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The plans for the production of a new electric van which could well become a firm favourite in the campervan industry, the Mercedes-Benz eSprinter, have been announced by the German motoring giant. Mercedes says it will be producing the van in three different plants: two in Germany in Düsseldorf and Ludwigsfelde and one in the United States in North Charleston, South Carolina. The German company has also stated that it will be investing about €50 million in each of these plants as part of its long-term shift into electric vehicles, which the new eSprinter built on its Electric Versatility Platform will form a huge part.

Marcus Breitschwerdt, head of Mercedes-Benz Vans, said: "The future of mobility is electric in the transport sector, especially in the last mile delivery segment. Our share of battery-electric vehicles is constantly growing. We have consistently aligned our strategy accordingly, and underline with our strategic pillar ‘Lead in Electric Drive’ our leadership aim in electric mobility in the vans sector.

“With our newly developed Electric Versatility Platform, we are significantly expanding our offering in the commercial series. With production of the next generation of the eSprinter in the USA and in Germany, we ensure market-oriented production. In total, we are investing around €350 million into the next generation of the eSprinter."

Meanwhile, Dr. Ingo Ettischer, head of production at Mercedes-Benz Vans, added: “We have decided to expand the next generation of the Mercedes-Benz eSprinter to a total of three locations in our strong global production network, thus creating optimal synergies. We will benefit from our experience which we have already built up very successfully in the production of electric and conventionally driven vans on a line at our plant in Düsseldorf. In the future, we will be able to quickly meet the ever-increasing demand for electrically driven vans and, thanks to our intelligent and flexible production, be able to respond very precisely to the requirements of the different markets and make optimum use of our capacities.

“For the adjustment of production, we will invest around €50 million in each of the three plants. We will start production of the eSprinter successively from the second half of 2023.”

About the production plants:

• The Mercedes-Benz Düsseldorf plant will celebrate its 60th anniversary in 2022. At the end of 2020, around 6,000 employees were employed in Düsseldorf. This is where the Sprinter panel van and the current generation of the eSprinter run off the production line.

• The Mercedes-Benz plant in Ludwigsfelde celebrated its 30th anniversary in February this year. At the end of 2020, around 2,000 employees produced the chassis models of the Sprinter.

• The Mercedes-Benz plant in Ladson/North Charleston, SC, was founded 15 years ago as an assembly plant for Sprinter and Metris vans, and was expanded to part-by-part production for Sprinter vans in 2018. By the end of 2020, the Plant in Charleston had about 1,600 employees.