Miele has completed the first phase of a process that will ultimately put every one of its service technicians behind the wheel of a Mercedes-Benz van.

The Reading branch of Rygor, Britain’s largest Mercedes-Benz Commercial Vehicle Dealership Group, has supplied Miele with a fleet of Citan small vans, as well as a handful of mid-sized Vito models which are used by commercial engineers.

Racked out by Sortimo, the new vans are all BlueEfficiency models specified to maximise mpg returns and thereby restrict emissions.

BlueEfficiency features include the ECO start/stop function low rolling resistance tyres and optimised alternator and battery management systems.

The result, in the case of the Citan 109 CDI model, which will form the backbone of the Miele fleet, is a claimed fuel economy figure of up to 65.7mpg and CO2 emissions as low as 112 g/km.

Miele operates from UK headquarters in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, and runs approximately 120 vans, the vast majority of which are assigned to home-based domestic technicians.

“We’re delighted to be doing business with Mercedes-Benz,” said national fleet service manager Mike Rixon.

“Like Miele, it’s a German-owned company with premium brand values and a long and rich history of high-quality engineering.”

He continued: “We endeavour to update our vehicles every three years and have resolved to move to an all-Mercedes-Benz fleet at the earliest opportunity.

“We undertook a lot of research before making this commitment, and it became clear during this process that in terms of their features and benefits, including the whole-life costs of operation, Mercedes-Benz Vans offers the best value light commercial vehicles on the market.”

Rixon said the feedback from those technicians who undertook test drives arranged by Rygor had been resoundingly positive.

“They particularly appreciated the responsiveness and lightness of the controls, with the nimble, easy to drive Citan winning special praise as an ideal vehicle for work in and around London,” he said.

Equally important to Miele is reliability and the round-the-clock after sales support provided by the manufacturer’s franchised Dealer Network.

“We commit to a two-hour time slot when arranging visits to our customers’ homes, so unplanned downtime is potentially disastrous,” said Rixon.

“We’re reassured by the fact that Mercedes-Benz Dealers are commercial vehicle specialists and that rather than putting the work out to sub-contractors, provide Mercedes-Benz MobiloVan free roadside assistance. Touch wood we won’t have to use the system, but it’s nice to know that it’s there.”

He added: “The service we’ve received from van sales executive Elena Eton and her colleagues at Rygor has been brilliant.

“They’ve provided us with a series of demonstrators and kept us in touch every step of the way as our orders have been processed.”

Eton said: “Miele is a welcome and highly prestigious addition to Rygor’s growing customer portfolio. We look forward to working with Mike Rixon and his team, and to providing the exceptionally high level of service that this world-beating company provides to its own customers.”

Miele was founded in 1899 by farmer’s son Carl Miele and salesman Reinhard Zinkmann, and is still independently owned and managed by their families.

With headquarters in Gutersloh, Germany, the company now has more than 17,000 employees worldwide and a turnover in excess of €3bn.