Crown has added 15 Mercedes-Benz Citan vans, following wholelife cost analysis and week-long trials of two demonstration vehicles by Daimler Fleet Management.

Daimler Fleet Management has been working with Crown for the past eight years and in 2016 was awarded sole responsibility for funding and managing its 170 cars – most of which are by Mercedes-Benz – as well as its 130 vans.

The cost-effective package put together by Daimler Fleet Management and the enthusiastic feedback on the demonstration models from its merchandisers were important factors in Crown’s decision to switch from its previous brand of small van to the Mercedes-Benz Citan.

Its new vans, which will be used by the field-based merchandising team, are all long-bodied 109 CDI versions of the Citan with stop-start, low rolling resistance tyres, and optimised alternator and battery management systems as standard.

They have been supplied by North-East dealer Bell Truck and Van and are on three year, 80,000-mile contract hire agreements with Daimler Fleet Management.

Susan Fielding, commercial buyer at Crown, said: “We had looked at Mercedes-Benz vans in the past but discounted them as too expensive. Not this time, though. The focus for our latest tender was on a combination of lease and running costs, and reliability – our agreement with Daimler Fleet Management is highly competitive and represents excellent value for money.”

Daimler Fleet Management will supply a replacement vehicle in the event one of Crown’s own suffers a breakdown and is not back on the road within the agreed timeframe.

Fielding added: "We are very pleased with our Citans so provided its pricing remains competitive there will be every opportunity for Mercedes-Benz Vans to grow its share of our fleet when we come to update other, larger vehicles in the future.”