New Transporter completes the Volkswagen bus trio

Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles has announced that the new-generation Transporter and Caravelle will be launched early in 2024, with presales starting in Germany before the end of this year.

It has released the first disguised images of the vehicle in a teaser video.

The Transporter and its more luxurious Caravelle counterpart will be the third model line of the modern VW bus family after the T7 Multivan launched in 2021 and the electric ID. Buzz in 2022.

While the Multivan rides on the same MQB platform underpinning the VW Golf, Tiguan and Caddy, the new T7 Transporter was co-developed with the Ford Transit Custom.

More commonly known in SA as the Volksiebus, the new Transporter will have state-of-the-art drive and assist systems and a payload of more than a tonne. VW says the range will be extensive, including a panel van in two different lengths and heights, a two-row Kombi, a dropside vehicle with double cab, nine-seater shuttle and a Caravelle. Power will be supplied by turbodiesel engines as well as a plug-in hybrid drive (eHybrid) and all-electric drives (e-Transporter and e-Caravelle). Two- and four-wheel-drive versions will be available.

The Transporter has previously served as the basis for the California camper van, but that model will be now be derived from the Multivan.

VW says the division of the T product line and separate development of vehicles for different purposes and target groups has resulted in a new Transporter that has more commercial vehicle qualities than ever before.

“With our new Transporter, we have developed state-of-the-art tools for professionals. Together with the Multivan and ID. Buzz, we can offer a VW Bus range that is tailored precisely to all our customers’ wishes,” says Lars Krause, sales and marketing manager at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles.

Full details and specifications, along with undisguised photos, will be revealed soon. The new Transporter will be launched in South Africa at the end of 2024. Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles will only launch the new generation Transporter and not T7 Multivan for the local market, says Tebogo Losaba, public relations manager for Volkswagen South Africa.