Mercedes released a design sketch of the all new Sprinter van at last week’s North American Commercial Vehicle Show in Atlanta, Georgia. Mercedes highlighted the next generation Sprinter will have horizontal headlights and a pronounced grille to give it a more ‘athletic’ appearance than before.

On sale in the UK during the first half of 2018, the new Sprinter will come with a host of new driver assistance systems such as Adaptive ESP and Crosswind Assist, braking each wheel separately to improve stability and minimise the risk of rolling. It will also have sophisticated telematics,  onboard connectivity and possibly a few technological surprises.

The company has also confirmed a variety of body styles to feature in the new range, including a standard panel van, a twin cab and a luxury ‘Tourer’ model. Mercedes is also saying the new Sprinter will come in ‘a considerably extended range of variants’.

Mercedes confirmed the Sprinter will be its first new model to represent the new "adVANce" development concept which was announced at the end of last year. That initiative targets future digitalisation and urbanisation technologies in transforming mere "vans" and "vehicles" to segment-specific "mobility solutions." Mercedes-Benz Vans suggest that adVANce could include things like automated cargo loading and unloading systems and from examining the illustrations released at the end of last year, it could even incorporate wheeled helper robots.

Head of Mercedes-Benz Vans, Volker Mornhinweg commented: ‘We want to do more than just build the best vehicles. We want to offer the most suitable mobility solution for every sector and for every transport assignment. And that is precisely our focus with the upcoming Sprinter generation as an overall system solution.’

"Against the background of urbanisation and digitalisation, the transport of the future needs to be made more intelligent, flexible and sustainable", says Volker Mornhinweg, Head of Mercedes-Benz Vans. "This is made possible by the interconnection of innovative technologies using the Internet of Things. In future customers will need more than a van on four wheels. They'll need intelligent system solutions precisely tailored to their needs."

Full technical details have yet to be confirmed, but it's likely the engine options will be carried over from the current model, meaning that four-cylinder and V6 diesel engines should be offered. There is likely to be a hybrid or electric Sprinter on offer, as the company says the new model “aims at megatrends such as digitalization and urbanisation” and will be act as a vanguard for Mercedes’ status as a “provider of complex, comprehensive mobility solutions”.

Mercedes-Benz has sold over 3.3-million Sprinters worldwide since the model first debuted back in 1995, with 2016 seeing the highest volume of sales to date. It's a popular choice in Germany, the USA and the UK.