Mercedes-Benz Eyes Brazil, Argentina for Sprinter Growth

The Argentina and Brazil markets represent top growth opportunities for sales of Mercedes-Benz full-size Sprinter vans, the automaker's top vans executive told Automotive Fleet on March 25.

The automaker is seeing opportunity in the two South American countries, after a strong year of sales in 2013, said Volker Mornhinweg, global head of Mercedes-Benz Vans.

"In Latin America, we were able to achieve a 40 percent increase in sales in calendar year 2013," Mornhinweg said. "When you combine the results of the two most important South American markets Brazil and Argentina, you can see that no other van transporter manufacturer sells more than we do. Almost every fourth large van transporter in either country was a Mercedes-Benz."

Other growth markets for the Sprinter van include Russia, Spain, and Italy, according to the automaker. At its peak around 2010, Spain purchased nearly 10,000 Mercedes-Benz vans. In 2013, Mercedes-Benz sold about 3,500 vehicles into the country.

Lastly, the automaker expects to grow sales in the United States, where it now maintains about 8 percent of the full-size van market.

In 2013, Mercedes-Benz sold 270,100 vans globally, including 163,000 Sprinters. The top four markets for Sprinters included Germany (35,000), the United States (22,000), the United Kingdom (21,000), and Argentina (8,000).