Wessex Water has taken delivery of 67 Renault Kangoo vans to be used by Wessex Water’s scientists, water samplers and inspectors.

The water company said that “impressive” wholelife costs was a key factor in its decision to reinvest in the Renault Kangoo, the business having first run the award-winning LCV over seven years ago. Renault vehicles now account for about 60% of Wessex ater’s 450 vehicles.

The Kangoo’s ability to meet its Euro 6 emissions without the need for AdBlue was another major plus, saving running costs and enhancing ease-of-use and convenience for Wessex Water operatives, it said.

All of the vans are powered by the dCi 75 1.5-litre diesel engine, which returns up to 65.7mpg (combined) with CO2 emissions of 112g/km. In Wessex Water’s chosen Business trim, standard features include DAB radio with AUX input, USB and Bluetooth connectivity, electric door mirrors and electric front windows, remote central locking, and ESC (Electronic Stability Control) with Hill Start Assist and Grip Xtend, which optimises traction of both front wheels depending on the conditions.

Wessex Water enhanced its vehicles with the factory-fitted additions of the R-Link multimedia system with built-in satellite navigation and a 68mph speed limiter.

Already benefitting from a standard full steel bulkhead, the rear load areas have been tailored to the requirements of Wessex Water with bespoke racking systems and sanitation systems by QI Van Systems. Specialist converter Tevo has also equipped a number of vehicles with additional lighting and warning beacons.

As with Wessex Water’s previous Renault Kangoos, all its latest vans have been supplied by Fish Brothers Renault in Swindon. As a Renault PRO+ Business Centre, Fish Brothers has a dedicated, business-focused division that offers a number of benefits to corporate customers, including out of hours servicing, free collection and delivery within a 20-minute drive from the dealership, tailored finance and a wide array of vehicles and conversions available for test drive.

Wessex Water also enjoys the reassurance of the three-year/100,000-mile warranty and roadside assistance package that comes as standard with all Renault LCVs.

Martin Crocker, head of fleet at Wessex Water, said: “The Kangoo continues to be perfect for our requirements, representing great value and being popular with our operatives. Our previous ones proved to have near bulletproof reliability, racking up 25,000 miles a year, and the residuals have stood up equally well. For us, there are very few other small vans that offer such an attractive package.

“Based on our experiences of the Kangoo we’ve now ordered a Z.E version, which we’ll appraise with a view to adding more in the future, and also our first Renault Trafic, which compares very competitively against some of the larger vans we’ve chosen in the past.”

Vincent Tourette, managing director of Groupe Renault UK, said: “It’s excellent to see such a highly regarded business as Wessex Water continue to call on the Renault Kangoo for its small LCV needs. Even more pleasing is that its positive learnings from using our vans day-in, day out for a number of years is set to have a greater influence on its fleet and also as it takes its first steps into using electric vehicles.”

The Renault Kangoo range encompasses the Panel Van, the longer Maxi that is also available in Crew Van and Crew Van Cab configurations, and the Z.E, which is Europe’s best-selling all-electric van and which also comes in Panel Van, Crew Van and Crew Van Cab bodystyles.

The Kangoo is available in Business, Business+ and Formula Edition levels of trim that have been specifically developed with the requirements of the business user in mind. The Renault Kangoo range starts from £15,530.00 ex. VAT.

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