New van market entrant Delivan is targeting a network of more than 100 UK dealerships to help it achieve its ambition of European electric LCV market leadership.
Delivan is the LCV brand from Chery Commercial Vehicle, which is exhibiting at the IAA Transportation show in Hanover, Germany, alongside the company’s HGV brand C&C Trucks. It’s part of Chery International, which has made a big impact in the UK car market over the past couple of years with its Chery, Jaecoo and Omoda brands.
Delivan has unveiled three vehicles, all based on the same platform. It refers to them as the L1H1 panel van (pictured below), L2H3 panel van (pictured above), and L3 chassis cab. The L1H1 and L2H3 are sized to sit in the medium and large van segments respectively, with maximum cargo volumes of 6.9m3 for the L1H1 and 11.6m3 for the L2H3, although Delivan has not yet announced separate model names for them.
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Available battery capacities of 50.4kWh and 68.7kWh will allow respective WLTP combined ranges (when limited to 62mph) of 159 miles and 213 miles with the L1H1 and 134 miles and 177 miles with the L2H3 – the latter will also be available with a 97.4kWh battery allowing a range of up to 264 miles. DC battery charging will allow a 15-80% charge in 22 minutes.
Depending on battery spec, there will be maximum payloads of 1,400kg with the L1H1 and 1,300kg with the L2H3.
Sustainable dealer network growth planned
Delivan has established a UK company through which it will manage its dealers here directly, rather than through a distributor model. It expects its first UK dealers to be activated by the end of this year, ahead of its first vans arriving in 2027, with production of vehicles for the UK due to start in April.
Speaking to media including Automotive Management at the IAA show, Ross Davies, COO at Chery Commercial Vehicle UK, was asked about his aspirations for the size of the network.
He said: “If we look at a five-year plan, that would be 100+ sites over the UK. Our target is to scale that up sustainably over the next five years.
“The key for us at the launch is to have the right representation across the core areas of the market, as well as covering any fleet customer requirements that we may have.
“That’s an organic process. And we will realise that there are grey spots within the market and step by step we will fill those spots as we go.”
Although Delivan may appoint some dealer groups that already represent other Chery brands, Davies is clear that the brand is planning a dedicated commercial vehicle network.
He said: “The only way that you can deliver uptime is with commercial vehicle workshops that are trained, equipped and prepared to deal with commercial vehicle customers.
“Omoda, Jaecoo and Chery have had outstanding success in the UK, so it’s difficult to find a dealer group that doesn’t have that representation. There will certainly be some overlap, I guess, with the size of the groups that we are talking to.”
Davies would not reveal specific sales targets for Delivan – which plans for the three vehicles at the IAA show to be the starting point for a range that will expand to include further vehicle sizes – however he was clear on the brand’s overall ambition, with plenty of sales clearly required to support a dealer network of the planned size.
He said: “Ultimately, we want to be the number one partner for electric vehicles, whatever that may look like in future. We are here to establish ourselves as the number one choice for electric commercial mobility in Europe.”
Delivan confident in EV appeal
EV sales targets and phase-out dates continue to be a hot topic in both the UK and mainland Europe, and electric van take-up has lagged behind that of cars, although the most recent SMMT registration figures for August suggested an uptick in demand. Davies is clear that electrification is the means by which Delivan will achieve its UK and European market ambitions, citing not only the impact of external factors such as government grants and targets, but also the brand’s own EV technology and high-range batteries, and reduced servicing and fuel costs compared with diesel vans.
Delivan is planning to win over customers with what it describes as an ecosystem to sit around its products, including three aspects: Delivan Pro, designed to support vehicle uptime with features including remote fault diagnosis and maintenance alerts; Delivan I, which includes intelligence and connectivity solutions such as customer app and fleet management platform data integration; and Delivan X, focused on conversion partners.
Davies said: “Nobody has been able to deliver a true ecosystem that can drive that EV transition faster.
“That’s where we’re coming into the market, very strategically, in a planned way, so that we come when we’re ready, and we have everything in place that will deliver satisfaction for a customer.”