Isuzu

One area of the commercial vehicle world that has recorded continual growth in recent years is the van conversion sector, with manufacturers and convertors alike offering a plethora of options for your van or pick-up. Cherry-pickers, refrigerated vans, tippers, it’s all on the menu for small businesses to customise mainstream vehicles to match their needs. Here we take a look at some of the main contenders

Conversions profile: Isuzu

Isuzu offers businesses a unique take on conversions

Isuzu UK’s designated National Fleet Department, which is mainly located at the brand’s Birmingham HQ, prides itself on providing excellent customer service and working in conjunction with the Isuzu homologation and technical teams, and the dedicated Fleet Conversion Centre, to ensure Isuzu UK is in a unique position to offer fleet customers a specialised build-to order service.

And all this is done while retaining the manufacturer warranty and ensuring that the capability and safety of the vehicle are not compromised in any way.

The dedicated Fleet Conversion Centre is at a 32-acre site in Sheerness, which holds upwards of 6,000 vehicles at any one time, with five workshops, and its own onsite body shop. The centre is staffed by fully trained and certified Isuzu technicians and carries a VCA second stage accreditation. This means it is capable of carrying out a vast array of vehicle conversions, tailored to the needs of individual fleet customers. The fully Type Approved vehicles can then be prepared and delivered directly to customers, ready to be put straight to work.

Isuzu UK’s fleet department provides an expert design consultation process for customers, taking into consideration best practices, vehicle capabilities and requirements, weights and all health and safety legislation to ensure a fleet customer’s vehicle will meet the stringent sign-off process.

All elements of the process and build are overseen by Isuzu UK’s Homologation and Technical Director, ensuring that every conversion fully complies with the VCA National Small Series Approval and N1 enhancement process.

To assist with this, Isuzu UK has a dedicated fleet prototype facility and the ability to build a fully operational prototype vehicle for final customer sign-off. Uniquely, this also enables Isuzu UK to provide a full three-year warranty on all elements of a conversion, with the vehicles also being supported when ‘in the field’ by the 104 Isuzu dealers in the UK network.

Neil Scott, National Fleet Sales Manager, Isuzu UK said: “Our fleet team and our dedicated Fleet Conversion Centre demonstrate the versatility and professional approach that enables us to provide a one-stop-shop for Isuzu fleet customers.

“We have produced a number of vehicles for numerous customers that demonstrate the adaptability and flexibility of not only the Isuzu D-Max pick-up but also the service that we can provide to meet the varying demands of our current and future customers.

“We believe this one-stop-shop approach means that we can help to minimise not only the overall cost of a vehicle and conversion but also any potential future vehicle downtime when it comes to repairing or replacement of any components.”

Contact Neil Scott at nscott@isuzu.co.uk or call 07785 618 142.

The Sheerness site can host upwards of 6,000 vehicles at any one time

D-Max boost as new variants added to range

Isuzu UK has introduced six new variants to the award-winning D-Max range, expanding customer choice from 11 to 17 models.

The new versions mainly fall within the Business range, with auto transmission now available for Utility Extended Cab, Utility Double Cab and DL20 Extended Cab vehicles, which were previously only offered as manual. In addition, a rear differential lock is now available for Utility Single Cab, Utility Extended Cab and Utility Double Cab models, meaning the rear differential lock is now available across all levels of the range.

The Utility models are ideally suited to hard-working environments, with features such as an easily-cleanable vinyl floor covering and robust steel wheels, while the bumpers, door mirrors and door handles are made from hard-wearing and durable black plastic. Utility models also feature a wide range of safety features to ensure drivers are as productive, safe and as comfortable as possible, resulting in this award-winning pick-up being anything but basic. Comfort and convenience are assured in this versatile pick-up thanks to automatic headlights with high-beam assist, automatic windscreen wipers, speed-sensitive power steering, DAB radio and a start&stop system.

With safety of paramount importance, the Advanced Driver Assist Systems (ADAS) are standard on all models and include autonomous emergency braking, traffic sign recognition, intelligent speed limiter and lane departure warning & prevention included. Double Cab models further benefit from rear cross-traffic alert, blind-spot monitoring and emergency lane-keeping assistance. These class-leading systems resulted in the Isuzu D-Max being awarded five stars in the latest Euro NCAP safety tests, a unique achievement for a pick-up.