Mercedes-Benz To Debut Mini Van Concept At Frankfurt - How Long Until BMW And Audi Follow?

Mercedes has announced plans to introduce the Viano Vision Pearl concept at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

Described as a yacht on wheels, the van has a matte grey exterior with a unique front fascia and LED daytime running lights. Inside, the cabin boasts leather seats, wood floors, brushed aluminum trim, WLAN connectivity and a bespoke 18-speaker, 1 320 watt, Bang & Olufsen audio system

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t_bone - 7/29/2011 2:35:27 PM

+1 Boost

I would like a BMW minivan. It should be a more compact size, somewhere between the size of a Mazda 5 and a Odyssey. Keep it low to the ground and give it the 335d diesel engine. I'll take this over any of "X" stuff they have been cranking out.

bfghemicuda - 7/29/2011 6:22:12 PM

+1 Boost

So aparantly the Mini-Van segment is alove and well with Chrysler on top. I wonder if the MB will be on the Germain Engineered VW Routan chassis that came from the Dodge Caravan?

bfghemicuda - 7/29/2011 6:22:46 PM

+1 Boost

Alive and well.

westy1974 - 7/29/2011 9:49:32 PM

+2 Boost

Mercedes has sold the Viano in Europe for years.

jtz7 - 7/29/2011 11:34:59 PM

-3 Boost

Oh great just another big, stupid, dumb, ugly slow acclerating minvan to annoy me when I'm driving.

MorePower - 7/31/2011 8:29:16 PM

0 Boost

It's not the minivan, but the people inside that annoy me!

quizz - 8/2/2011 2:17:06 PM

+1 Boost

For a family with 2+ kids, nothing beats the convenience of a minivan for the suburbs - soccer/sports transport, Costco, small furniture/moving, school pick-up duty with other parents, etc. The automatic sliding doors and the speed of entry/exit combined with the cargo space for kids' junk is simply unique to the minivan segment.

I'm a very active parent and although we have both a full sized SUV and minivan, the minivan comes out on top in so many ways: better fuel efficiency, better 3rd row seating, easier ingress/egress for rear passengers, 2nd row captain chairs, decent performance (Sienna V6 is strong enough).

Would I get a more expensive Viano? Only for the following 2 reasons:
1. Mercedes passenger safety features present in the other models are also present here
2. The latest greatest diesel V6
3. AWD available
4. 7 passenger seating