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

With the tough new European Whole Vehicle Type Approval rules threatening the survival of scores of small body-building firms, light commercial vehicle manufacturers have spotted an opportunity for expansion in moving to plug the hole in the market this will create.

According to Ron Cocker, Type Approval manager for the Vehicle Builders and Repairers Association, the bureaucratic burden of the legislation could force a quarter of small, specialist body builders to the wall.

Vauxhall in particular has signaled its intention to pick up the slack.

The Luton-based manufacturer claims it now has its largest ever range of core and recognised conversions and is aiming for further growth.

Core conversions are ready-to-run factory-built models whereas Vauxhall uses a selection of body-builder partners to carry out recognized conversions, which tend to meet more niche requirements where the numbers are too small to warrant the production of a core model.

Vauxhall’s CV brand manager Steve Bryant says: “We are taking the lead on Type Approval. We have briefed body builders on the rules and we want to show converters we can work with them.”

He estimates conversions account for 35% of sales of LCVs weighing from 3.5-tonnes. The Movano provides the base for the majority of Vauxhall conversions with the most popular bodystyles being tippers, dropsides and boxsides.

Vauxhall now offers a choice of 56 core conversions of the Movano compared to just 13 of the previous generation model. They are approved to EWVTA standards and come with a full three-year manufacturer warranty covering both chassis and conversion.

Recognised conversions cover more specialised applications and for these models the body builder matches the manufacturer warranty on the base model with its cover of the conversion. Vauxhall says these vehicles tend to be locally developed and adapted to meet the customers’ requirements.

Vauxhall’s Special Vehicle Engineering team based at Millbrook Proving Ground validates all recognised conversions.

The brand is working with 10 body builders approved under EWVTA rules.

These include racking specialist Bott, a Cold Consortium fridge van and a Maxi-Low Luton box body.

Like the Movano, Renault’s Master is also available in rear-wheel drive and an extensive portfolio of conversions includes the RWD double cab tipper converted in the UK by VFS, which has a payload of 1,348kg. Other models are a RWD 17-seat minibus and Luton LoLoader with 18.5m³ loadspace.

In the third quarter of last year Renault introduced the option to increase the towing capacity on the RWD Master chassis cab by 500kg to 3.5-tonnes for a cost of £350, excluding VAT.

Renault’s sister company Nissan has rolled out a series of NV400 conversions under its Good to Go scheme. These include a fridge van, a crew van, a minibus in nine and 17-seat guise as well as a dropside and tipper. Nissan says conversions now take 11% of NV400 sales.

Nissan’s LCV sales manager Matt Dale says the brand keeps conversions in-house wherever possible.

“We have increased our range of factory conversions and will continue to do so. This not only mitigates issues around EWVTA but also gives customers peace of mind with three-years full Nissan warranty, and it helps ensure strong residuals.”