Mercedes 2012 Annual Report Download - page 147

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4 | The Divisions | Mercedes-Benz Vans
we are active. We sold 159,000 Sprinters worldwide in 2012
(-3%). Sales of the Vito and Viano models decreased after record
unit sales in 2011 by 15% to 83,700 units, and we sold 2,700
Vario vans (2011: 2,900). The new Citan city van, which was
launched in September, accounted for sales of 7,100 units.
Despite the difficult market environment, Mercedes-Benz Vans
retained its market position for medium-sized and large vans
in the European Union and defended its market share of 18%.
Full-line supplier with the new Mercedes-Benz Citan. In
2012, Mercedes-Benz Vans launched a new vehicle that made
the division a full-line supplier of vans. The Mercedes-Benz
Citan city van marks our entry into the rapidly growing small-van
segment. By taking this step, we plan to strengthen our leading
position in the European market. The Citan is the first vehicle
to be created as a result of the strategic partnership between
Daimler and Renault-Nissan, and made its debut at the IAA
Commercial Vehicles show in Hanover in September 2012. The
Citan is designed for commercial customers and is offered
in panel van and crewbus variants, as well as in a “Mixto” version
with two rows of seats and a small cargo area. The city van
is available in three lengths based on two different wheelbases
and two different gross vehicle weights. The Citan is one of
the most fuel-efficient vans of its class in both the gasoline and
the diesel-powered variants. The Citan BlueEFFICIENCY has
fuel consumption of 4.3 l/100 km and CO2 emissions of
112 g/km. No conventionally powered city van consumes less
fuel or produces lower emissions. At the same time, the
Citan ensures optimal driving comfort and high performance
while keeping operating costs low.
“Vans goes global” in Latin America, Russia, China and
North America. The worldwide success of the Sprinter is one
of the key elements of our “Vans goes global” growth strategy.
The Sprinter, which is the designation for an entire class of
vehicles, is a best-selling export model and a truly global van.
The Sprinter impresses customers worldwide and is now being
produced in several key growth regions. Since the beginning
of 2012, we have been manufacturing the current Mercedes-Benz
Sprinter generation at our plant in Buenos Aires, Argentina,
where it is primarily produced as a bus variant. The upgraded
product range will enable Mercedes-Benz Vans to benefit
from the anticipated sharp increase in demand for passenger
transport systems in Latin America. The success of the
new-generation Sprinter has already been demonstrated by
the van’s steadily increasing sales figures in the second half
of 2012. We plan to invest more than €80 million in the production
of new van models at the Buenos Aires plant over the next
few years. In the process, we will create 700 new jobs there.
We have also taken an important step forward in Russia,
where we have formed a partnership for the production of
Mercedes-Benz vans. We are currently implementing this
project in cooperation with the Russian commercial vehicle
manufacturer GAZ. The project’s aim is to pave the way for
the production of the proven Sprinter Classic, engines and other
components at the GAZ facility in Nizhny Novgorod. Production
is scheduled to begin during the first half of 2013. The vehicles
will be sold and serviced by the existing Mercedes-Benz
dealership network, which will be greatly expanded. At present,
the Russian van market is growing faster than any other
van market in Europe. In China, Mercedes-Benz Vans is the
only manufacturer to date that produces vans locally. We
have been producing the Vito and Viano in China since 2010,
and our joint venture Fujian Benz Automotive Corporation
also began manufacturing a bus version of the Sprinter in 2011.
With its Sprinter, Mercedes-Benz Vans is also performing
very successfully in North America. Unit sales of the Sprinter
increased at a double-digit rate, thanks to an outstanding
retail network and the use of a consistent two-brand strategy
(Mercedes-Benz and Freightliner) in the United States.
Two electric vans celebrate world premieres. One of the key
elements of Mercedes-Benz Vans’ strategy is its goal of tech-
nological leadership in the sector. This leadership will be main-
tained by developing environmentally compatible technologies
that provide customers with real utility. In this connection,
we celebrated two world premieres during the year under review.
At the Geneva Motor Show in March 2012, we presented
the Mercedes-Benz Vito E-CELL crewbus. This crewbus is the
world’s first locally emission-free series-produced seven-
seat vehicle. Another van, the Sprinter E-CELL concept, made
its public debut at the IAA Commercial Vehicles show. This
vehicle greatly expands the possibilities of locally emission-free
transportation.
Mercedes-Benz Sprinter: The current version of the global van has been produced also in Argentina since 2012.