All-new Volkswagen Transporter and e-Transporter looking crate in first official images

The next-generation VW Transporter will be unveiled in Spring 2024, and is expected to use the platform from the new Ford Transit Custom

Volkswagen has revealed the next-generation Transporter van will make its global debut in Spring 2024. The German brand made the announcement via a YouTube video, which also provides us with our very first look at its new medium-sized panel van. 

Due to the heavy camouflage worn by the van in the video, it’s hard to pick out many visual details, but we can see the T7 Transporter will feature a large Volkswagen badge on its nose, a rather happy, smiling grille design, relatively small LED headlight units and a simply enormous windscreen that will help with visibility. 

The video also confirms the wide array of powertrains that will be available in the new Transporter. The range will kick off with a diesel engine, followed by an all-wheel drive diesel variant, plug-in hybrid and finally, sitting at the top of the range, will be the fully electric e-Transporter. 

In addition to the selection of powertrains, the new Transporter will be offered as a panel van in two different body lengths and heights, a Kombi with two rows of seating and a ‘dropside’ double cab. 

More details will be announced very soon, as pre-orders for the new Volkswagen Transporter are due to open in Germany before the end of the year. 

However, the new Volkswagen Transporter is expected to use the same platform as the latest Ford Transit Custom, thanks to an alliance between VW and Ford that started in 2019. This partnership has already borne fruit with the firm’s commercial vehicles, as the new Ford Ranger pick-up truck served as the base for the second-generation Volkswagen Amarok, while badges aside the VW Caddy and Ford Tourneo Connect are essentially the same.

The new Transporter is also likely to use the same engines and other key components as the Transit Custom. That would mean the entry-level Transporter TDI and TDI 4Motion will use a 2.0-litre diesel engine, capable of being paired with either a six-speed manual or eight-speed automatic transmission (the auto likely to be the only option for all-wheel drive models). 

Meanwhile the plug-in hybrid Transporter eHybrid should get a 2.5-litre petrol engine, 11.8kWh battery and a pure-electric driving range of around 30 miles – the same as the new Transit Custom PHEV. Finally, the all-electric e-Transporter is sure to get the Ford E-Transit Custom’s 82.5kWh battery pack that allows for a range of up to 236 miles on a single charge in the Ford. 

The new Transporter’s towing capabilities should also match those of the equivalent Transit Custom, with the plug-in models capable of towing up to two tonnes, or 2.8 tonnes if you stick with good old-fashioned diesel power. 

Elsewhere, the new Transporter’s interior will borrow most of its design and technology from the Volkswagen Multivan MPV. Speaking of which, the T7 Multivan will serve as the base for the next-generation Volkswagen California campervan that’s also arriving in 2024 and was previewed earlier this year by the aptly named ‘California Concept’.

Now find out why everyone loves Volkswagen campervans…

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