One of the lingering holdovers from the Daimler-Chrysler era, Sprinters at the Dodge dealer, is coming to an end. Automotive News [sub] reports that the commercial/recreational vans will be yanked from Dodge dealerships starting January 1, and will be sold at 150 select Mercedes dealers going forward. 45 Freightliner dealers will continue to sell Sprinters under the Freightliner brand, but all remaining Sprinters will be sold as Mercedes models under the new distribution plan. Which begs the question: why?
Unlike in Europe, where its premium appeal is less important, Mercedes doesn’t sell any comparably utilitarian vehicles in the US. And it’s not like anyone will be steered to the Sprinter area (which must not be on the showroom floor) when they come in to check out R-class vans or other premium US-market Merc confections. Sprinter sales have finally clawed their way up to the 20k/year level before Carpocalypse hit, but it’s hard to see them growing much farther surrounded, as they will be, by $40K-$80K luxo-whips.
Divorce ends with unintended consequences. It’s not a problem, since Sprinter buyers typically know what they’re looking for: it’s not likely an impulse buy. And lots of Sprinter owners have been shelling out bucks to replace the Dodge grille with the MB version – no more.
Daimler just wants in on the new trend towards the Eurovan craze.
Ford will certainly want to bring over the Transit to replace the long in the tooth Econoline, And Fiat already has the Ducato to sell at Dodge dealers.
At least Mercedes dealers are familiar with servicing Mercedes diesel engines and are experts at waiting a long time for parts to arrive from Germany. Fedex and UPS both seem to be buying a number of Sprinters.
Bloomberg speculates that either the Fiat Ducato the Iveco Daily could be the donors for a new Dodge competitor in this segment. Once some competition arrives I think we can expect to see the Sprinter’s $38k and up price tag drop. $38k is too much for a work van.
As to why? Why not? The vehicle is already federalized, they are selling in modest quantities, and Freightliner doesn’t have nearly the distribution network to reach the smaller commercial users who dot the landscape from sea to shining sea. In fact, if Mercedes is to survive in the US they would be wise to broaden their market appeal even further from the exclusively luxury upmarket image they have long had in the US, but do not have in Europe.
Wouldn’t have been better to just leave the Sprinters in the Freightliner fold? Survey says these vans would fit in among the larger fare sold. And since commercial fleet buyers and contractors are the only interested party, it would make since to have Freightliner on the nose rather than Dodge or MB.
>>Daimler just wants in on the new trend towards the Eurovan craze.
Ford will certainly want to bring over the Transit to replace the long in the tooth Econoline,<<
Ummm… The Transit is already here and selling better than I, for one, would have expected.
Mercedes needs to make this the first step in their commercial vehicle launch in North America. They’re already putting engines in everything from Freightliners to metro buses, might as well start bringing over those slick chassis they use in Euro trucking.
Daydreaming, I know. I love the F1 haulers, many of which used to be (still are?) Mercedes trucks. And I also think it’s high time for someone other than Freightliner (with their Argosy) to have a modern cab-over engine truck available in the U.S. market. From a packaging, maneuverability, and safety (blind spots) standpoint, COE models make much more sense than the stretched-out “conventional” trucks that dominate the roads today.
Anyway, it should be noted the Sprinter has somewhat of a bad reputation among expedited freight van owner-operators due to its high maintenance costs. The old Ford Econoline/Chevy Express platform seems to have a much better reputation, but neither gets the marks for comfort (these guys SLEEP in their CARGO VANS for crying out loud) that the Mercedes/Dodge/Freightliner Sprinter gets.
@tedj101,
The “Transit” that is on sale now is the Transit Connect, which is a small, car-based work vehicle. The regular Transit is a full size van similar to the Sprinter.
I think the Sprinter is more likely to sell at the Freightliner or Mercedes dealership than at the Dodge/Chrysler dealership.
Pretty smart marketing.
With a Dodge badge, way over priced.
With a Freightliner badge, a bargain.
