Official: Mercedes-Benz gets sketchy with Citan urban delivery van Car News and Review

Though the Ford Transit Connect may be a niche player in the North American market, the small van market is big business in Europe. According to Mercedes-Benz, it accounts for some 700,000 units annually, and that’s a pie of which Daimler wouldn’t mind getting a larger slice. And so it has proclaimed its new Citan.

Taking its name from a compounding of City and Titan, the Citan will slot in under the Vario, Sprinter and Vito in order to meet the needs of workers who need to get around crowded metropolis streets and take their gear with them. Mercedes plans to offer it in a broad range of configurations, lengths and engine options once it hits the market in the fall.

The concept was unveiled at a logistics symposium held at the Mercedes-Benz Design Center in Sindelfingen, and will be presented for the first time in public next September at the IAA Commercial Vehicle Show. In the meantime, you can check out the details in the press release after the jump and the renderings in our high-res image gallery below.