Electric van brand B-ON gets a dozen UK dealerships agreed, more wanted

The German electric light commercial vehicle brand B-ON says it is well on the way to its aim for 25 dealerships in the UK after securing preliminary agreements from a number of dealers.

AM-online reported last month that it expects to recruit 25 sales points in its launch year and expand further in the years ahead.

Recently its UK distributor IM Group held a franchise day to outline the opportunity to potential partners and it says it now has the green light from partners keen to represent it in 14 UK cities.

Now IM Group's focus is on finding partners for its remaining open points - Cambridge, Carlisle, Edinburgh, Hull, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, London (including the area around the M25 motorway), Northampton, Oxford, Peterborough, and Reading.

B-ON’s electric vans are designed, engineered, and built in Germany and IM Group said they can meet the needs of businesses of all sizes - Germany's postal service, Deutsche Post, has used them for six years.

With a range of up to 126 miles and a payload of up to 1.3 tonnes, the vehicles are being marketed by IM Group as ideal for last-mile delivery, which explains the focus on finding dealers for major city markets.

“We are excited to partner with these experienced dealerships to bring our innovative electric commercial vehicles to more customers across the United Kingdom. It’s a great low-cost franchise opportunity that can easily be bolted onto an existing commercial vehicle business” said Ian Armstrong, business development manager, B-ON UK.

“We are confident that they share our dedication to sustainability and innovation, and we trust that they will contribute to the growth of our business in the UK,” he added.

On sale by the end of this year, the B-ON range includes four models split into two different trim levels - a lower cost MAX version and a higher cost GIGA variant with a bigger cargo space.

IM Group has secured B-ON preliminary agreements with dealers in Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Exeter, Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Plymouth, Sheffield, Tewksbury, Wolverhampton, Yeovil, and York.