Mercedes-Benz Vito 2009 News

Meet the Mercedes-Benz of people-movers. It's called the V-Class and seats up to eight people in comfort.

The Mercedes-Benz Vito 120CDI entered the Thoroughbred Tour of this year's Classic Adelaide and was far from disgraced during the closed-road stages. Several media drivers and Mt Gambier Benz dealer Pete Gazzard completed the event in the van, which demonstrated the strong torque by competing with event burnout king Mick Doohan's C63 at stage starts.Mount Gambier Mercedes-Benz dealer-principal Peter Gazzard completed his fourth Classic Adelaide in the Vito.  The enthusiastic Gazzard has “caught and passed more than a few wide-eyed drivers of fancied European marques and we expect the same this year," says Mercedes-Benz Asia-Pacific corporate communications senior manager David McCarthy."We wanted to demonstrate that performance goes hand-in-hand with workplace safety -- it's the only five-star van -- the Vito demonstrated its comfort, driveability and safety in a very competitive environment," he says. "Some competitors disparagingly called it a mobile billboard,” McCarthy says.  Those competitors got ample chance to read the 5-Star ANCAP safety message on the Vito as it passed more than a few of them on some special stages. We wanted to demonstrate that workplace safety has many meanings." "There are also a couple of Aston Martin and Porsche owners who are nursing bruised egos this week, having been overtaken by what is probably Australia's safest and fastest van," he says.The exercise is expected to generate renewed interest in the Vito, according to McCarthy.  "A lot of our competitors would not have the guts to enter their vans, because apart from marginal safety ratings, they have about as much driveability as a forklift on a skating rink - we think the Vito was an ace performer," he says.

The $39,490 Mercedes-Benz Vito van was tested last month at Autoliv in Melbourne's northern suburbs as part of the Australian New Car Assessment Program.ANCAP chair, Mr Lauchlan McIntosh, said the result was encouraging but given the number of work vehicles on the road, he wanted other manufacturers to build five-star vans and utes.There are more than 250,000 vans and on Australian roads and few have the safety features of the Vito, he said. “It's great news for trades people and fleet buyers,” he said.McIntosh described the Vito result as a milestone for crash safety. “They are the workhorses in so many applications,” he said. “I look forward to other companies taking up the challenge to build five-star commercial vehicles.”McIntosh said commercial vans should be as safe as cars. ANCAP will focus future testing on other utes and commercial vehicles. The Vito was tested in a 64km/h frontal-offset collision, a 50km/h side impact crash and 29km/h pole crash test.The car was fitted with the optional side curtain airbags, which cost $800.Mercedes-Benz Australia managing director of commercial vehicles, Ken Matthews, said the company would now consider making curtain airbags standard on the Vito.“It's something we will consider,” he said. “It would give Mercedes an edge in the market.”Sample of ANCAP ratings for other vehicles Mercedes-Benz compares to the Vito and VianoVehicle Stars Score out of 37MITSUBUISHI EXPRESS * 8.49NISSAN PATROL *** 22.17FORD TRANSIT *** 22.53TOYOTA HI-ACE *** 23.5HYUNDAI i-Load **** 25.81MITSUBISHI PAJERO **** 25.88TOYOTA HI-LUX **** 26.86VOLKSWAGEN TRANSPORTER **** 26.93VOLKSWAGEN CADDY **** 28.46TOYOTA PRADO **** 29.53AUDI Q7 **** 29.82TOYOTA TARAGO **** 30.45LAND ROVER DISCOVERY **** 31.39FORD TERRITORY TS **** 31.57HOLDEN CAPTIVA **** 31.23NISSAN PATHFINDER **** 32.17FORD FOCUS 2007 ON **** 32.46MERCEDES-BENZ VITO ***** 32.66 (was 30.66)MERCEDES-BENZ VIANO ***** 32.66 

However, of seven vans rated by ANCAP, just three, including the iLoad, have four-star ratings.The others are the Mercedes-Benz Vito and Volkswagen Transporter. By comparison, the best-selling Toyota Hi-Ace gets a three-star rating.ANCAP manager, Michael Case, said many work vans and other commercial vehicles still lacked proven lifesaving safety features like anti-skid brakes or electronic stability control. Few vans have them fitted as standard, he said."No commercial vehicles currently have a five-star rating, which requires excellent crash protection plus head-protecting side airbags and electronic stability control," Case said.He praised the iMax and iLoad results but said other carmakers still need to lift their game. The iMax and iLoad were crashed at 64km/h to simulate an off-set head-on collision with another car. He is also urging businesses to put safety ahead of penny-pinching when purchasing work vehicles."It's a question of occupational health and safety," he said."The OHS requirements on employers to provide a safe work environment do extend to work vehicles and that often means the commercial vehicles we're talking about." Fleet managers no longer have any excuse to buy unsafe vehicles, Case said."ANCAP is seeing mixed safety performance in its recent crash tests of van-style vehicles and the Hyundai results are good to see," he said. "It has put considerable effort into improving the safety of its vehicles and the results reflect that effort."Case also said parents who also use their work vans as family transport at weekends are risking their families' lives. "That's of particular concern," he said.Both the iLoad and iMax get dual front airbags, anti-skid brakes and electronic brake distribution as standard. The iMax also gets stability control but it is still optional on the iLoad. 

Previously it was only the VW Transporter and Caddy that had the four-star rating, the top safety rating so far achieved by vans in Australia, but the 'Benz van has joined them and can now also claim to be the safest van in the land.While other vans leave their drivers' legs exposed to serious injury in a frontal crash VW and Mercedes have managed to minimise that risk."These 4-star vans demonstrate this type of vehicle can be designed to minimise leg injury," says ANCAP Chair, Lauchlan McIntosh.While VW and Mercedes are setting the safety pace the Mitsubishi Express languishes at the other end of the field with a single star against its badge.