LTV Sprinter delay

Serge48

New member
I am new to the forum and I ordered a Unity 2020 TB 2 months ago. I heard on Mike Wedland video blog that there were delays in Sprinter chassis deliveries. Has anyone heard about these delays?

Thank you for your info!
 

hoosierrun

Active member
I think that is why they had to temporarily suspend new orders for certain models. Hopefully if your order is in the que, they
already have a commitment from Mercedes for your chassis. Those pondering or about to order may have a difficult time getting an estimated delivery date.
 

bobtuba

2020 LTV Unity MB
Serge, apparently Amazon ordered 25,000 Sprinters to outfit their growing delivery service. That makes them the 800 pound gorilla by far – no RV manufacturer is going to come close to that demand. Clearly, MB is going to try to make everyone happy (or at least less annoyed), but a huge order like that from somebody who wants them now and has the cash gets their attention.
 

Dacar

2015.5 Unity TB
my dealer sent me a copy of the letter from LTV :
To: Our Valued Dealers
From: Triple E/Leisure Travel Vans Sales Team
Date: Dec 3, 2019
Subject: 2020 Sprinter Supply Issues

Valued LTV Dealers,

Due to challenges that Mercedes-Benz is facing regarding the 2020MY Sprinter chassis, the RV industry is facing shortages and delays with Sprinter chassis supply. At Leisure Travel Vans, in an attempt to keep our employees busy and our production at full capacity, we will be making the following changes:
Serenity - We are currently not accepting any new Serenity orders. Production will continue until January 31, 2020. Orders with retail names have been prioritized. Please confirm with your Territory Sales Manager to confirm your Serenity orders.
Unity - Starting in January 2020, there will be a temporary reduction in Unity production rates. As a result, this will delay the ship date of scheduled, forecasted, and order bank Unity orders. We ask that you please communicate this and set expectations with your retail customers accordingly. Depending on where the order sits, delays could be anywhere from one to three months, or more. Once the Sprinter chassis supply is replenished, which is expected to be in May or June, Unity production rates will be increased to meet customer demand.
Wonder - In order to keep our production facility operating, we will be accelerating Wonder production. We will be adding an all-new Wonder floorplan to the lineup in early 2020, as well as starting production using the all-new 2020 Ford Transit chassis in March! Stay tuned for more information.
Please contact your Territory Sales Manager if you have any questions or concerns. We thank you for your continued support in helping us address this supply issue.

- Leisure Travel Vans Sales Team
 

jmcarter

Member
We have the new chassis and have 10K miles on it (running up to PEI and ultimately on to Banff and Jasper). It’s been flawless and love it. That said, with the uncertainty surrounding this announcement I would not hesitate to get a Wonder built on Ford’s new Transit. Of course there are a few new LTV’s in dealer stock but it all depends on how fixed you are on your ordered floor plan and options.
 

Klipstr

2018 Wonder FTB
And can someone explain to me why Amazon would order 25000 somethings from a non-US manufacturer? Especially when there is a perfectly good/great US built option? Could even be the Chrysler version of the Sprinter for Pete's sake! Somebody should blast Bezos on this. I can imagine that the Walton's would have heard about it had Walmart ordered 25K MB vans!

Sorry. My wing was flapping there a bit...
 

alichty

2014 LTV Unity TB
For the record I have seen dozens of Ford Transit vans with the Amazon logo on the side out on the highways over the past few weeks. Apparently 25,000 Sprinters wasn't enough in the first place - that's just the Sprinter side of the Amazon fleet.
 

2yrs2go

2019 Unity MB
And can someone explain to me why Amazon would order 25000 somethings from a non-US manufacturer? Especially when there is a perfectly good/great US built option? Could even be the Chrysler version of the Sprinter for Pete's sake! Somebody should blast Bezos on this. I can imagine that the Walton's would have heard about it had Walmart ordered 25K MB vans!

Sorry. My wing was flapping there a bit...
Since the order for (20,000 was what I originally heard), new Sprinters were to be made (actually more assembled than manufactured) at Mercedes new plant in South Carolina, they count as an American made product. But anyone seeing all the new Amazon delivery vans on the road now can attest, they ain't all Mercedes, in the DC region last week I saw more Ford Transits than Mercedes, and a very healthy number of new Chrysler vans too, as the Chrysler version of the Sprinter was canceled in 2010 when Mercedes and Chrysler split.

But the chassis for LTV's Mercedes based models are still made in Dusseldorf as the new plant in SC is not yet set up to make the chassis only product.