It makes sense to me. Who is the person who is likely to be deciding if his or her company is going to be buying a Sprinter van. Is it the office secretary, or the guy who owns the company? And the guy who owns the company…is he or she likely to be driving a Chevy Cobalt?
So given that we all know that luxury car sales are not where they used to be, your local Mercedes-Benz dealer will welcome a few more visitors, won’t they? Or another way to say it, “Anybody who has enough responsibility to decide if he or she should buy a Sprinter for their enterprise can afford at least a CPO C-Class.”
…leaving Chrysler as the only domestic manufcturer with no fullsize van in their lineup. Thanks Mercedes!
They want to remind TTAC’s B&B that they are not just a “luxury” car maker, they build trucks and taxicabs too. Me, I am waiting for my C Class with a 1.8 Diesel, cloth upholstery, and hand cranked windows.
The Sprinter pictured there is a BOF design.
A Ducato is unit body with FWD.
An Iveco Daily is a more adequate competition. It’s its nemesis in Europe. And it’s BOF.
Guys, honestly, why some of you diss the domestic products?
I worked supervising the assembly of european light trucks (not disclosing the brand to avoid creating a perception gap), 2 generation old (still in production here), and its chassis doesn’t have ANYTHING to envy to a Ford F-350 or Chevy 3500 or RAM 3500. Actually the US products have a stronger frame/driveline.
Yes, it’s a bit more friendly in ergonomic terms, but the US product have a softer (more comfortable) suspension and doesn’t start falling apart in 2 years.
After 2 years, I started hating the crappy sound of the 4 banger diesel. Still hate it.
You get a V8, PowerStroke, Cummins, Duramax…
I think that in BOF trucks, nobody yet measures to the US product. At least, the light ones.
And the looks of the US class 8 truck, with all the aluminium, chrome, sleeper and stuff wins over the COE europeans hands down.
I believe that John Williams got it right with suggesting that the Sprinter product be returned to the Freightliner fold.
The Sprinter’s biggest problem, though, is that the GM and Ford full-size vans are quite adequate for commercial use. If one needs a large vehicle in which to carry a few tool boxes, an air compressor, and a lot of spare parts, and wants to do it in a (relatively) economical fashion, there is very little that is wrong with the Econoline and the Express/Savana twins.
Roundel said:
“Not so fast Sonny Jim….
What we have being sold here is the Transit CONNECT.
Here is its big brother….”
Isn’t that what I said? Its been a long day.
We use a Sprinter at my printing company. Got it 3 years ago, medium wheelbase, highroof. Uses HALF of the fuel that our E-350 did (mixed city/highway), holds more, handles better, drives nicer, cost barely more than the Ford did 5 years earlier. Affectionately called “The ice-cream truck.” Ford and Dodge would be idiots to not bring over their Euro cousins, we will never go back to one of their 70’s throwbacks.
One of the reasons for vans like the Sprinter in Europe is that truck fleets tend to favour suppliers, who can offer something in the van category as well – one of the reasons why MAN cooperated with VW for so long and tried so desperately to acquir a van manufacturer themselves, once VW went down the Scania route.
Mercedes specifically, in several markets uses the lure of an E class (or larger, or smaller, depending on the purchase) thrown in as a gift for the director, if a fleet of MB trucks is purchased. Not sure to what extent this will work in the US, though ;) And the vans are rarely held in showrooms, more in places where their trucks are serviced (most of the stuff is not sold in a showroom anyway).
@Jimal
We wrote that post at the same time… It only took me a little longer to get the wiki link.
Folks we know run an airport shuttle service, They have used a fleet of Dodge vans forever with good success. They bought about a dozen Sprinters. Have had nothing but grief with them.
Stingray:
“And the looks of the US class 8 truck, with all the aluminium, chrome, sleeper and stuff wins over the COE europeans hands down.”
Vanity doesn’t make you money in trucking. The truckers I know have often told me, “Chrome don’t get you paid, but it might get you laid.” Talk about misplaced priorities, if you’re an owner-operator trying to feed your family.
