By Gary S. Vasilash

When you think “Mercedes Benz,” presumably it is in the context of something like the S-Class, a swanky motor vehicle.

And you wouldn’t be wrong, because a new S-Class was launched in 2021 and not only is it swanky, but it is chockfull of so much tech that it is probably like most PCs that people own: there are so many possible programs that one is unlikely to ever use all of them or even a few of them to their full capabilities.

And people clearly find it appealing because S-Class sales in 2021 were up 66.3% in 2021 over 2020, or 14,282 units.

Actually, in the car space, that was Mercedes top performer in 2021. Although it moved more C-Class cars, 30,815, on a percentage basis the C-Class was up only 17.2% from the previous year.

And while there were more E-Class vehicles sold than S-Classes—20,947—on a percentage basis that is down 22.7%.

In fact, there were a lot of minus signs in Mercedes’ 2021 results.

Fortunately for it, there are the “G” vehicles, crossovers, where, not surprisingly, the action was. For example, the GLE, with sales of 65,074 had a stellar performance, as it was up 35.1% compared with 2020. (The GLE has a variety of variants, so that undoubtedly was beneficial for those going into the showroom.)

But the bottom line for the Mercedes-Benz passenger vehicles shows an increase of just 0.4% compared to 2020. Yes, positive territory. But then, 0.4%.

However, Mercedes has something else, something that you probably don’t think about, something not stylish and swanky:

Vans.

Things like the Sprinter and Metris Vans.

Van sales in 2021 were up 4.8% compared with 2020. A total of 53,472 units.

So all-in, Mercedes was up 1.1%.

Arguably, thanks to those vans.