Low Cost Vans

Mercedes-Benz Vans has just announced that the Vito Sport will be supporting two events in the IRONMAN® UK 2014-2015 Tour. The Vito will be present at both UK events, Bolton and Pembrokeshire. So what will the practical and modern van do at these events? Well, the organisers will have Vito Sport vehicles through the duration of the competitions, with Vito Sport used as lead vehicle in the races, as well as to support athlete recovery from the course, carrying water and blankets. As well as those above mentioned duties, the Vito vans will also be on display at Mercedes-Benz exhibition area. So if you want to check out all the action that the intense long-distance endurance race has to offer alongside the Mercedes-Benz Vito Sport van, then mark your calendar for Bolton (20 July 2014) and/or Pembrokeshire (14 September 2014).

Did you attend the much talked about Commercial Vehicle ( CV ) Show this year? It was an excellent selling opportunity, plus a primary sourcing for the entire UK road freight transport and logistics industry and for operators. It is the foremost meeting place, attracting over 18,000 high quality visitors with serious buying power.   The show attracted some important names in the transport industry, including Shadow Transport Minister, Richard Burden, who took the time to view the array of new products and discussed the issues facing the sector with the Show organisers and exhibitors. Amongst the impressive line-up of other polished vans, the Mercedes-Benz stand stood out with the likes of their successful light commercial van, the Citan and of course the latest Sprinter vans. Plus, let’s not forget to mention the impending arrival of the all-new Vito van heading to forecourts in March 2015. We can’t wait for the unveiling line-up of their ‘ready-to-go-to-work special conversions, ...

Mercedes-Benz Commercial Vehicles has proudly released a press statement last week regarding their colossal bestowal of not one, but three top honours at the 2014 VansA2Z Vans of the Year Awards. Notably, the new Sprinter van was recognised with the prestigious award for Innovation, as the first model in its category to comply with the new Euro 6 exhaust emission rules. The new Sprinter impressed with its potential life-saving systems such as Crosswind Assist which comes standard as part of Sprinter's Electronic Stability Programme and its other optional safety systems  include; Blind Spot Assist, Collision Prevention Assist , Highbeam Assist and Lane Keeping Assist, The Sprinter vans additional distinctions at this year’s awards included both Minibus of the Year and 4x4 Panel Van of the Year 2014. Steve Bridge, Managing Director, Mercedes-Benz Vans, commented: “ It is a real honour to be recognised for the level of innovation that Mercedes-Benz Vans has worked so hard to achieve...

Mercedes-Benz Commercial Vehicles  has proudly announced in a recent press release that 2013 was their best year ever in terms of van sales. In total, last year saw a 21% increase on 2012 with 30,257 vans registered, beating 2007’s previous record. That was definitely an accomplishment to be proud of, as they achieved nearly double the registrations of the whole van market/LCV industry that year (+11.7%).  Mercedes-Benz Vans is the sales and marketing organisation responsible for all Daimler Van products and services in Britain. With a strong commercial vehicle line-up such as; the new Citan, Vito, and the new model and ever popular Sprinter vans, it’s no wonder they are experiencing steady growth in the LCV market. The solid range of vans now on offer from Mercedes-Benz combined with a more customer focused centre and good reviews for the well received 2014 Sprinter should see sales stay on the upward swing this year as well. It seems they really may have “the right van for the job”. ...

When defining or deciding if something is “cool”, it may be described as fashionable, sophisticated, popular, and never go out of style. Can an auto maker really be considered cool? I pondered this after reading the latest results of the annual CoolBrands® list. I was curious, in terms of the “coolest” van/vehicle maker, who would get your vote? Would it be Ford with the Transit Custom, Fiat for the Fiorino, or perhaps Renault with the Kangoo ZE? I know who my favourites are, but having just read about who came out on top amongst the full line auto brands on this year’s annual CoolBrands® list, I just may have to reconsider if what I am currently driving is "cool". In the latest press release from the manufacturer voted as one of the top coolest brands, Mercedes-Benz has expressed their delight in coming in five places above their debut on last year’s CoolBrands®  list. With the already popular Sprinter, Vito, and Citan van ranges plus a host of new car models offered this...

