U.S. carmaker Ford and Germany's Deutsche Post DHL Group launched serial production of a new "Streetscooter" delivery van in western German city of Cologne on Tuesday.
Streetscooter GmbH, a subsidiary of Deutsche Post, has formed a joint venture with Ford to produce a larger version of the electric Streetscooter van developed earlier by the Bonn-based logistics company. Whereas the current generation of Streetscooters have a volume of between 4 and 8 cubic meters, the models built together with Ford will be able to transport more than twice as many packages on average with a volume of 20 cubic meters.
The decision by Deutsche Post to build its own vehicles without any partners in the automotive industry caught German carmakers by surprise back in 2016. The move has since widely been seen as a success, with 8,000 Streetscooters being used in the country. It also has inspired imitation by other companies.
Daimler has announced that it will provide Deutsche Post rival Hermes with 1,500 electric-powered vans by 2020, while the package delivery service DPD is trialing a Volkswagen alternative known as the "E-Crafter." Nevertheless, Streetscooter chief executive officer Achim Kampker has expressed confidence that his company will preserve its leading position in the market as it benefits from its longer experience.
The serial production of the so-called "Work XL" variant marks the first time that Deutsche Post has chosen to cooperate with an established automotive producer to manufacture delivery vans on the basis of the original Streetscooter blueprint. Ford is supplying the chassis for the "Work XL", while all other parts will be provided by Streetscooter GmbH itself.
Deutsche Post plans to build 1,000 vehicles of the new model until the end of 2018.
The DAX-listed logistics company has recently set itself an ambitious goal to eliminate all net- CO2 emissions from its logistics services to zero by 2050.
Deutsche Post's car making venture on Tuesday began on the same day as automotive supplier Robert Bosch GmbH (Bosch) announced that it would start a trial run of Streetscooter rental services. Bosch said that it was planning to offer the popular electric van for hire at Do-It-Yourself markets throughout Germany from December onwards.
