Mercedes-Benz Vans is to set a new record for unit sales in 2016, driven by strong growth in private and fleet vehicles as well as in key volume orders.

Volker Mornhinweg, head of Mercedes-Benz Vans.

The manufacturer has already beaten 2015’s record-breaking total in the first 11 months of 2016, with global unit sales up 13% to around 324,000 vehicles – almost 3,000 units up compared with the whole of 2015.

Growth was particularly driven by the Vito van and the V-Class MPV – which, together with the Citan urban delivery van, have already recorded the most successful year in their history. The firm added that the growing share of privately used models also of the Vito Tourer and the Citan has had a positive impact on the unit sales figures while sales of the large Sprinter van have continued at the record level of 2015.

Volker Mornhinweg, head of Mercedes-Benz Vans, said: “The fact that we have set a new full-year record already in November is a great achievement on the part of our global team. With our growth strategy ‘Mercedes-Benz Vans goes global’ and a convincing product portfolio, we have clearly extended our leading position in the market this year. Alongside strong growth in the private segment, key contributions have been also made by a steadily growing number of volume and fleet orders from around the globe.”

Volume fleet orders in 2016 included from the Bavarian ambulance service, which uses only the Sprinter for its emergency response team and took delivery in the spring of its 2,500th Sprinter-based ambulance in eight years. British supermarket chain Asda added 550 new Sprinters to its fleet for use in online food retailing.

Volume orders from outside the western European core market included an order for 360 Sprinters as ambulances for the Egyptian Ministry of Health, the delivery of over 160 Vito vans to the Chinese company Jiangsu Chang Yun for the transport of tourists (through the local joint venture FBAC) as well as the delivery of 120 Sprinter Classic buses to the Russian transport company Randtrans.

“We are continuing to set the pace and, with the Mercedes-Benz X-Class, the first pick-up from a premium manufacturer, we aim to conquer new markets around the world starting in late 2017,” added Mr Mornhinweg. “With our strategic initiative ‘adVANce’, we will in future have an even broader presence in the marketplace and will evolve from a manufacturer of globally successful vans to a provider of integrated system solutions. We are taking pioneering new approaches to digitalisation, automation and robotics in vans and are also developing a range of innovative mobility offerings. With this, we aim to make the transport of goods and people even more efficient while offering our customers not only economic benefits, but also entirely new possibilities for their own business.”