By RAM Tracking on 8 Feb 2023

It's important that you get reliable vans to carry out your jobs on a day-to-day basis - ones that are fuel-economical so you are not reducing your bottom line just to keep vehicles moving every day. But with the top-rated and the most popular vehicles, unfortunately, this brings the attention of potential thieves, hoping to get a high-quality vehicle for free.

Top 10 most popular vans (by units sold)

  1. Ford Transit Custom sold 42,215 units. 
  2. Ford sold 33,203 of their standard Transit models.
  3. Mercedes Sprinter sold 17,034 units in 2022.
  4. 16,830 Vauxhaul Vivaro's were sold last year.
  5. There were 16,827 Ford Ranger's sold in 2022.
  6. VolksWagen sold 15,164 Transporters in 2022.
  7. The Transit Connect series by Ford sold 8,218 in 2022.
  8. 8,131 Peugeot Expert's were sold last year.
  9. Renault sold 8,085 units of their Trafic series.
  10. The VolksWagen Crafter sold 7,455 units in 2022. 

However, these only speak for half of the picture, this is a case of the most popular vans of 2022 - you also have to take into account the most reliable vans of last year. This was done by a study that is carried out each year where 50 of the biggest leasing companies in the UK take warranty and breakdown issues into account to get a better idea of the reliability of their vans. 

Top 10 most reliable vans 

(This list goes from most reliable to least reliable in the top 10 list)

  1. Mercedes Sprinter
  2. VolksWagen Transporter
  3. Nissan NV200
  4. Mercedes Vito
  5. VolksWagen Caddy
  6. Vauxhall Vivaro
  7. Ford Transit
  8. VolksWagen Crafter
  9. Renault Trafic
  10. Citroen Berlingo

So, this shows that popularity doesn't equal reliability. There are a few reasons that the Ford Transit van sits comfortably at the top of the popularity list without being the highest rated for reliability. It is still very reliable whilst having a decent payload capacity, it can be customised to fit your needs and finally, it's an affordable van with decent fuel economy and running costs.

But, one other thing you must keep in mind is the vans that are most likely to be stolen. The popularity of the vans is a key indicator of the vans that are stolen, as the two vehicles which are stolen most frequently year on year are the Ford Transit and the Mercedes Sprinter. 

  • The Mercedes Sprinter 313 CDI was stolen 1,460 times in 2019
  • The Mercedes Sprinter 314CDI was stolen 1,135 times in 2019
  • Various versions of the Ford Transit van were collectively stolen 3,518 times in 2019

This makes up the entirety of top 10 most stolen vans in 2019. However, you must keep in mind that The Ford Transit and the Mercedes Sprinter are the most popular vans on the market, so of course they will make up the majority of thefts. But, it's important to remember that these vans are the most at risk of theft. 

With the most popular vehicles on the market being the targets for theft it's important to get van tracking in place, vehicle tracking systems help to improve your chances of recovering a vehicle significantly. You will get a notification on vehicles moving when they are not meant to, for example, which allows you to quickly alert the authorities and give them the real-time location of your van. 

RAM Tracking discretely install our vehicle tracking devices to help ensure that thieves are unable to tamper with the device, not all companies have it installed in the same way and just have it just slightly tucked away. This leaves it at risk of being disposed of, leaving you without any tracking capability.

There was a case in 2020 where a Ford Transit van was loaded up with hundreds of thousands worth of IT equipment, but the police were quickly alerted to the situation and the location of the vehicle, ensuring that the stolen equipment could be found in a timely manner. Further showing the effectiveness of a vehicle tracker.

A RAM Tracking vehicle tracker can be implemented at an affordable price giving you access to not only a web app but also a mobile app so you can easily get updates on the go from your phone. 

Talk to us today, we'd love to get you booked for a demo.

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