh new look and a raft of features which not only appeal to the fleet user but the massive numbers of one-person businesses which have become a significant market force in the UK.
The latest Vivaro offers top class build quality and practicality with improved cargo dimensions and large payload capability.
The bold new exterior design features Vauxhall's trademark 'sculptural' design language used for the first time on a commercial vehicle.
It also is equipped with a range of new engines including a cutting edge BiTurbo that delivers up to 47.9mpg and CO emissions as low as 155g/km.
Vauxhall has recognised that the new Vivaro is a massively important move, as does the management of parent company General Motors.
So significant was the arrival that the President of General Motors, Dan Ammann turned up at the launch at the company's Luton plant where it is made.
Mr Ammann said: 'This is a tremendously important launch. We are now able to step up the commercial business at Vauxhall. It is all part of the turn-around for our business here.'
The plant is the last van-building factory in Britain, since the closure of Ford's Southampton factory and is the modern day culmination of a history that goes back to 1905.
The old Bedford name for its vans has now been dropped in favour of Vauhall but the name Bedford Luton Van lives on as a fond memory for many who drove them decades ago.
Vauxhall recognised that the outgoing model with its highly individual looks was a hard act to follow. So it asked its army of Vivaro drivers what they wanted from the new van.
The answer was clear: for it to be more car-like to use.
The cabin on the new van is designed for comfort and control with high levels of specification that turns the new Vivaro in to a mobile office incorporating the very latest infotainment.
Van drivers spend hours behind the wheel and now they have car-like comfort and technology to go with a vehicle that is not only fine to drive but also highly practical.
Competition comes courtesy of the Volkswagen Transporter, Ford Transit Custom, the Mercedes-Benz Vito and Renault Trafic.
The new Vivaro is priced from £17,995.