Merc's MPV with ESP is AOK

When Mercedes-Benz launched the Vito in the late 1990s, they made the mistake of getting on the wrong side of taxi drivers.

A group of taxivan cabbies had troubles with the automatic transmission, and this put them off the road and out of pocket. The bad word about the Vito spread and it still lingers despite Mercedes-Benz having sorted out the problem straight away.

Mercedes-Benz has boosted the Vito van range by adding the new Vito Wagon, which works during the week and plays on weekends.

The buzz phrase the car marketing people have come up with for this van is a MPV — or a multi-purpose vehicle.

It allows a tradesmen or courier to add seats to his weekday work vehicle and use it on weekends to shuffle the kids around to sports or the shops, however, it takes two people to lift the bench seat in and out if the wagon.

There are eight seats as standard with a nine-seat option. There's also a luggage space at the back.

I tested the new rear-wheeled-drive Vito wagon taking it through the hills of country Victoria and it handled well. It even handled better on open freeways, where it sat comfortably on 100km/h and could overtake without a whimper.

Comfort in the back also measured up. A colleague claimed the ride in third row back, above the rear axle, was comfortable without any rocking or bumping, thanks to the independent suspension on all wheels with coil springs and shock absorbers doing the work at the back.

Power steering was responsive and the turning circle was a sharp 11.8 metres for the short-wheel-based model.

Safety involves ABS and ESP (electronic stability program). This ESP combined four braking technologies to improve direction and traction when forced into an emergency braking situation. Passenger airbags also are standard.

The Vito Wagon comes in two engine variants, the 115 CDI is powered by a 2.2-litre diesel engine used in the C-Class and Vito Panel Van (110kW at 3800rpm and 330Nm at 1800-2400rpm). The 119P has the 3.2-litre V6 petrol engine used in the Vito Panel Van and recently superseded Mercedes-Benz E320 (140kW at 5600rpm and 270Nm at 2750-4750rpm).

Mercedes estimates most of the 200 sales in the new wagon will be in the diesel range and already 30 Wagons have been ordered in the past few weeks.

The Vito is having another strong year with 900 sales in the first six months. It's sitting in fifth position behind the Toyota HiAce (2751), Kia Pregio (2359), Mitsubishi Express (1585) and Ford Transit (1080), according to industry statistician Vfacts.

Mercedes-Benz boss Horst van Sanden says the Vito is also an introduction vehicle for many people to the Mercedes-Benz brand.

A tradesman may use a Benz commercial van and somewhere down the track upgrade his passenger car to a Merc.

"The latest additions increase the variability and variety of our products and will enable us to reach more target groups in the future," he said.

Prices start from $54,900 for the diesel-powered 2.2-litre and $58,500 for the petrol-powered 3.2-litre engine.

However, you can tick all the option boxes and the price can go to $90,000.

When Mercedes entered the light commercial market in 1998, it sold 1000 vans, made up of the discontinued MB, the bigger Sprinter and the Vito. Last year this figure was more than 4000, representing a major growth in the commercial range.

It seems the three-pointed star's prestige pulling power is drawing tradesman and couriers.

It also seems that nobody is listening to cabbies.