Improve or Get Left Behind: A New Mantra for Working-Class Van

Stodgy working vans are going Euro-style to improve their market appeal.

U.S. manufacturers have tried to scheme a financially viable way to bring bigger and more-efficient vans to the U.S. market since the mid-1980s.

That goal remained elusive even though some of these vans were being sold by their European divisions. Future market forces would change that paradigm.

Enter the Internet age and the growth in construction activity since the end of the Great Recession – two major activities that forced legacy vans to become more efficient. These market forces require that more and more goods be delivered to our homes or to the worksite, and competition demands it be done at a lower cost.

While total Internet sales are difficult to consolidate, Amazon’s sales are a good proxy reflecting the Internet sales explosion. Amazon sales are up 75% since 2012, while non-automotive retail sales are up only 5% over the same period. Housing starts, a significant indicator of overall construction activity, have grown 22%.

Consequently, large-van sales are growing at a pace matching some of the hottest segments in the U.S. light-truck market, increasing 31% since 2012. Additionally, North American production is up 32%, according to AutoForecast Solutions.

The Euro-style movement was initiated by Mercedes-Benz with a Dodge-badged Sprinter van back in 2003. Ten years later Ford launched the segment-leading Transit.

Ford’s Transit provides customers with a tighter turning circle, wider doors, more carrying capacity and better fuel economy, a set of product features that have been the mainstay of European vans for decades.

Additionally, Transit’s model range has provided consumers with versions that almost are bespoke: three wheelbases and three roof sizes are becoming the large-van benchmark. Other euro-style products, including Ram’s ProMaster and Mercedes’ Sprinter also provide customers with substantial improvements over the old Ford E-series van and existing General Motors entries.

These vans not only help American businesses work more efficiently but also keep American workers employed, as all of the vans, except the ProMaster, are made in the U.S.

Large-van manufacturers also have added smaller Euro versions to serve customers that need “big-van” versatility at a lower price. The five small vans that have been launched over the past few years have added new customers and boosted sales 123% since 2012.

While Ford’s Transit Connect is the clear volume leader, Mercedes’ new Metris is the benchmark. With a cargo area that can carry a standard sheet of plywood – a key builder’s metric not met by small pickups – the largest fuel tank, cargo capacity and payload in the segment, the Metris gives the building trades a nice overall package. Turnoffs: fuel economy and a warranty that needs improvement to match Chevrolet’s City Express.

They are not sexy like CUVs and SUVs, or even mom’s minivan. Yet, these new and improved working vans boost America’s productivity. Once again, automotive innovation is being rewarded with increased sales and respectability.

Efficient logistics matters. Future stuff may get delivered in ways not even imagined by George Jetson, a television-cartoon dad raising his kids in a world where personal-transportation vehicles fly.

Delivery drones also are not a solution. In the interim vans will have to do all of the legwork, and the new class is ready for the task.

Warren Browne is adjunct professor of economics and trade at Lawrence Technological University and a former GM executive.