New VW Crafter van previewed in official sketches ~ station of gear

Latest version of VW's large panel van revealed in design sketches, ahead of a reveal this year

2016-07-01 12:57

Volkswagen has released sketches of its new Crafter van, ahead of its launch in autumn 2016 at the commercial vehicle show in Hanover.

The sketches show that the new model will feature Volkswagen’s latest family face, with the wide grille and large VW badge defining the front end. The sleek lights at the front and rear are another design highlight, as well as some large alloy wheels. Volkswagen says the interior will be redesigned too.

Albert-Johann Kirzinger, head of design at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, said that the new model is focused on function as well as form: "In the commercial vehicle sector especially, design has got to work for lots of different customer groups."

Image 2 of 3

Image 2 of 3

This means the new Crafter is designed to make it as useful for commercial customers as possible, based partly on input form current owners.

• Best panel vans

At 0.33, the new Crafter’s drag coefficient will be the lowest in its class, making the new model more aerodynamic than any other large commercial van in production. We’d expect there to be fuel economy and emissions gains for the new Crafter thanks to the more slippery shape.

More details are on the way soon, but for now VW is saving plenty of information for the official reveal. Currently the Crafter features a 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine in four guises, with 108bhp, 113bhp, 135bhp and 161bhp, with up to 37.7mpg and 208g/km emissions.

Image 3 of 3

Image 3 of 3

Expect an entry-level load bay of around 2,600mm, in line with the current model, with a width of about 1,300mm to match. Like the current van there will be more options to choose from, however, including a long-wheelbase version that adds extra space inside.

Now read our in-depth review of the VW Crafter van.

Tom Wright

Thank you for reading the article about New VW Crafter van previewed in official sketches in blog station of gear If this article was helpful please bookmark this page in your web browser by pressing Ctrl + D on your keyboard keys.