Germany - Mercedes-Benz Vans, a division of Stuttgart-based Daimler AG, is introducing vehicle drive style monitoring as standard on all new Sprinter and Vito Tourer models. This move is in response to customer research, which suggested almost two-thirds (64%) of fleet and SME customers surveyed want to use telematics or connected vehicle technology for this purpose. The facility is being offered free of charge in the Sprinter and Vito from May 2019 production. In the case of the Sprinter, the feature can be retrofitted remotely to existing vehicles by the customer using “over-the-air” software updates.

Steve Bridge, managing director of Mercedes-Benz Vans UK, said: “We are extremely proud of our connectivity solution and have therefore decided to include at no cost to our customers. Keeping their businesses moving is our priority, and with our new drive style monitoring solution software included as standard, company owners and vehicle managers can spend less time worrying about the vans and drivers, and more time therefore focused on their business and customers.”