Mercedes-Benz South Africa (MBSA) hopes that the introduction of its new-look, Spanish-made Vito and Viano vans into the local market will boost its “rather flat” 6% share of the local midsize van market, with the Toyota Quantum the best seller here, says MBSA vans divisional manager Nicolai Berger.

He adds that the van market did not see the more than 20% growth achieved by the passenger car market last year, with growth of only 1,7% for the first ten months of 2010, compared with growth for the previous year.

“We had a good start to the year but then, after the World Cup, we could see that activity in the market was not as we had planned.”

Van product specialist Mpumelelo Zulu says that it will be possible for the Vito and the Viano to clinch more market share with the availability of a van-specific sales and marketing, financial services and after-sales team, and the establishment of van competence centres at selected dealers, while the products can also offer 30 000-km service intervals.

The new Viano is available in three engine variants, namely a four-cylinder CDI 2,2-ℓ engine, a V6 CDI 3-ℓ engine, and the V6 CDI 3,5-ℓ petrol engine.

Mercedes-Benz’s BlueEfficiency fuel optimisation technology is available on all of these, except for the petrol vari- ant. This technology package includes low-resistance tyres, a gear shift indicator showing the driver the optimal time to shift gears, and a regulated fuel pump.

The Viano (and new Vito) is also the first Mercedes-Benz multipurpose vehicle in South Africa with start-stop technology, which reduces idling while stationary.

BlueEfficiency technology cuts fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions by up to 17%, with an increase in power of up to 15%, depending on the engine variant.

“At half load, and in a combined cycle of urban and highway use, the van can achieve fuel consumption of 6,9 ℓ/km, which means you save up to 1,5 ℓ/100 km compared with the previous model,” notes Zulu.

However, the type of engines used in both the new Vito and Viano models means that drivers can only make use of 50 parts per million diesel.

What can also be important in this family carrier is that a new generation of radios has been introduced into all Viano variants.

As with all Mercedes-Benz passenger cars, the Viano model range is sold standard with the MobiloDrive 120 (maintenance contract) together with a two-year/unlimited kilometres warranty.

“The official Mercedes-Benz Viano introduction to the South African market will be towards the end of January,” notes Berger.

Mercedes-Benz has also undertaken a comprehensive revamp of its more workhorselike Vito van, with new engines also featuring BlueEfficiency technology as standard, and achieving similar fuel and emissions savings as seen in the Viano.

The Vito’s fully reconfigured chassis is tailored to the transportation of goods or passengers, according to the model variant.

Top of the range among the diesel engines is the V6 in the Vito 122 CDI, offering a power output of 165 kW.

The Vito model range also comes standard with a two-year warranty/unlimited mileage.

Pricing for the new Vito starts at R259 900, excluding Vat, with the Viano available at R491 000, excluding Vat.