Now unless you heard something about SC leaving the union again now's the time to say in the words of Emily Latela (sp) "Never Mind"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZLeaSWY37I
 
Last edited:

Musicgrazer

2020 Unity MB
Serge48. I would press your dealer for more information. When I heard this a couple of weeks ago I couldn't get a return email so I dropped in on them to get more info. We ordered a 2020 UMB at the CA RV Show in early October. I was able to negotiate for an existing production slot to be delivered in January. I was told (hopefully it's reality) that we were still on track for production but delivery will be delayed a few weeks to early Feb. One of three similar period slots were delayed several months (not ours). They said they had received an avalanche of calls.....

Good luck!!
 

Meeks

Member
Curious if anyone knows...in regards to the Unity production, my understanding is that the Mercedes Benz Sprinter Cab Chassis is manufactured in Germany, partially disassembled and shipped to the North Carolina plant where it is reassembled and sold. Given this I’m wondering why the production numbers of the Sprinter Cab Chassis are being impacted. I can understand that the North Carolina plant can’t keep up with the demand for the Sprinter Van that they build there but don’t understand the correlation with the Sprinter Cab Chassis since it is predominately produced in Germany. Does anyone know the facts of the matter?


2020 Unity FX/2019 Chassis (on order)
 
Curious if anyone knows...in regards to the Unity production, my understanding is that the Mercedes Benz Sprinter Cab Chassis is manufactured in Germany, partially disassembled and shipped to the North Carolina plant where it is reassembled and sold. Given this I’m wondering why the production numbers of the Sprinter Cab Chassis are being impacted. I can understand that the North Carolina plant can’t keep up with the demand for the Sprinter Van that they build there but don’t understand the correlation with the Sprinter Cab Chassis since it is predominately produced in Germany. Does anyone know the facts of the matter?


2020 Unity FX/2019 Chassis (on order)
The limitation may well be further back in the supply chain. For example the number of engines or transmissions which MB is capable of assembling may be limited and the must choose between using them in the cab chassis or shipping them to be used in vans assembled in the U.S. Just a guess.
 

mikeme

2015 LTV IB: 2015 3500 V6
One thing to keep in mind is that the word is LTV quit making on Chevy chassis when they would not reliably provide cab chassis versions.

So it is a good thing for LTV that they started to build on the Transit chassis.
 

SSTraveler

2014 LTV Unity Murphy Bed
I hope Leisure adds a Wonder model on the new Ford ECO gas engine chassis (11,000GVWR). If they do this and the Ford gas engine delivers the same or better power and fuel economy as that of the diesel engine and the Ford chassis is easy to drive and comfortable, then I may consider moving to the Wonder. Admittedly, it would be difficult to give up the space and comfort that my slide and recliners afford, but I maybe ready for a change in the next couple of years.
 
Last edited:

Scarecrow

2017 LTV Unity Murphy Bed
Ummmm... for the record, they supposedly ordered 100,000 electric delivery vans from Rivian in Michigan back in September. I wonder if they are concentrating more on EV. And maybe spreading the orders around.
 

SSTraveler

2014 LTV Unity Murphy Bed
Pleasure Way has also halted their Plateau XL Sprinter Chassis builds.
I see Leisure announced that all 2021 Wonder builds are going to be on the new Ford Eco Boost gas engine chassis, https://leisurevans.com/blog/new-20...-59887049&mc_cid=c602d211cf&mc_eid=c8702b6234. At the Tampa RV show last week the Coach House Representative told me they can't get the new Ford chassis and that they built one and sold it, which is why they did not have any at the show. They are also going to use the new Ford Eco Boost gas engine chassis for all their 2020 and forward Platinum lll model builds. In looking at the Pleasure Way Class B builds I didn't realize the Ram Promaster was a gas engine. Owners I talked to love the RAM based Class B and say they are averaging 17mpg. The driver seat and cab certainly felt much more comfortable than the Ford. Pleasure Way certainly builds a beautiful little motorhome on either the new gas engine Ford or Ram gas engine. I loved it's sleek looking cabinetry and it comes standard with 200ah of Lithium batteries, as well as many other features. I like the shorter stature of the RAM verses the Ford at just over 9' tall including fan/AC. I'm curious as to how the Ford and RAM rides compare. The RAM certainly doesn't have the 10 speed transmission, All wheel drive, safety features and 360 copilot as the new Ford ECO Boost chassis will!
 
Last edited:

ablock

Member
I hope Leisure adds a Wonder model on the new Ford ECO gas engine chassis (11,000GVWR).
At the recent big show in Pleasanton, the guy from La Mesa RV said they would be going to the new chassis. We're considering a Wonder for that reason as well.
 

Top Bottom