Citroën has gained an order from Tees Valley based Vela Group for 137 vans and cars to replace the bulk of its 200-strong vehicle fleet.

In total, the supplying dealer, Springfield Citroën Gateshead will deliver more than 120 Citroën Dispatch L2 1200 vans made up of HDi 90 H1 and HDi 95 H2 versions. Also included in the order are eight Citroën Relay 35 L3 H2 HDi 130 vans, a Nemo 1.3 HDi Stop & Start EGS 660 LX van, three C3 VTR+ HDi 70 manual cars and a pair of C-Zero electric cars.

Vela’s maintenance teams will use the Citroën vans to provide a 24 hour service to customers across its 17,000 properties in Stockton-on-Tees and Hartlepool. All the vans are ply-lined and have been specified with passenger airbags, full steel bulkheads, reversing warning systems and parking sensors. Eighty of the vehicles are fitted with roof bars or tilt and slide ladder racks, and one of the Relays is fitted with an external glazing rack - all installed by Lyndon Security.

The Citroën C-Zero and C3 cars are used by Vela’s community monitoring teams who support elderly and vulnerable tenants 24 hours a day, 365 days per year.

All of the vehicles are fitted with Teletrac satellite tracking to minimise response times and to help Vela meet its commitment to health and safety and the environment. Around half of the Citroën vehicles in this Vela Group order have been funded through Citroën Contract Motoring 3 or 4 year, 30,000 or 40,000 mile with-maintenance contract hire agreements - with the remaining vehicles being purchased outright.

Mike Kay, group director of property services at Vela, said; “We went through a rigorous selection and procurement process, which included user groups made up of trades operatives, managers and supervisors to evaluate the options offered by the leading vehicle manufacturers. The decision to go with Citroën was based on a comprehensive assessment of suitability, vehicle data, ergonomics and cost.”