The Peugeot Partner is proving to be a lynchpin in the car derived van stable for Northgate, Europe's largest Light Commercial Vehicle fleet provider.

Official operational statistics compiled by Northgate show the Partner as one of the most reliable small vans on its fleet.

And as the Partner makes up more than 90% 7,800 Peugeot vehicles within Northgate’s colossal 60,000-plus fleet, the man responsible for overseeing every vehicle has heralded the Partner for its reliability.

John Fleet, Northgate UK asset director, said: "The Peugeot Partner is arguably the best kept secret in the LCV sector, quite simply it never goes wrong. I can’t remember a time when the new Partner has proved problematic, let us down or had to visit a workshop for anything other than a routine service."

These sentiments were echoed by Gary Dean. As Northgate’s UK engineering manager, he oversees the maintenance of the entire fleet via the 56 technical centres, which make up Northgate’s UK and Northern Ireland network.

He said: "The Peugeot Partner is one of the most reliable car-derived vans in our fleet.

"Officially, our data shows Peugeot – specifically the Partner - as having a low number of defects – per percentage of any marque within our fleet. We are very happy with the Peugeot Partner."

Considering the size and variety of the fleet at his disposal, Dean went one step further by adding that if he was personally in the market and funding a car-derived van, he "wouldn’t hesitate" in buying one.

Northgate is the leading commercial vehicle hire company by fleet size in Europe, its core business is the hire of light commercial vehicles to other businesses on flexible length contracts, providing its customers the flexibility to manage their vehicles without a long-term commitment.

Phil Robson, Peugeot fleet director, said: “A lot has been spoken and written about the vast improvement in quality in our cars, but in truth those strides have been made across everything bearing a Peugeot badge, and that includes our LCVs.

"We have witnessed a 63% year on year increase in sales within this sector, this phenomenal achievement in these current times is no accident. Quite simply, our customers are realising just how outstandingly good our vehicles, in this case specifically the Partner, are.

"While we are extremely confident in all our products, to hear such compliments from someone of John Fleet’s wealth of experience is extremely pleasing."

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