VW considers Crafter commercial van for U.S.

[kscarbel2]

Automotive News  /  November 1, 2016

Encouraged by the success of the Ford Transit and Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, Volkswagen Group is weighing whether to enter the U.S. commercial van market with its all-new Crafter.

Volkswagen has invested 800 million euros (about $871 million) in a plant in Poland with capacity for 100,000 vehicles annually in 2018. It shouldered the development cost for an exclusive platform.

Previously, the Crafter was developed with and built by Mercedes-Benz Vans, which supplied VW with only 50,000 of the vehicles per year.

Ford began building its European Transit van for U.S. customers in Kansas City, Missouri, in mid-2014, while Mercedes is expanding its Charleston, South Carolina, site at the cost of $500 million after record sales of 194,000 large vans globally last year. Fiat's Ducato was reborn as a Ram ProMaster equipped with a 3.6-liter Penta-star gasoline engine.

"No decision has been made but the option is being analyzed," said a VW source. "The problem is the chicken tax [a 25 percent tariff on light trucks imported into the U.S.], so whether a [complete knockdown] assembly or full production is the most sensible depends on the volume."

Another problem is distribution, but the acquisition of a stake in U.S. heavy-truck maker Navistar in September may give VW access to a sales network.

New (2017) VW Crafter - http://the-new-crafter.com/com/en/

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[bulldogboy]

So, will the U.S. van market become over saturated with more brands? And, if so, who gets hurt the most, perhaps GM if they don't develop a "European" style van?

I have no stake in this at all, just wondering.

bulldogboy

[kscarbel2]

9 hours ago, bulldogboy said:

So, will the U.S. van market become over saturated with more brands? And, if so, who gets hurt the most, perhaps GM if they don't develop a "European" style van?

I have no stake in this at all, just wondering.

bulldogboy

The Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana are dinosaurs. But if GM wanted to jump into the game, they already have an impressive and competitive player in the form of the Vauxhall/Opel Movano, a rebadged version of the popular Renault Master. 

http://www.vauxhall.co.uk/vehicles/vauxhall-range/vans/movano-ng/overview.html

Like the European market Transit, the Movano is available with either rear-wheel drive OR front-wheel drive to meet each customer's exact needs. (The European Transit is also available with all-wheel drive....altogether 3 drive configurations, but Americans only get RWD)

http://www.opel.ie/vehicles/opel_range/vans/movano-ng/highlights/chassis.html

Cab & chassis models - http://www.vauxhall.co.uk/vehicles/vauxhall-range/vans/movano-ng/conversions.html

Video - http://www.opel.ie/vehicles/opel_range/vans/movano-ng/index.html

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[TeamsterGrrrl]

Wonder why Volvo isn't offering this to Mack and Volvo dealers in the U.S.... Is the noncompete agreement with GM still in effect?

[kscarbel2]

1 hour ago, TeamsterGrrrl said:

Wonder why Volvo isn't offering this to Mack and Volvo dealers in the U.S.... Is the noncompete agreement with GM still in effect?

Renault purchased the heavy truck side (Renault Vehicule Industriels ), but this van is produced by the light vehicle side, Renault Group, i.e. the Renault-Nissan Alliance.

GM already buys the Chevrolet City Express compact van from the Renault-Nissan Alliance, which is a rebadged Nissan NV200.  

An additional global van option GM has at its fingertips is the slightly smaller mid-sized Vauxhall/Opel Vivaro, which is a rebadged Renault Trafic. 

http://www.vauxhall.co.uk/vehicles/vauxhall-range/vans/vivaro/overview.html?intcid=van_overview_vivaro

The Movano competes with the Transit and Sprinter.

The Vivaro competes with VW's ever popular Transporter, and Ford Transit Custom.

[kscarbel2]

VW challenges Ford, Mercedes with new Crafter

Automotive News Europe  /  November 24, 2016

Volkswagen aims to grab a greater share of the lucrative segment for large cargo vans dominated by Ford Motor and Mercedes-Benz after investing around 800 million euros in a new manufacturing plant that marks a record for its light commercial vehicles division.

