It’s not just about the van itself anymore when it comes to the future of deliveries in an ever-increasingly urbanised world.

In Stuttgart this week, at the Mercedes-Benz Van Innovation Campus 2016, Mercedes-Benz Vans chiefs explained its pioneering role in the vans business and is initiating a profound strategic transformation.

In future, Mercedes-Benz Vans will no longer be a mere manufacturer of globally successful vans and the associated services, but will evolve into a provider of customer-focused holistic system solutions. Robotics, drones and an array of partnering technologies are the future of logistics as the world population purchases more online and demand faster delivery.

The Vision Van from Mercedes-Benz Vans is a revolutionary van study for the urban environment merging a number of technologies for last-mile delivery operations and meeting requirements and providing solutions for future generations of vans.

By offering systematic use of present-day and future technology presented by digitalisation, automation and robotics, the business division of Mercedes-Benz is changing from a mere vehicle manufacturer into a provider of system solutions.  The future for the van will be a combination of integrated and intelligent systems added to the basic vehicle.

Vision Van features a fully automated cargo space, integrated drones for autonomous air deliveries and a state-of-the-art joystick control. Powered by a 75 kW electric drive system with a range of up to 270 km, deliveries with the Vision Van are locally emission-free. The electric drive system additionally guarantees that it will remain possible to operate the Vision Van in inner-city zones where the introduction of bans on vehicles with internal combustion engines is planned. The virtually silent electric drive system facilitates late deliveries in residential areas for the purposes of same-day delivery.

"With the Vision Van we are presenting the intelligent, clean and fully interconnected van of the future", says Volker Mornhinweg, Head of Mercedes-Benz Vans. "The Vision Van integrates many concrete concepts for future delivery operations in the urban environment, such as a fully automatic cargo space, autonomously flying delivery drones and innovative communication features."