Photo: Stefan Baldauf/SB-Medien
Volkswagen engineers are testing the next generation of its Crafter van.
The new generation of the vehicle was developed in-house. Until this year, Volkswagen had a joint-venture with Mercedes-Benz on commercial vehicles, but the Wolfsburg company decided a few years ago to end it and start a new one with MAN instead. After all, Volkswagen bought MAN, so why not use in-house engineering and keep everything to itself?
Volkswagen could build its latest Crafter in Hannover, where it also makes the T5 and the Amarok. The company could decide to do this because its union is concerned about the risk of reducing production at that particular plant once they stop making the body of the Porsche Panamera.
For now, there’s no official confirmation on that, and there’s word that the commercial vehicle might be heading for a factory located 50 kilometers away from Poznan, Poland. Volkswagen builds the Caddy there, and the Skoda version of the car, the Roomster, has been canceled, so there’s enough room in the plant’s output to accommodate the Crafter.
Currently, the Crafter is being built in two Mercedes-Benz facilities located in Ludwigsfelte and Dusseldorf, along with its current platform sibling, the Sprinter.
Back to our spyshots, the prototype spotted by our friends at SB-Medien has a small amount of camouflage. The vehicle has borrowed some design elements from the other cars in the Volkswagen range, and the bigger and wider headlights come at the top of the list.
We also notice a very low sill for the trunk, an essential feature when you have to lift heavy objects to transport in a commercial vehicle. The engineers are testing the crew version of the Crafter, meant to carry people, not freight.
We notice an unusual element on the driver’s front window, in the form of a rectangular frame that has glass inside it. We believe it might not make it into production. However, we also spot a camera on top of the Crafter, which should make its way into production versions as optional equipment.
After all, backing up a vehicle this big is not a walk in the park, so why not use modern technology to make things easier?
Volkswagen could build its latest Crafter in Hannover, where it also makes the T5 and the Amarok. The company could decide to do this because its union is concerned about the risk of reducing production at that particular plant once they stop making the body of the Porsche Panamera.
For now, there’s no official confirmation on that, and there’s word that the commercial vehicle might be heading for a factory located 50 kilometers away from Poznan, Poland. Volkswagen builds the Caddy there, and the Skoda version of the car, the Roomster, has been canceled, so there’s enough room in the plant’s output to accommodate the Crafter.
Currently, the Crafter is being built in two Mercedes-Benz facilities located in Ludwigsfelte and Dusseldorf, along with its current platform sibling, the Sprinter.
Back to our spyshots, the prototype spotted by our friends at SB-Medien has a small amount of camouflage. The vehicle has borrowed some design elements from the other cars in the Volkswagen range, and the bigger and wider headlights come at the top of the list.
We also notice a very low sill for the trunk, an essential feature when you have to lift heavy objects to transport in a commercial vehicle. The engineers are testing the crew version of the Crafter, meant to carry people, not freight.
We notice an unusual element on the driver’s front window, in the form of a rectangular frame that has glass inside it. We believe it might not make it into production. However, we also spot a camera on top of the Crafter, which should make its way into production versions as optional equipment.
After all, backing up a vehicle this big is not a walk in the park, so why not use modern technology to make things easier?
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