Author Topic: Russia Votes the Sprinter “Van of the Year 2013”  (Read 4122 times)

Offline fasteddy

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Russia Votes the Sprinter “Van of the Year 2013”
« on: May 09, 2013, 12:49:21 PM »
The Mercedes-Benz Sprinter has been voted “Van of the Year 2013” in Russia, thus winning the country’s largest nationwide automotive competition for the third time in a row. With this spectacular achievement, the vehicle that lent its name to the large van segment has demonstrated how well the Russian growth market receives its key attributes reliability, high quality, and versatility.
“Due to the vehicle’s wide range of variants and areas of application, customers all over the world can adapt the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter to their specific needs. In a sense, you could say that the Sprinter also ‘speaks Russian’,” says Volker Mornhinweg, Head of Mercedes-Benz Vans, commenting on the global vehicle’s success in the world’s biggest country. “The title ‘Van of the Year’ gives us another boost in Europe’s fastest-growing van market, where we are currently preparing local production of the Sprinter Classic with our partner GAZ.”
The van received the distinction after more than 1.3 million people had cast ballots for their favorite vehicles on the Internet, by mail, or by text message over a period of three months. Participants were able to choose from a total of 385 models in 23 segments and three special categories. The Sprinter won the title in the Vans category. The competition was first held in 2000 and is organized by Russia’s leading automotive publications.
The Mercedes-Benz Sprinter – the world van
The Mercedes-Benz Sprinter has been making a name for itself ever since its debut in 1995 when it occupied a market niche between cars and trucks. Thanks to its fuel-efficient diesel engines, long maintenance intervals, and intelligent safety systems, the segment’s pioneering vehicle has regularly set the pace in around 130 countries around the world. The plants in Düsseldorf and Ludwigsfelde, Germany, Charleston, South Carolina, González Catan, Argentina, and Fuzhou, China, have produced a total of 2.47 million Sprinters over the past 18 years. A total of 159,000 units were sold in 2012 alone, with large increases posted in North America, Turkey, and Russia.