What Van? Britain's biggest and best van buyers' guide

Volkswagen endured a bruising final quarter to 2015 when the emissions rigging scandal knocked back the brand and overshadowed the launch of two of its crucial LCVs, the Caddy and the Transporter.

Nevertheless, the commercial vehicle division did manage to grow sales by 8% to 47,739, giving it an 11.6% market share, to hang on to its second-top spot in the market and lead UK boss Carl zu Dhona to describe last year as an “absolute record”.

Caddy sales dipped from 14,338 to 13,353 as the brand moved to switch the supply from Euro5 versions, which were caught up in the emissions saga, to Euro6 derivatives, of which there was a shortfall. At the same time VW lowered Euro6 model prices to match those of the withdrawn Euro5 vans.

Transporter volume increased from 20,509 to 22,062 with the T6 launched in September, but its share of the medium van sector fell from 19% to 16.5%.

Sales of the large Crafter van reached 8027, the first time they have exceeded 8000 in the UK and sales of the Amarok pick-up grew to 3889 from 3109, with supply now matching demand, according to VW.

All in all a total of 76,000 LCVs have been affected by the emissions scandal in the UK, consisting of 1.6-litre Euro5 Caddy vans and 2000 Amarok pick-ups.

Volkswagen says the fixes for both the Caddys, which require a software update and the fitting of an airflow transformer, and the Amaroks will begin in September.

With the damage to its reputation and with the brand also shifting 13,223 used vans through its network last year – a figure it says has grown 13% in two years – VW is now concentrating on delivering the best customer service it can.

“A chain is only as strong as its weakest link,” says zu Dhona.

The manufacturer is to return to the CV Show in April this year, in stark contrast to 2015 when it held a static unveiling of the T6 in Germany when the NEC event was taking place, and will use the occasion to rebuild bridges with operators and restore confidence.

“It’s a great opportunity to meet with the network and customers,” zu Dhona says.

Visitors to the VW stand will not be distracted by the unveiling of any major new products because both the new Crafter and Amarok will make their debuts five months later at the IAA Show in Hanover.

The Amarok will go on sale in the third quarter of 2016 followed by the Crafter, which will be an exclusive VW product, built at its new plant in Poland, following the termination of the agreement with Mercedes that saw previous generations of the large van based on the (Mercedes) Sprinter.

The CV Show will also come too early to host the reveal of the Sportline Transporter T6, which is set to arrive this summer.

But the Crafter is the model VW hopes will be the game changer.

Zu Dhona says: “It will enable us to compete in a sector we haven’t been able to address [in large volumes] with the current model.”