Imagine turning your Mercedes Sprinter van into a full-fledged street café on wheels. Selling coffee drinks to a mass of customers/followers who use their mobiles to scan the QR code painted right on the van to find out exactly where this innovative drinks van will turn up next. I stumbled upon this real life coffee-to-go van in an article on MYVAN.com – a website for craftsmen and van enthusiasts powered by Mercedes-Benz Vans. This genius van conversion belongs to Matt Saurage, the General Manager of The Community Coffee Company from Louisiana. Yes, sadly it’s only in America. That is, unless anyone out there takes inspiration from Mr Saurage and converts their own Sprinter into a rolling coffee shop here in the UK? In which case, I’ll have a skinny mocha extra hot with foam and whipped cream on top please. I’ve seen loads of food and drink trucks over the years, but I have to say, the Sprinter looks the business and is a smart choice for such a franchise. You can read the full artic...

Mercedes-Benz has recently published a post on their media website page about the roaring success of their 10 th annual Van Experience event which took place from the 11 th -21 st of June this year. Did any of you make it to the vantastic event at Prodrive’s circuit in Warwickshire this year? If so, tell us about it and share your experience on our Twitter page. As the only manufacturer to offer an event of this kind, Mercedes-Benz say visitor numbers averaged about 200 a day, thus leading to a total whopping number of about 1800 customers in all who helped make this year’s event such a success. For those of us who couldn’t make it, the press release summarised the best bits and has no doubt enticed me and others to add next year’s event to our 2014 calendar. So what exactly took place at last month’s event? The main attraction was getting the opportunity to test and sample a wide selection of Mercedes-Benz vans, including the Citan, Vito, and Sprinter. Plus it was the UK debut of...

Mercedes-Benz UK has recently announced that they have taken the award winning record of an eighth victory win at the Fleet Van of the Year category at the annual Motor Transport Awards which took place in London last week. Way to Go! The annual road transport event (Motor Transport Awards) now in its 28th year, first introduced the Fleet Van of the Year category 11 years ago and entries this year were judged by more than 70 of the transport industry’s leading figures. This year’s winning Mercedes-Benz fleet vehicle was the Sprinter  van which took home the much sought after accolades for the second year running. It is being hailed as the favourite for its fuel economy, reliability and dealer network. The judges praised it for the ADAPTIVE ESP and the consistent class leading residual values. Plus, they commented on the 7G Tronic gearbox and the high level of driver comfort, featuring all the modern requirements. Michael Kamper, Managing Director Commercial Vehicles at Mercedes-Benz U...

I wish I were in a band. But seeing as how I don’t know how to play any instrument (at all) and my friends all say I sound like a drowning animal when I sing, I suppose that dream will never come to fruition. Hmm, but if I was to be asked to be in a band and er uh could sing or play, I would most definitely want to be in one in the USA. I just read an article in the San Francisco Chronicle online about how a Phoenix, Arizona USA based van rental company, ROCKIN VANS , recently introduced two new custom built Mercedes Benz Sprinter Vans for touring musicians to rent. The van rental founder Luke Van Whye knows exactly what bands need in terms of what is important to include in a touring van, since he spent years on the road as an entertainer coach driver for likes of Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez, and hundreds of other cool artists/bands. Ok, so say you were a musician touring all over the world, what would it take to make your ride the ultimate band van? According to Mr. Van Whye, the ...

The first UK Euro 6 compliant van due to launch later this year, the new Mercedes Sprinter, has been reviewed on Business Vans website recently. The website for van users ranging from small businesses, trades, and SME fleet van operators gave a thorough assessment of the new Sprinter. The final verdict was a phenomenal thumbs up from Business Vans. The review carefully notes the details of all of the new systems, changes, and upgrades, both cosmetically and internally, with some having never before been seen on a van. One of the biggest questions surrounding the inclusion of the new Euro 6 engine is whether or not it is negatively going to impacted fuel economy. Although, the review doesn’t answer this question directly, it provides a brief explanation of how other factors/changes could potentially negatively offset the proposed fuel savings. The new Sprinter model will continue to be powered by 2.2 and 3.0-litre diesel engines with power outputs ranging from 95hp to 190hp. It will co...

