Why no Sprinter van conversion from A-S?

Am I the only one who thinks that A-S are missing a trick by not offering a van-conversion on the M-B Sprinter?

I've been looking at the new Lunar Landstar and we are probably going to order at the end of the season; we were considering the A-S Bourton on the Sprinter but a coach-built is just too wide for the sort of places we like to go to; in the spec we are looking at it is also around £10k more than the Lunar, OK the quality might not quite be the same but... £10k! 

Just about all the delivery companies in the UK use Sprinters and they seem to get to all remote locations.

Landstar:       [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I would be interested to hear opinions from you van-conversion owners, rather than the coach-built dudes.   

Hi Peter
Well I'm currently as 'coachbuilt dude' but I had 6 van conversions 4 of which were A/S...... here are my thoughts  
It probably comes down to economics. A/S have obviously come to some £s arrangements with Mercedes for their chassis cabs, but their starting price is still pretty steep even for their smallest coachbuilt. The Van market for A/S is like virtually all other significant motorhome manufactures dominated by the fiat/Peugeot base vehicle so a sprinter conversion will be small volume and high price. Having said that I see A/S are now prototyping the vito for release at the NEC in Oct14. This will be slightly smaller than the topaz but with no rear bathroom.
Regards
John

At the ASOC AGM this year AS said there were no immediate plans for a PVC based on the Sprinter as it was too narrow!  Other converter's think different.
You will see however a new model based on the Vito either later this year or next year.
I must admit I thought this strange as in terms of white van usage the Sprinter is far more popular than the Pugs/Citroens and apart from reliability the parcel delivery people also look at Max legal carrying capacity in what will fit in the back.

John, Roger,
Thanks for the responses- the Vito is a different kettle of worms- no longer than a T5 and barely wider. Presumably M-B have a replacement coming along which may differ by a few MM in all directions? afaik no commercial company in the UK used a Vito as a mainstream parcel van.
The lwb Sprinter (VW Crafter) seems to be the weapon of choice for delivery companies (I worked for Royal Mail for 40 years and am in touch with their fleet-buyer guys... many of whom now work for other privatised companies). 
I really do think that A-S have missed a trick here.

I am complete agreement Pete, as AS MB vans are selling well I would have gone along the PVC route as well

As A-S have now announced a camper conversion on the Vito (which looks, imho, like a short-* Inappropriate Word *, over-priced dog's-breakfast, based on a well past it's sell-by date base-vehicle).
I thought that a check on widths was in order- so, from the web:
Vito              1901mm
VW T5          1904 mm
Sprinter        1905 mm
All dimensions with mirrors folded. So the "too narrow" argument does not really hold water. Of course the unknown is the arrival of the VW (presumably) T6 around March next year. It is unlikely to be any wider because commercial operators have already had their say on delivery van sizes.

I've got £55k to spend and it is not looking good for A-S at the moment.  

I dont think you are on your own Pete with that opinion.

Hi Pete

As a van conversion owner who is not too keen on coach-built vans my reason for not considering the MB, apart from being too skinny, is that it is too long at 6.9m. A medium wheelbase version with a mid-lounge would be of more interest to us as being a more space efficient layout.

What I would prefer to see from A-S would be models based on the Fiat Ducato and my reason is that here in NZ the Peugeot agents are absolutely useless and only interested in selling their cars. Ducato’s are well supported by Fiat which is just as well since Peugeot Boxer models are extremely rare on our roads.


Keith

ki wrote:Hi Pete

As a van conversion owner who is not too keen on coach-built vans my reason for not considering the MB, apart from being too skinny, is that it is too long at 6.9m. A medium wheelbase version with a mid-lounge would be of more interest to us as being a more space efficient layout.

What I would prefer to see from A-S would be models based on the Fiat Ducato and my reason is that here in NZ the Peugeot agents are absolutely useless and only interested in selling their cars. Ducato’s are well supported by Fiat which is just as well since Peugeot Boxer models are extremely rare on our roads.


Keith

The Sprinter is available in the UK on three wheel-bases and with a "extra-long" option on the lwb.
FIAT, Peugeot and Citroen are the same vehicle, built in the Sevel factory in Italy, as a long-term proposition they do not fit my bill. A-S already offer seven variations on this base-unit.
You seem to have rather more width on your back-roads than we have in the old country! ;-)

Pete

I was aware of the PSA group when I purchased the Symbol and knew about the Fiat, Citroen connection. The Relay is also non-existent on our roads.

We have plenty of MB Sprinter/VW Crafter models but they are mostly the 6.9m model which doesn’t pass the ‘supermarket test’.

We also have some narrow back roads and plenty of off-road ones as well.

Keith

Hi,

Each to his own, but I am not a member of the MB fanclub.

The most unreliable motor vehicle I have ever owned was my first ever motorhome, based on a new sprinter 316. It was the only vehicle on which I ever had to call for help from the rescue services, and did so 3 times. So I got rid of it.
Its replacement was based on the Sevel (fiat/ Peugeot). Not only did it not go seriously wrong, it was much quieter(you could actually hear the radio!) and it handled much better because of its greater width, I guess.

For me AS can continue to offer Peugeot's and they will get my custom. MB will never be on my list - even if they were cheaper, which they are not.

hi,
I am less than impressed with the premature rusting of all Mercedes models, I wonder about the quality of the rest of their product,
Chris