Fleet managers 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.

The awards were presented in the Grosvenor House Hotel on Wednesday evening at a dinner attended by Transport Minister Robert Goodwill MP, and more than 1,550 guests associated with the fleet industry
in the UK.

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 beat the Volkswagen Golf into second place for the Best Lower-medium Car.

The Vauxhall Insignia was judged Best Upper-medium Car, with the Peugeot 208 taking the
Best Small Car title.

Citroën’s Grand C4 Picasso was awarded Best Seven-seat People Carrier, while the Land Rover Discovery won Best All-round 4x4.

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.

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