Market entry in Europe: ViaVan offers app-based on-demand ridesharing service in Amsterdam

Stuttgart/Amsterdam. ViaVan, the joint venture of Mercedes-Benz Vans and Via, launched its service in Amsterdam in early March 2018. The Dutch capital is thus the first city in Europe where this ecologically and economically sustainable alternative form of mobility is available. 

Amsterdam and the business model of ViaVan are an ideal fit. In addition to Copenhagen, Vienna and Barcelona, the Netherland's most populous city can call itself a Smart City and plays a leading role in Europe in the area of sustainable mobility and innovations.

On-demand van ridesharing for more efficient transportation

Thanks to an innovative technology that enables trips to be pooled, several passengers travel together without any protracted detours and delays. With the help of an app, riders can select their desired starting point as well as their destination. The system uses sophisticated algorithms created by the software experts from Via to calculate very efficiently and in real time which journeys can be "pooled" without significant detours. In this way, passengers with similar or the same destinations are brought together and transported jointly in a ViaVan.

For maximum efficiency and to arrive at the planned destination without major detours and/or delays, the app uses so-called virtual stops, e.g. junctions, where passengers can get on or off. The aim is to pool trips and consequently reduce the number of vehicles in the city. 

In contrast to private transport, this requires fewer vehicles, while increasing the available mobility capacity at the same time. In this way, the ridesharing service complements both the public transport system as well as already existing mobility offers – and it does so at a favourable price. 

The digital fare comprises a basic price – there is a fixed price in the city centre of Amsterdam – as well as a time or distance-based surcharge for outlying areas. The offer from ViaVan lies somewhere between the rate for classic local public transport and a taxi fare. 

Booking the journey by app ensures that the price that will ultimately be charged is known when the booking is made and no longer changes. Payment is made cashless via the app, which is fast, easy, convenient, and secure.

The idea of US-American start-up Via already managed to establish itself in New York, Chicago and Washington, D.C. Around 1.5 million trips are made there each year, with already more than 30 million successful trips having been made worldwide since the market launch. 

Via, which has been in existence since 2013 and is based in New York, founded the joint venture ViaVan together with Mercedes-Benz Vans in September of last year. Other cities will soon follow after the successful market launch in Amsterdam. These include Berlin and London, where the service will also be launched soon pending final approvals.

Long-term strategic partnership to further develop the mobility concept

Mercedes-Benz Vans and Via are jointly working on the advancement of intelligent mobility, which also comprises the optimisation of the use of Mercedes vans in ridesharing services. At present, the company uses mainly the Vito Tourer (up to nine seats) and the V-Class (up to eight seats), which are continuously adapted to this particular purpose. 

Thanks to its high configuration flexibility and connectivity, the new Sprinter will in future also see increased duty for certain applications where additional seats are required. Besides the further development of advanced software and sensor systems, the focus of the long-term strategic partnership is also on the use of battery-electric and thus locally emission-free vans as well as on autonomous driving.

Source: Daimler

Strategic realignment of Mercedes-Benz Vans: The new Sprinter brings the future initiative adVANce onto the roads

• The Sprinter stands for the transformation from a pure vehicle manufacturer to a developer and provider of comprehensive mobility solutions
• Future-oriented adVANce areas of innovation place the focus of the initiative on customer and industry benefits
• Joint projects with customers and cooperation with start-ups expand the horizons and increase development speed 

The strategic realignment adVANce presented in autumn 2016 means nothing less than the far-reaching transformation of Mercedes-Benz Vans from a pure vehicle manufacturer into a provider of comprehensive mobility solutions. The new Sprinter is highly symbolic of this future initiative by Mercedes-Benz Vans, and reflects the change of strategy. 

The key elements to cater for customers' wide range of needs in the commercial transport sector are tailor-made solutions that help to increase efficiency and productivity throughout the value chain. The new Sprinter is the first Mercedes-Benz vehicle to embody this new aspiration and make adVANce solutions tangible in practice.

As a bestselling large van, the Sprinter was and is still the dominant force in this segment

"The new Sprinter is a trailblazer for this development, and for the first impressively shows how the different aspects of adVANce work together. We have improved it even further in its classic strengths, and added intelligent products and services to them. It is the first van of a new type, positioning itself as a fully networked end-to-end solution and becoming an integral part of the entire added value chain. We are offering our customers genuine added value that has never before been available. With adVANce we are once more redefining the future of the industry, and the Sprinter as a shining symbol of our strategic future initiative is once again ushering in a new van era", says Volker Mornhinweg, Head of Mercedes-Benz Vans. 

