We are certain it will have a chrome badge.
Mercedes-Benz wowed us in July with a teaser photo of the new lifestyle van that it intends to release in 2022. We didn’t know much at the time about the company’s progress, but we knew that the new vehicle would be part of the new Citan family. The Stuttgart-based brand just released the first teaser photo of the next-generation Citan.
This new photo isn’t very informative. It just confirms that the name of the light-commercial vehicle will not be changed. Mercedes also says it will be launched in 2021’s second half. It will be the first vehicle to arrive, and the T-Class variant, which is more comfortable, will arrive several months later.
The new Citan will be available as an electric model. This shouldn’t surprise you as the Mercedes-branded LCV was developed in collaboration between Daimler, Renault Kangoo , and Mercedes. The Citan will still have the “brand-typical DNA”, e.g. In terms of design, safety, connectivity, and distinctive design.
Although the new Kangoo was unveiled a few days ago, it has an EV version and a side cargo door that is frameless. However, it appears that the Citan will not benefit from this option. It will instead have “wide-opening sliding door on both the left and right sides of the vehicle, and a low loading sill,” which should make it easier to load large items.
While we will likely learn more over the next months, we don’t anticipate Mercedes to reveal anything concrete until the spring of 2021. It seems like the German marque will be following Renault’s van strategy, offering a more affordable option and a more comfortable vehicle to its customers even at this prelaunch phase.