The new Mercedes-Benz Citan van, billed as the "new urban hero", has had a successful start for having only just gone on sale since March 2013. The compact city van has already won its first UK award at this year’s Honestjohn.co.uk Awards as Most Popular Van. The Honestjohn.co.uk Awards are voted for by users of the website. Honest John's website, founded in the year 2000, gives honest, trustworthy and independent advice to road users. He also writes an Award-winning agony column in the Daily Telegraph's Saturday Motoring section. Dan Harrison, Editor of honestjohn.co.uk said: “Honest John Vans was only launched in February 2013, but it's already proved a huge success, exceeding expectations when it comes to website traffic. Like the main site, it's centred around useful and user-friendly reviews which give potential buyers all the key information they need. The review which has stood head and shoulders above the rest when it comes to our users is the new Ci...

According to the sales data I had read and recently posted on, Ford is the big player in America as far as commercial van sales go, but does that ring true for other markets around the world? I just stumbled upon a post on Daimler ’s global media website that gives us a better insight on which van sells best in Russia. Can you guess which one it is based on these clues: This full-size van model made its debut in 1995, there are manufacturing plants in Düsseldorf and Ludwigsfelde, Germany, Charleston, South Carolina, González Catan, Argentina, and Fuzhou, China, it can be seen as a background vehicle in the Disney-Pixar movie Cars 2, and available body styles include: Panel Van, Traveliner, Chassis Cab and Dropside. Oh and its slogan is "Every inch the consummate professional". Wow, you guys are good. Yes, it is indeed the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter. Having been voted “Van of the Year 2013” in Russia, the Sprinter van has won the country’s largest nationwide automotive competition...

Another exciting collaboration may be in the cards for Renault. Hot on the heels of the Renault Kangoo and Mercedes-Benz Citan partnership, Daimler and Renault are now holding talks towards teaming up to build a large van together. I stumbled across this latest news in an article posted on the website, Carscoop . You can read the full article titled, "Daimler in Talks with Renault to Build Large Van Together " written by Dan Mihalascu by clicking here . According to the post, Daimler's contract with VW will run its course and end after 2016. Mercedes-Benz Sprinter shares its newest infrastructure with VW’s Crafter van, but VW will continue making the Crafter vans by themselves going forward. With the Crafter van currently being built at a Mercedes-Benz plant along with the Sprinter, things could be very interesting indeed once the partnership is over. For those that require some serious load space with smooth manoeuvrability and comfort, then a large van is the way to go....

The new overhauled Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van has made waves in the commercial vehicle world this week. It's the first Euro 6 van out of the gate and everyone is talking about it. With an enhanced exterior and interior, plus new safety systems, this van is ready to compete for the number one spot. This van boasts of an excellent low fuel consumption of 44.4 mpg, making it the most efficient and economical vehicle in its segment. It will come with several van firsts, including five new assistance systems that will help reduce the number of accidents even further in the new Sprinter. Crosswind Assist, which is fitted as standard, and COLLISION PREVENTION ASSIST and Blind Spot Assist, which are both optional. Other new features are Highbeam Assist and Lane Keeping Assist. The developers at Mercedes-Benz are convinced that these electronic assistants will play a key role in helping to reduce accidents in the van sector. In the wake of the Euro NCAP rating of just three stars for their...

