Mercedes-Benz Vans once again achieved records for unit sales, revenue and EBIT in 2017. Daimler’s van division handed over a total of approximately 401,000 vans and multipurpose vehicles to its customers (2016: 359,100). This represents significant growth of 12 percent and means that the division has posted growth in unit sales for the past five years and has now had four consecutive record years. Mercedes-Benz Vans increased its revenue in 2017 to the new high of 13.2 billion euros (2016: 12.8 billion euros, plus three percent). Earnings (EBIT) of 1,181 million euros were also at a best-ever level (2016: €1,170 million euros). Despite high investment in the expansion and renewal of the product portfolio and new services, the return on sales of 9.0 percent was at the targeted level (2016: 9.1 percent).
“The foundation of this success is our ‘Mercedes-Benz Vans goes global’ strategy," said Volker Mornhinweg, head of Mercedes-Benz Vans. "With it, we are securing our sustainable growth as well as systematically utilizing new business potential. We made significant investments in 2017 and will do the same also in 2018."
At the beginning of last year, Mercedes-Benz Vans announced investments totaling more than two billion euros for the years 2017 and 2018. The main areas of investment include the new Mercedes-Benz Pickup X-Class, the new Sprinter large van and innovative complete system solutions in connection with the vehicles from Mercedes-Benz Vans.
Transport and mobility solutions
“We successfully entered the global growth segment of mid-size pickups with the market launch of our new X-Class in late 2017. Our next market launch will be of the new Sprinter in June. Our new flagship also marks a turning point, because the new Sprinter is our first fully connected total-system solution. With it, we are for the first time putting adVANce – our strategic future initiative – on the road. So Mercedes-Benz Vans is changing from a pure vehicle manufacturer into a provider of complete transport and mobility solutions for our customers,” continued Mornhinweg.
Revenue planned for 2018
Mercedes-Benz Vans plans for significant growth in unit sales and revenue in the year 2018. This will be driven for example by the new X-Class and the new Sprinter. Due to the continuation of high advance expenditure for the Sprinter model change, the production ramp-up of additional new models and negative exchange-rate effects, Mercedes-Benz Vans also anticipates a slight decrease in earnings.
Electrification
With its adVANce future initiative, Mercedes-Benz Vans is changing from a producer of globally successful vans into a provider of complete system solutions for the transport of goods and persons – and is thus a pioneer in the industry. The van division is pursuing the goal of developing new business models and tailored solutions for various industries and their customers. A key component of adVANce is the electric strategy of Mercedes-Benz Vans. For example, orders have been taken for the eVito since November 2017 and deliveries will start in the second half of 2018. The electric version of the new Sprinter will follow in 2019. In parallel, the division offers its customers comprehensive advice on the electrification of their fleets, the required charging infrastructure and supplementary vehicle services.
One example of such full cooperation is the strategic partnership with Hermes, a logistics service provider. Pilot projects are currently starting in Hamburg and Stuttgart and will involve the first of 1,500 electric vans. The cooperation will then be extended to cover other urban areas.
eVAN Ready app
For van customers who are not yet convinced whether electric mobility is the right drive system for their business operations, Mercedes-Benz Vans now offers the eVAN Ready app. This free smartphone app records real routes driven by a user, analyzes the mobility patterns and compares them with numerous parameters of the eVito, and in the future also the eSprinter. This is important, because commercial users have widely differing user profiles. For example, a service technician responsible for an entire region has completely different range requirements from those of an urban parcel delivery driver, who operates on short routes that can be planned well in advance.
Speed and acceleration are therefore recorded by the new app as well as stops and long breaks. The app also records environmental parameters such as temperature and altitude profile. The vehicle’s range and the expected energy consumption can then be calculated. The analysis also takes into consideration the available charging points and calculates the additional charging and energy requirements. As an option, commercial customers can also include their typical loads and gross vehicle weights in the calculation. This results in a realistic and meaningful user profile.
