Inovev forecasts 100,000 units per year of the new VW Transporter/Caravelle
- Volkswagen has unveiled the seventh generation of the Transporter and Caravelle. These two new models (T7) intended for the transport of goods (Transporter) or the transport of passengers (Caravelle) take up the platform of the Ford Transit Custom which were recently unveiled, following the agreement between VW and Ford signed in 2020 on light utility vehicles.
- This agreement stipulated that the VW Amarok pick-up would take the platform and body of the Ford Ranger pick-up, that the Ford Connect would take the platform and body of the VW Caddy, and that the VW Transporter/Caravelle would take the platform and body Ford Transit Customs. This agreement stipulated that the production of the Ford Connect would be carried out at VW in Poland and that of the VW T7 at Ford in Turkey.
- This sharing project on LUVs was accompanied by an agreement on the use of Volkswagen's MEB platform by battery electric European Fords (primarily the Explorer and Capri).
- The new VW Transporter/Caravelle are equipped with a 2.0 liter diesel engine (TDI) delivering a choice of 110 hp (81kW), 150 hp (110 kW) or 170 hp (125 kW). A plug-in hybrid version (PHEV) delivering 232 hp (171 kW) will also be marketed. Finally, an electric motor will be added next year, in a 136 hp (100 kW), 218 hp (160 kW) or 286 hp (210 kW), which may compete the Volkswagen's ID Buzz model. The battery capacity will be 64 kWh. The new Transporter and Caravelle will be produced in Kocaeli, at a rate of 100,000 units per year, alongside the Ford Transit and Transit Custom. The transfer of Ford Couriers from Kocaeli to Craiova (in Romania) makes it possible to produce the VW Transporter and Caravelle in Kocaeli. The Hanover factory will therefore only produce the VW ID Buzz and the VW Multivan based on the MQB platform.