We've heard through the grapevine that another element of the collaboration between Chrysler LLC and Nissan, in addition to the latter giving the former a small car and the former giving the latter a pickup, is that Chrysler will be ditching its Daimler-sourced Sprinter commercial van in favor of a rebranded Nissan van by 2011. As we already know, Nissan is planning on producing three new light commercial vehicles for the U.S. at its plant in Canton, Mississippi, and it will be sourcing some engines for its new LCVs from Cummins. Thus, we would also expect to see the familiar sight of a Cummins diesel under the hood of Dodge's version, as well. Will we discover even more sharing between Chrysler and Nissan as time goes on? Our sources say these companies aren't finished raiding each other's parts bins by a long shot.
The bulk of the Mercedes-Benz range gets alphanumeric designations. One of the few exceptions is the utility van which, versatile though it is, is not the first vehicle that would otherwise spring to mind in association with the name Sprinter. Duesseldorf-based tuning house Hartmann is doing its part to rectify that, however, with its new SP5 package.
The kit features an aero body kit with sportier front bumper, grille, side sills and rear apron, a new exhaust system with twin tailpipes, and though they don't look it in relation to the towering height of the vehicle itself, the wheels have been upgraded to 19" alloys with 255/55 R19 tires. Hartmann also does its magic in the cabin as well, with dash kits in wood or carbon fiber and chrome trim. Hartmann says its van conversion would make a good platform for a mobile office, promotional vehicle or delivery van for "exclusive products", and offers an array of engine mods depending on the stock powertrain chosen to make it more, you know... sprinty. Don't expect to see a brown one delivering your UPS packages anytime soon, though.
We reported last January that the European Ford Transit Connect would be coming to the U.S., and now we've learned that the Euro van is expected to join the assemblage of debuts at this year's Chicago Auto Show. Speculation is that the front-wheel-drive mini-ish vans will hit showrooms as a 2009 model and come with a 4-cylinder engine. It is also said to have seating for five, but meant to compete with another, larger European transplant, the Dodge Sprinter. Since Ford hasn't even acknowledged that the vehicle will be at Chicago, it hasn't issued a price, but MSRP for the Sprinter Van is $32,150 and the Sprinter Wagon goes for $34,350. If nothing else, we're happy to see Ford's European migration this way continuing, and there's even a Transit Connect SportVan! Now if we could work on some of those passenger car offerings...