Euro NCAP has just published the safety results for a van that apparently is in a market segment poorly equipped for safety. The Mercedes-Benz Citan Kombi, 109 Blue Efficiency 'High' grade model, has only received three stars in the overall safety score. With only electronic stability control scoring points in Safety Assist and lacklustre performance in other areas, the Renault Kangoo-derived van/MPV has failed to set itself apart from its competitors in Euro NCAP’s safety tests. Euro NCAP organizes crash-tests and its goal is to provides motoring consumers with a realistic and independent assessment of the safety performance of some of the most popular cars and vans sold in Europe and is composed of seven European Governments as well as motoring and consumer organisations in every European country. Overall safety ratings from Euro NCAP are composed of scores in four areas: adult protection, child protection, pedestrian protection and safety assist. The Mercedes-Benz Citan Kom...

Mercedes-Benz has released pricing details on their new Citan van. The new Citan compact van marks Mercedes-Benz's entry into the small van market. This is the van I have been most interested in, as its appeal comes not only from Mercedes-Benz high end customer care, its practical features that come standard, but also because the Citan is ideally suited to transporting goods; capable of carrying loads of up to 735 kg and a volume of up to 3.8 m3.  Mercedes-Benz suggests the Citan is able to perform like a hero by combining an attractive design with high quality standards and not forgetting to mention its low fuel consumption and low CO 2 emissions. It all adds up to make the Citan a brilliant choice for your next van. If you haven't already had a look at the Citan's official microsite , you should take a moment to check it out. Mercedes-Benz created an advertising campaign featuring webisodes of Richard Dean Anderson reprising his role as TVs’ MacGyver. It is a very enterta...

The Mercedes-Benz Sprinter , known as the "consummate professional" van, has recently won this year's Fleet Van Awards 2012, picking up Large Panel Van of the Year at a ceremony held at Altitude 360, Millbank Tower, London. The first generation Sprinter was first introduced in Europe in 1995 and has since won many accolades as 'Van of the Year' in several motoring publications and fleet bodies. With its useful options that allow you to save valuable time, like the KEYLESS ENTRY & SLIDE automatic door opener, economically-efficient engines, and with the panel vans cargo volume ranging from 7.5 to 17 m, its clear to see why the Sprinter has been a top player in the light and heavy commercial vehicle sector. Andrew Lawson, National Fleet Sales Manager said: “We are very happy to have won this year’s Large Panel Van Award at the Fleet Van Awards 2012. The Sprinter wins awards because of its quality, reliability and overall competitive whole life cost which continu...

In a new press release, Mercedes-Benz describes their new Citan van as, “the performance of a giant and the thirst of a sparrow." The new efficient urban delivery van will combine low CO 2 emissions with low maintenance costs thus being a pleasure to drive on the road. It will offer a generous load space of up to 3.8 m³ and a maximum payload of 800 kg and be a refined progression on from the Mercedes Vito. The sleek new look of the Citan is unmistakably Mercedes-Benz class, whilst the silhouette of this van with its wedge-shaped front section takes on an almost sporty air. The design of this new urban van has paired style with aerodynamic purpose in minimising fuel consumption. “Any vehicle that sports the Mercedes star also sports Mercedes quality under the bonnet: the new urban delivery van, although manufactured in co-operation with a partner company, still meets every aspect of the high demands placed on a Mercedes‑Benz. Thus the quality of the bodyshell was considerably impro...

The new model GL-Class by Mercedes-Benz is reported to be the superior “S-Class” of the SUV market with First Class for seven people. It encompasses high quality design and will have permanent four-wheel drive, 4MATIC, Downhill Speed Regulation (DSR) with fibre reinforced under-floor protection. Safety features include ESP ASR, ABS and the danger alert PRE-SAFE safety concept with COLLISION PREVENTION ASSIST and ATTENTION ASSIST available. According to Mercedes-Benz latest press release: "The ON&OFFROAD package fitted to the new GL-Class, with its six driving programs, has greatly improved the vehicle dynamics and driving safety so that the most suitable drive control for extremely varying driving conditions both on the road and going cross-country is always available." It also comes with Active-Park for easy parking. The standard package is a fully load-bearing air suspension system, named AIRMATIC, with its adaptive shock-absorbing system (ADS) as well as a load recogni...