ABM Q4 - Flipbook - Page 78
Q&A
Mercedes-Benz Vans
Craig Cheetham speaks with Iain Forsyth, managing
director, and Simon Neill, operations director at
Mercedes-Benz Vans (UK), about future growth,
targeting SMEs, and leveraging global expertise
Can you tell us a little about
your backgrounds?
Iain Forsyth (IF): I'm Canadian, and
I've been in the auto industry all my life.
I worked for a couple of other OEMs,
but I've been with Mercedes-Benz
for 15 years. I started on the car side
in Canada, then moved into the van
side. Prior to coming to the UK, I was
in the US, where I went to take over
international fleets. After about a year,
I took over as a member of the board
for product marketing and upfitter
management, and then I came here
about 13 months ago.
Simon Neill (SN): I got involved in the
van business in 1987. I've had 29 years
within the Mercedes-Benz business,
predominantly on the sales side,
but over the past six years I've had
responsibility for customer service, parts,
regulatory topics, technical, warranty
and all the good stuff that goes on in
the background.
What brought about the
decision to reintroduce the
Sport X branding?
anding?
IF: We had Sportt X in the UK about 10
years ago. Now,, adding to the line-up
of the Vito, we thought
ought it was the right
time to bring it to market.
arket. It's a mid-size,
very competitive market
arket with some new
variants coming into
o play.
It's something
ething our customers have
been asking us to bring
ring back for quite
some time, and
d our dealer partners have
asked for it, too. And
d it's great that it's a
UK exclusive – it's here
re for this market.
We'll prove it here and
d see what the
market thinks. It gives
es our customers
a chance to come
e back to that sporty
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AUTOMOTIVE
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Q4
Q2 2026
heritage of Mercedes-Benz. We're going
to test the market a little and see what
people think. Our dealers are definitely
excited – we showed it to them several
months ago at our investors' conference,
so they're ready for it – and we expect
customers are going to be just as
excited.
SN: Customers who were aware of Sport
X back in the day have raised their hand
and said, "Is it coming? When is it?"
There's a lot of demand out there, and
we're really excited. I'm really looking
forward to seeing it get back out there
and the dealers getting hold of it.
In terms of the customers we’re aiming
for, in this market, it's small to medium
enterprises (SMEs) and owner-operators,
more specifically. From the feedback
we've had, they're very keen and really
excited about the brand.
But also, anybody who's into sport and
leisure – I think that will get traction in
the market very quickly.
How is demand for
electrification among
your customer base?
IF: It's very competitive
when it comes to BEVs, and
it's about understanding the
usage, specifically here
in the UK – making
sure customers
understand
what the
product can
truly do and
how they
can benefit
from it.
I still
believe
IAIN FORSYTH