The COE models used in Europe make sense for a number of reasons. Primary reason they’re appealing to me is that they handle tight quarters much easier than our stretched-out, 70 foot-long rigs. Cutting off that snout saves you at least four or five feet in total length and makes the power unit itself much more maneuverable.
There’s a push in the trucking industry to allow trucks to haul more weight. Currently, they’re limited to 80,000 lbs on federal highways unless permitted with an oversize/overweight waiver. Some in the industry want that limit to be raised to 97,000 lbs to improve truck productivity and reduce the number of trucks necessary on our roads. (Link)
Those who want the weight increase are willing to make some changes. They talk of going to three-axle trailers instead of the currently accepted tandem-axle units as a way to spread the weight over more axles. If you look at Europe’s trucks, this is the typical trailer configuration.
There was a time when rigs in the U.S. had to abide by a total length limitation. That’s a large part of why we used to have a lot more COE units on the roads– and once the state-by-state length restrictions went away, so did many of the COE trucks. If the weight limits are raised, I would look for this to be another good point of compromise between safety hawks and the trucking industry, in addition to the three-axle trailers that should reduce wear and tear on our highways and bridges. A COE truck has fewer blind spots (especially around the front) and will reduce the weight of the power unit (if packaged correctly) due to shortening of the frame and the lack of a hood/bonnet.
This weight increase thing is being sold by industry insiders as “a way to make trucks greener and more fuel-efficient.” Well, consider that while many conventional American trucks are getting 6 mpg or so, the old Peterbilt 372 COE was able to get close to 10 mpg.
Of course, the Pete 372 didn’t sell because fuel was cheap at the time and truck drivers thought it was too unusual– if forced into a Pete by their fleet manager, they wanted the 5-mpg-or-less Model 379. With the extended hood, please.
Makes sense. With what plumbers, HVAC techs and other tradesmen charge, they can well afford an E- or S-Class. Sell them a work truck and they’ll come back for the family car. Or something.
My company has four Sprinters, which the guys prefer to our Chevy and Ford vans. We plan to buy more Sprinters next year, even though they cost more up front than a Chevy or Ford. Down the road, they cost less to operate and they’re more comfortable and utilitarian, too. But I wouldn’t buy a Mercedes car.
Just got back from 9 days in Europe on vaca. Must have seen a hundred UPS Spinters in Switzerland, Austria and Germany. They probably are not paying anything near the equivalent of $38k.
Here, at $10 – $15k less, I suspect Ford makes a ton of profit on the existing Econoline as development work really stopped some time around 1990. Should sales ever really slide the real Transit could fix that.
Driving a slower than a slug ergonomically awful Hertz 5 door B class and looking at all the Sprinters really made me appreciate just how good/bad a job Mercedes does with their high priced US market approach.
May I clarify a few points?
Freightliner no longer builds Argosy for the US market. When the new emission standards kicked in a few years back, the numbers didn’t justify the cost to re-engineer the truck for larger cooling abilities that the Cat Converter would require. It is only built for export now.
Sprinter should never have left Freightliner. Freightliner dealerships are commercial facilities most of which are open 24 hours a day. This makes it more suitable to address the commercial user’s applications. Drop it off Friday night and it’s ready Sunday night. Back on the job Monday.
I introduced Sprinter into a major market area while I was with a Freightliner dealership. When Dodge began selling them, we started getting Dodge branded Sprinters in for simple issues that the Dodge boys couldn’t handle. One dealer would have them flatbedded over to us if they couldn’t solve an issue under one hour. The low volume apparently didn’t justify the cost of the Star diagnostics or the training required. Freightliner dealerships’ techs constantly undergo training to keep up with everchanging technology. Initially Dodge’s involvement cost us a few sales, but in the end they drove clients to us.
Although I think the level of tech training at a MB dealer would be great, but I can’t imagine an MB dealer opening a Commercial Only Department.