Mathias Geisen with the new Metris mid-size van Worker model.He added that the commercial full- and mid-size van segment is one of the only vehicle markets currently growing with significant strength. “Heavy-duty truck sales are flat and car sales are flat” Geisen explained. “The only business growing strongly is vans, and that’s growing by 20%.”
Taking advantage of that growth is why Mercedes Benz Vans is continuing to roll out a bevy of options, he stressed, adding the soon-to-be-offered “Master Solutions” upfit packages – such as for refrigeration service or pre-installed shelving and ladder racks – to current options such as factory-installed four wheel drive (an option currently sold out worldwide for the rest of 2016, Geisen ruefully admitted) and safety technologies such as rear view cameras, lane keeping assist and active parking assist, to name just a few.
“Now people in the U.S. are more used to alternatives to pickups; now they have many more options to choose from,” Geisen noted, pointing not only the Sprinter and Metris but the Transit and Transit Connect from Ford Motor Co. and the ProMaster van series from Ram Truck.
Dshamal Schoetz, head of the “Master Solutions” program for Mercedes Benz Vans and a one-time basketball player for the Jordanian men’s national team, told Fleet Owner that the focus of the new program is to provide a better “fit and finished tool” for a wider variety of commercial van owners.
“Everything we’re putting onto these vans has a work purpose; these have nothing to do with ‘infotainment’ features,” he explained. “It’s providing a better work tool all in one package; one that fits like a glove.”
