Volkswagen Crafter Appeal Widens With New Models

Volkswagen-Crafter-new-fleet-vans

The appeal of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles’ all-new multi-award-winning Crafter has widened today, with a raft of new model derivatives now available to order in Van Centres across the UK.

Panel vans with 4MOTION all-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive and an eight-speed automatic gearbox are now available, along with open body models in single and double cab variants.

At its launch at the Commercial Vehicle Show in April, front-wheel drive versions with gross vehicle weights up to 3.5 tonne were available with three engines and a manual gearbox. The expansion of the range sees available gross vehicle weights now up to 5.0 tonnes.

The addition of open body models to the range opens the door to conversions via Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles’ Recognised Converter scheme, meaning customers in the market for a Luton, dropside, tipper or other more unusual adaptation have the perfect base vehicle.

Further derivatives will continue to join the line-up in 2018, including a 122 PS engine which will join the current 102, 140 and 177 PS powertrain options.

The all-new Crafter, which is built at an all-new factory in Wrzesnia, Poland, and designed from the bottom up to meet the needs of van operators, now offers maximum flexibility as well as a comprehensive suite of innovative technologies. As on all Volkswagen vans, the Crafter comes as standard with autonomous emergency braking and automatic post-collision braking systems – a first in the van sector. Cross wind assist (for closed bodies) and a driver alert system are also standard.

Even before launch the new Crafter had picked up a number of prestigious awards. In September 2016 it succeeded the Transporter to be being named International Van of the Year, as voted for by a panel of commercial vehicle journalists from 24 European countries. It was also named Best New Van and Van of the Year by leading commercial vehicle publication Van Fleet World in February 2017, and picked up the Vans A2Z accolades of Best Large Van and Van of the Year in March 2017. In July 2017 it was named Auto Express’s Van of the Year for 2017, and in September, Parker’s Best Van.

Prices for the entry-level panel van start at £24,640 (basic RRP ex VAT). The starting price for the Crafter with eight-speed automatic gearbox is £30,385; £30,590 for rear-wheel drive; and £34,145 for 4MOTION four-wheel drive.

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