The Mercedes-Benz Citan is a

panel van A panel van, also known as a delivery van (United Kingdom), blind van, car-derived van or sedan delivery (United States), is a small cargo vehicle with a passenger car chassis, typically with a single front bench seat and no side windows behind ...

and

leisure activity vehicle Minivan (sometimes called simply a van) is a car classification for vehicles designed to transport passengers in the rear seating row(s), with reconfigurable seats in two or three rows . The equivalent classification in Europe is MPV (multi-pu ...

introduced as a

badge-engineered In the automotive industry, rebadging (also known as badge engineering, an intentionally ironic misnomer in that little or no actual engineering takes place) is a form of market segmentation used by automobile manufacturers around the world. ...

variant of the

Renault Kangoo The Renault Kangoo is a family of vans built by Renault since 1997 across three generations. It is sold as a passenger multi-purpose vehicle or as a light commercial vehicle. For the European market, the Kangoo is manufactured at the MCA plant i ...

in 2012 and marketed by

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to simply as Mercedes and occasionally as Benz, is a German automotive brand that was founded in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a subsidiary of the Mercedes-Benz Group, established in 2019) is based in Stuttgart, ...

as the successor to the Vaneo

compact MPV Compact MPV (an abbreviation for Compact Multi-Purpose Vehicle) is a vehicle size class for the middle size of MPVs. The Compact MPV size class sits between the mini MPV and large MPV (minivan) size classes. Compact MPVs remain predominantly a ...

. In the Mercedes-Benz van lineup, the Citan is the smallest model offered, alongside the mid-size

Vito Vito is an Italian name that is derived from the Latin word "''vita''", meaning "life". It is a modern form of the Latin name Vitus, meaning "life-giver," as in San Vito or Saint Vitus, the patron saint of dogs and a heroic figure in southern ...

(aka Viano, V-Class, and EQV) and large Sprinter. __TOC__

First generation (W415; 2012)

Production

The Citan, internally designated as the W415, is a result of the partnership between

Daimler Daimler is a German surname. It may refer to: People * Gottlieb Daimler (1834–1900), German inventor, industrialist and namesake of a series of automobile companies * Adolf Daimler (1871–1913), engineer and son of Gottlieb Daimler * Paul Da ...

and the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance and is assembled by

Renault Renault S.A., commonly referred to as Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English), is a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company curr ...

subsidiary MCA in the northern

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

town of

Maubeuge Maubeuge (; historical or ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department in northern France. It is situated on both banks of the Sambre (here canalized), east of Valenciennes and ab ...

, alongside its twin, the

. The van is aimed at both the

passenger car A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are around one billio ...

and

light commercial vehicle A light commercial vehicle (LCV) in the European Union, Australia and New Zealand is a commercial carrier vehicle with a gross vehicle weight of no more than 3.5 metric tons (tonnes). The LCV designation is also occasionally used in both Cana ...

markets and is the first

to be launched into the commercial vehicle market since the

in 1995.

claim the

sector is the fastest-growing market area in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, accounting for 700,000 sales annually.

Bodystyles

The Citan is available in three different lengths: compact (3.94m), long (4.32m) and extra-long (4.71m). The vehicle comes in three bodystyles: Panel Van, Dualiner and Traveliner, with the Panel Van seating up to two people and both the Dualiner and Traveliner seating up to five.

Safety

The Citan Traveliner received four passenger stars in the

Euro NCAP The European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) is a European voluntary car safety performance assessment programme (i.e. a New Car Assessment Program) based in Leuven, Belgium. Formed in 1996, the first results were released in February ...

safety tests. The Mercedes-Benz CITAN Kombi was first tested by Euro NCAP in April 2013, and was given a three star rating. Mercedes-Benz indicated at that time that they would improve the safety performance of the vehicle, especially the deployment of the side airbag and the installation of child restraints; and that they would provide a seatbelt reminder for the front passenger seat and make the speed limitation device comply with Euro NCAP's requirements. These changes are now in production and

has reassessed the vehicle. Several tests have been redone to assess the changes that Mercedes-Benz have made. Where the performance is not influenced by the changes, test results have been carried over from the original assessment. In March 2024, the Citan van was awarded a Platinum rating from Euro NCAP due to its high level of active safety systems.

Marketing

In 2012,

began a marketing campaign for the Citan with

Richard Dean Anderson Richard Dean Anderson (born January 23, 1950) is an American actor. He began his television career in 1976, playing Jeff Webber in the American soap opera series ''General Hospital'', and then rose to prominence as the lead actor in the televis ...

reprising his role as the popular TV show character ''

MacGyver Angus "Mac" MacGyver is the title character and the protagonist in the TV series ''MacGyver''. He is played by Richard Dean Anderson in the MacGyver (1985 TV series), 1985 original series. Lucas Till portrays a younger version of MacGyver in Mac ...

''. The series of short films, titled ''MacGyver and the New Citan'', is available on the official Citan website, from 18 September. The episodes were shot in

Johannesburg, South Africa Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, in July 2012.

Engines list

Second generation (W420; 2021)

The second generation Citan was introduced in August 2021 in Panel Van and Tourer variants. Based on the third generation

, the Citan (W420) rides on the CMF-CD platform, which also was developed into the T-Class MPV, replacing the existing Citan Traveliner and Citan Tourer. The T-Class was released in April 2022, initially as the regular wheelbase version with seats for five people. A long-wheelbase variant with seats for seven in three rows is planned. The headlights are borrowed from the pre-facelift third gen B-Class.

Safety

Gallery

File:Mercedes-Benz W420 1X7A0301.jpg, Rear view File:Mercedes-Benz W420 1X7A0298.jpg, Mercedes-Benz Citan Tourer File:Mercedes-Benz W420 1X7A0300.jpg, Mercedes-Benz Citan Tourer File:Mercedes-Benz T-Class (W420) Automesse Ludwigsburg 2022 1X7A5899.jpg, Mercedes-Benz T-Class File:Mercedes-Benz T-Class (W420) Automesse Ludwigsburg 2022 1X7A5983.jpg, T-Class interior

Electric models

eCitan

The Mercedes-Benz eCitan is a battery-electric variant of the Citan LCV, announced in October 2021 alongside the regular Citan, with availability beginning the second half of 2022. The eCitan has an electric traction motor driving the front wheels, developing and , drawing from an eight-module lithium-ion battery carried under the floor forward of the rear axle with 44 kW-hr of usable capacity. The estimated range is under the WLTP combined driving cycle. The standard on-board charger has a capacity of 11 kW (AC), but as an option, a 22 kW (AC) / 75 kW (DC) charger can be ordered, which gives the vehicle a CCS Combo 2 port.

EQT

The Mercedes-Benz EQT is a battery-electric variant of the T-Class MPV, first shown as a concept at IAA 2021. The production EQT was unveiled in December 2022, equipped with a drivetrain identical to that of the contemporary Kangoo E-Tech. This includes a 45 kW-hr battery that feeds an electric traction motor which develops and of torque, giving it an estimated range of . It was introduced initially in the short-wheelbase version.

Engines

References

External links

{{Mercedes-Benz_trucks_2000-2050 Citan Vans Electric vans Mini MPVs Front-wheel-drive vehicles Euro NCAP small MPVs Cars introduced in 2012 2020s cars