For the benefit of customers: Systematic integration of intelligent technologies

The future initiative adVANce concentrates on areas of innovation that will decide future success in the transport and logistical sector: in the case of "connectivity and Internet of Things (IoT) applications", the object is optimum integration of a wide range of digital technologies into the vehicles of Mercedes-Benz Vans (DIGITAL@VANS). The aim of "innovative hardware solution" (SOLUTIONS@VANS) is continuous improvement of load capacity and logistics, and adaptation to changing expectations in the transport sector. 

 Mercedes-Benz Van Rental is the first time a brand has concentrated solely on renting out vans (RENTAL@VANS). One initial example of the development of innovative sharing services is the joint venture with the US start-up Via (SHARING@VANS). The innovation field eDRIVE@VANS concerns itself with the electrification of the powertrain.

Anticipating industry and transport needs

Where the electrification of fleets is concerned (eDRIVE@VANS), Mercedes-Benz Vans is following a course of strategic partnerships and optimised e-drive solutions for specific use cases. The systematic electrification of fleets is part of the comprehensive strategy. The eVito, which became available for ordering in November 2017, will kick off the process this year, followed by the eSprinter in 2019. 

The cooperation with Hermes is an example of a strategic partnership. The pilot project with this logistics company envisages the addition of 1500 electric vans to the fleet in Germany by 2020. Technical development is accompanied by a comprehensive approach to the day-to-day applications: For example, the new concepts for the use of battery-electric vans also include creation of the necessary charging infrastructure and the integration of electromobility into existing company procedures.

DIGITAL@VANS consolidates all activities relating to the Internet of Things that intelligently network apps and services. The basis for this is concentration on the respective sector and transport requirements, and the resulting customer benefits. 

In the service technician and tradespeople sectors, for example, the integration of part of the goods transport sector into the transport and logistical processes is on the agenda. Future topics such as an automated reordering process or overnight deliveries directly to the van will ensure tangible improvements in working efficiency and in fleet utilisation.

Optimisation of the load compartment is the superordinate aim of SOLUTIONS@VANS. During the further development of shelving systems and vehicle bodies, the focus is however not only on load capacity and payload. Here too, adVANce means thinking beyond the status quo and the next evolutionary phases. 

An important development focus in the future will be intelligent integration of the load compartment into the already substantially automated logistical chains of customers. For couriers, for example, this work will pay off in the form of a much faster loading and unloading process, while service technicians will be able to carry more tools or replacement parts and complete their mobile assigments more rapidly and frequently.

The Mercedes-Benz Van Rental brand presented in September 2017 as a part of Mercedes-Benz Mobility GmbH specialising in van rental will expand the possibilities for fleet operators in the innovation field RENTAL@VANS. 

This will allow very busy periods to be managed by temporarily enlarging the vehicle fleet. Maximum time flexibility is guaranteed by variable rental periods ranging from 24 hours to several months. Different rental charges allow an uncomplicated change of vehicles or flexible adjustment of the return time. Moreover, the available range also includes sector-specific vehicles such as refrigerated vans.

And not least, in the passenger transport sector, the strategic cooperation with the New York based start-up "Via" is pointing the way to the future with an on-demand mobility system. As a part of SHARING@VANS, Mercedes-Benz Vans and Via plan to introduce the innovative Via technology – the operating system for the on-demand ridesharing service – in Europe, and have formed the joint venture "ViaVan" to this end. For the first time this will make it possible to dynamically and optimally route vans between thousands of virtual stops in urban areas, and to significantly reduce traffic density – without any investment in the infrastructure.

External expertise expands the horizon to new areas of aspiration

Customers and their needs are the focus of all development activities – both for highly advanced products and innovative services. Under adVANce, this maxim, which has always been a core value of Mercedes-Benz Vans, is supplemented by another important aspect. 

For the first time, customers and users will also be involved in the development process by Customer Co-Creation. Their specific industry or logistical expertise plays an important role in the development process, and opens up new perspectives on future areas of aspiration.

Mercedes-Benz Vans is also putting on a new turn of speed: innovations are to be brought to market maturity more rapidly by cooperation with start-ups, for example. The primary aim is this: they must make a demonstrable and significant contribution to the inceased efficiency of the vehicle, fleet or driver, and therefore for our customers.

Volker Mornhinweg explains: "Innovative and competitive pressure, as well as the increasing speed of development, will shape the future – both for us and for our customers. We not only want to accompany this process successfully, but also actively help to shape it. Together with our customers, we therefore want to create mobility packages relating to the new Sprinter which meet the challenges of tomorrow and the day after both in goods and passenger transport."

Source: Daimler