, Columnist
Amazon Delivery Push Is a Gift to Automakers
It’s going to need trucks and vans to reach its goals, creating a potentially fruitful partnership opportunity for Mercedes-Benz and others.
Start your engines.
Photographer: Barcroft Media/Barcroft Media via Getty Images
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Amazon.com Inc. is usually cast as a predator that’s going to topple business models. But here’s a role that’s less talked about: valued customer.
The e-commerce giant this week announced an order for 20,000 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter vans, making it the world’s largest customer for the vehicle. It’s a key vindication of Daimler AG’s $500 million investment in a new state-of-the-art Sprinter plant in North Charleston, South Carolina that’s set to employ 1,300 people by the end of 2020.