Revealed: The best medium and large vans you can buy right now, in partnership with Parkers

MCN has partnered with Parkers – the definitive resource for car buying advice in the UK – to bring you the award for the Best Medium Van of the Year and Best Large Van of The Year in their prestigious Van and Pickup Awards 2025.

Best Large Van of the Year

The Renault Master has come out on top as Best Large Van, taking three awards in total. As well as the Best Large Van it also won the Best Electric Van on its way to being named the overall Van of The Year 2025. 

The Renault Master was a clear winner when it came to choosing the best large van, with the new model making some impressive strides compared to its predecessor and the competition. It’s more efficient, has a modern and practical cabin, is great to drive and does it all while offering fantastic value for money.  

Tom Webster, Parkers Vans and Pickup Editor, said: ‘This was a strong year for new commercial vehicle launches, but the Renault Master stood out for having made advances in areas that really matter to van customers. The new Master’s cabin is a comfortable and practical place, while there has been real thought put into elements such as storage and practicality. It’s also smooth and easy to drive, whichever version you get into. 

‘Crucially, though, the numbers make a lot of sense. The aerodynamic efficiency means it has a smaller battery but a superior electric range to its major competitors, meaning it has an impressive payload too. It tops it all off with a very competitive pricing proposition, which means it makes sense on paper as well as on the road.’ 

Best Medium Van of the Year

The Ford Transit Custom further underlined its superiority in the Best Medium Van class thanks to a range of new versions and powertrains that enhance its all-round appeal and practicality. One such addition is the new E-Transit Custom electric van, which brings all the benefits of the van but with a battery rather than diesel power. 

Tom Webster, Parkers Vans and Pickup Editor, said: ‘This Transit Custom has gone from strength to strength this year, with so many more versions now on offer, making it an even more attractive all-round vehicle. The E-Transit Custom is just one reason why it kept a firm grip on its status as the Best Medium Van.’  

The winners have been appraised rigorously by the Parkers.co.uk team, which judged the best in their class for a combination of value, quality, reliability, cost-per-month on finance deals and fitness-for-purpose. Finance was minutely evaluated, too.  

The other winners included the Ford Transit Custom as the Best Medium Van while the Ford Transit Courier was named the Best Small Van at the first time of asking. The Ford Ranger retained its hold on the Best Pickup truck title. 

The Van and Pickup Awards 2025 reflect the constantly evolving views of Britain’s commercial vehicle-buying public. Winners are decided by a combination of the site’s expert reviewers’ verdicts in thousands of miles of road testing and the purchasing habits of the website’s users, who have accounted for 26.4 million clicks and 1.01 billion page impressions in the past 12 months. (GA, October 2024). 

More details about the awards can be found on the Parkers website.