The new factory in Wrzesnia, Poland is expected to build 100,000 units of its entirely redesigned Crafter annually when all body style derivatives are available in 2018.

The Crafter will offer new features such as front-wheel drive and automatic transmission, both previously not offered. These should help to double the model's current volume according to VW managers.

Demonstrating the importance of the model, both Chairman Hans Dieter Poetsch and Lower Saxony Premier Stephan Weil, two of VW's most important board directors, flew in to attend the opening ceremony late in October along with the CEO of Volkswagen Truck & Bus, Andreas Renschler.

The market for "C/D Transporters," as VW calls large delivery vans with 3-6 tons (6,614-13,228lb) of gross permissible weight (GVW), is over 1.3 million vehicles in size globally and growing thanks to the trend towards online shopping firms such as Amazon or Zalando in Germany. However VW mainly competes in the western European market which increased by 14 percent last year to nearly 500,000 units.

While anything but sexy, it's a well-known axiom that the commercial vehicle business can be extremely profitable when run properly.

Ford of Europe is market leader in the region with the Transit, earning a 4.9 percent pretax margin during the first nine months.

Meanwhile, Opel/Vauxhall had long neglected the commercial van businesses and ended up breaking even during the same period -- and then only on an operating level and after adjusting for effects. Addressing this vulnerability has now become a "fundamental element" of the General Motors brand's 2022 growth strategy.

The risks however have never been higher for VW's van business, best known for building the Volkswagen Bus that became a pop culture icon during the Flower Power era of the 1960s.

Like many automakers in this comparatively low-volume segment, VW had previously split the development costs by partnering up with a competitor. The outgoing Crafter was based on the Sprinter from Daimler's Mercedes-Benz unit and built by Mercedes. Daimler only supplied the 50,000 units annually that it was contractually obliged to do and in 2013 decided to end the partnership entirely to gain the extra capacity.

Platform risk

Much like the passenger car market though, larger vehicles are more lucrative than small ones. "Mercedes' van business makes all its money with the Sprinter," said one VW commercial vehicles manager.

Volkswagen took a risky bet by developing a platform solely for the Crafter which is technically incompatible with the rest of the 12-brand group's vehicles. No other vehicle in the entire product range comes equipped with axles capable of supporting the weight needed for the segment except for the heavy trucks sold by VW Group's MAN and Scania heavy truck brands.

Additionally the problem arose that none of the group's 130 manufacturing plants worldwide were adequate to build the Crafter given none had the required dimensions for assembling and painting a model such as the Crafter. The paint shop has 12 swimming pool size tanks alone dedicated to various stages of cathodic immersion coating.

As a result, the 2.2 square kilometer size of its plant in Wrzesnia - roughly equivalent to 300 soccer fields - makes it the group's biggest factory for one single model.

"The length of the vehicle determines the factory," said Jens Ocksen, head of Volkswagen Poznan, the Polish unit of VW's commercial vehicles division.

VW hopes that by adding front-wheel drive models it can increase volumes mainly from businesses that need a vehicle offering plenty of volume to store a product that doesn't have a lot of weight, for example bakeries or florists.

An additional benefit of removing the drive shaft is the corresponding 10 centimeter lower floor. While it sounds minor, VW officials say it saves drivers climbing the equivalent of climbing over 600 stairs every month. The sliding door has also been designed to shave off three seconds each opening and closing. These savings translate to more trips they can take and hence more money operators earn.

Lastly, VW will now finally be able to offer automatic transmissions, which the Crafter needs in Germany to participate in tenders made by emergency services for ambulances or police vehicles.

Volkswagen is considering whether to launch the Crafter in the U.S. market, where more and more European vans are succeeding thanks to their lower cost of ownership. Ford began building its Transit in Kansas City, Missouri, while Mercedes is investing half a billion dollars to begin manufacturing the Sprinter in Charleston, South Carolina.