Therefore vehicles such as this are increasingly becoming the norm rather than an oddity.

And bear in mind that a stylish and shiny van will speak volumes about the firm which has its name emblazoned on the side. It’s like a kind of free advertising, really.

As you’d expect with Mercedes, this van is built with impressive quality.

All the doors shut with a mighty and satisfying clunk and everything in the vehicle has that built-to-last quality.

The seats are typical German fare – they feel like slabs of concrete when you first sit on them but after a hundred miles or so you realise that they are in fact comfortable and supportive.

I did start to remove the rear seats just for curiosity’s sake, but changed my mind when I realised how heavy they were. It’s a job for two strong men.

But even with these seats in place there is still a creditable 3.0 cubic metres of cargo space in the back. Take them out and this figures rises to 5.2 cu m.

Such is the power on offer and the smoothness with which it is delivered that it is easy to nudge above the legal speed on the motorways so care must be taken here.

The silky smooth driving experiences was, however, slightly marred by a heavy clutch action and rather light power steering which gives the van a certain vagueness on the corners.

Verdict

As a niche vehicle in fleet, this van stands proud. Get one to offer as a prize drive as stated above and just watch the staff fight over it – and save yourself fuel money at the same time.