Marco Polo is such a fitting name for a camper van. There was a Lamborghini Marco Polo concept car back in 1982, but Mercedes-Benz seems to be the first automaker to apply the name to a vehicle you would actually use for long, exploratory journeys. The current version of the Mercedes-Benz Marco Polo, based on the Mercedes-Benz V-Class (a smaller Sprinter), was launched in 2014, but it’s part of a long lineage of Mercedes-built camper vans dating back to 1984, with the first Marco Polo being based on the Mercedes-Benz T1. Believe it or not, the automaker is considered to be one of the key architects of the modern motor home, and the new Marco Polo is nothing short of a thesis on the subject. Unfortunately for American drivers, the van is only available in Europe right now. So, here’s why we think there’s never been a better time for Mercedes-Benz to bring the Marco Polo over to the US.
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1 A Modern Motor Home For A Modern Life
Mercedes has branded the third-gen Marco Polo a “smart home on wheels,” with the whole van operating via a smartphone app or through the touchscreen in the cockpit. You can remotely set your thermostat, dim the lights, and even level the camper’s adjustable suspension, so you don’t have to keep driving around the campsite to find a perfectly flat piece of ground.
There’s no doubt a certain charm to the simplicity of classic motor homes, where you’ve basically got a tin box on a heavy-duty truck. But the Marco Polo’s cockpit interface lets you check your fresh and gray water tank levels at a glance, and you can open and close the pop-up roof from your phone. Add to that all the conveniences you expect to find in a modern Mercedes-Benz, like automated navigation and a 360-degree camera, and you have a truly modernized take on the camper van, or “glamping van,” as Mercedes has branded it.
2 Versatility In Size And Function
Mercedes-Benz
Wheelbase
126 Inches
Height
78 Inches
Width
76 Inches
Length
202 Inches
Curb Weight
5,512 Pounds
Turning Radius
38 Ft. 9 Inches
The Marco Polo’s tidy physical dimensions are a big part of the van’s appeal, standing at just six feet six, with the pop-out roof retracted. The van is definitely bigger than a typical SUV. It’s a camper van, after all. But as far as motor homes go, the Marco Polo is noticeably narrower, shorter, and lighter than you might expect without sacrificing comfort in the living area. If you’ve never driven anything bigger than a Honda CR-V, the Marco Polo’s modest dimensions should ease any anxiety you have about piloting a house-on-wheels.
Besides agile handling in traffic, the Marco Polo’s lean build makes it considerably easier to park. Not everyone who’s into #vanlife has a quarter acre of land to park their camper on between adventures. If you’re hoping to pack your motor home into a garage in the off-season or in your designated spot at an apartment complex, the Marco Polo will fit a lot more easily than a 21-foot Winnebago Solis or a 20-foot Transit Trail.
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3 It’s A Camper Van That Drives Like A Mercedes
Mercedes-Benz
It may be the biggest, bulkiest Mercedes you’ve ever seen, but it’s still a Mercedes. The quickest model in the lineup, the V-Class 300d Marco Polo, hits 100 km per hour in just 8.8 seconds, with a top speed of 214 km per hour. Translated to American, that’s 0-62 mph in 8.8 seconds and a top speed of 132 mph; both very good specs for a 2.5-ton motor home.
At this size, you’re going to sacrifice some maneuverability, but the Marco Polo handles well and accelerates with greater confidence than most motor homes. At the top of the line, you’ve got a power output of 174 horsepower and 500 lb-ft of torque in the 300d and 300d 4MATIC models, keeping the Marco Polo from ever feeling sluggish or overloaded.
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4 RV And Motor Home Sales Are On The Upswing
Mercedes-Benz
In 2021, RVs topped 600,000 units sold in the United States, up 40% from 2020. If there was a silver lining to the COVID-19 pandemic, you could argue that it brought a much-needed shake-up to how people work. Unless your job demands hands-on physical labor, you can pretty much do the whole thing from home, in your sweatpants, on your laptop.
It wasn’t until the pandemic that work-from-home became the norm in the American workplace, and we’re still reeling from that cultural shift. It’s no stretch to say that the increasing popularity of the camper van can be tied directly to the proliferation of remote work. Basically, if you can work from home, why not buy a movable home and have a new view out of the office every single day.
5 RV And Motor Home Buyers Are Getting Younger Every Day
Mercedes-Benz
Once the lifestyle of retirees and weekend warriors, the average RV buyer is about a decade younger now than just a few years ago, from the typical buyer being in their early 40s to the typical buyer being in their early 30s. Again, this can be attributed directly to shifts in office culture during the pandemic, and it points to a broadening market for motor homes, campers, vans, and trailers.
At the start of 2019, roughly 5.7% of the American workforce worked from home. By the end of 2021, that number had tripled to 17.9% or more than 27 million people. Today, about a third of the pandemic-era remote workers have returned to the office, but that leaves 12.2% of Americans still working remotely. To a generation of young professionals entering the workforce right now, the idea of sacrificing travel for your job is a totally alien concept.
The proliferation of #vanlife stems largely from the normalization of remote work, and the Mercedes-Benz Marco Polo seems custom-built for digital nomads who have never seen and will never see the inside of an office.
6 The D-Word: Why Americans Might Not Be Getting The Marco Polo Any Time Soon
Mercedes-Benz
The Marco Polo runs on diesel, which, while not as clean as some automakers have made it out to be in the past, is a very efficient, economical means of powering large vehicles. The base Marco Polo, built on a V-Class 220d, boasts a fuel economy of nearly 45 MPG combined.
However, CO2 emissions standards are only getting tighter every year in the US. By 2026, light-duty vehicles, including most camper vans, will be capped at a maximum output of 187 grams of carbon monoxide per mile. The 220d Marco Polo produces around 341 grams of carbon monoxide per mile.
The good news is that Mercedes has announced plans to bring the V-Class over to the US in 2026 as an electric van. But time will tell if they’re bringing Marco Polo along for the ride. If so, this would see the Marco Polo competing with electric camper vans like the Winnebago eRV2, built on the Ford e-Transit cargo van, ushering in what looks to be a new golden age for the motor home market.