The awards were announced at a special ceremony hosted by the Lyon Chamber of Commerce in France and presided over by an international jury of 24 commercial vehicle journalists.

The Transporter took the van title for the third time. The award was given by the chairman of the jury, Jarlath Sweeney to the CEO of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, Dr Eckhard Scholz, who commented: “The prestigious award of International Van of the Year 2016 for our T-series is a powerful symbol for the performance of our team in Hannover. We see the award as a signal for a successful start to 2016.”

Meanwhile the Nissan pickup fought off competition from the Mitsubishi L200 and Ford Ranger with judges praising its on-road and off-road capabilities, strong engine performance and payload capacity.

Philippe Guérin-Boutaud, corporate vice president Nissan LCV BU, said: “This prestigious award celebrates Nissan’s 80 years of pick-up expertise. Rigorous testing by International Pick-up of the Year jurors illuminated the tough and innovative character of the all-new Navara.”