VW does not build the model itself
Volkswagen presents “Bulli” successor
September 15, 2024, 10:35 p.m
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VW has been building its van, which has become famous as the “Bulli”, since 1950. Production of the sixth generation has now been discontinued and there is no seventh generation. Instead, three series take up the legacy of the Volkswagen icon. The
At the start of the IAA Transportation commercial vehicle trade fair, Volkswagen presented the new generation of its van in Hanover. On the eve of the exhibition, which opens tomorrow to journalists and trade visitors, brand boss Carsten Intra presented the “New Transporter”, which is intended to succeed the previous T6.1.
Intra was confident that the new model will build on the success of the previous six “Bulli” generations. Unlike the predecessor T6.1, which expired at the end of June, VW will no longer produce the new Transporter itself. It was developed together with Ford. And it is also built together with its sister model Ford Transit at Ford in Turkey. The model will be delivered from the end of 2024, initially in selected markets in Europe, and then also in Germany from the beginning of 2025.
With the launch of the new Transporter, VW says it is completing the conversion of its Transporter family. Instead of one model – the “Bulli”, which has been built in six generations since 1950 – there are now three parallel series for the segment: the Multivan presented in 2022 on the car platform taken over from the Golf and Passat as a family and leisure vehicle, the fully electric ID. Buzz and the now presented transporter from the collaboration with Ford. The previous model T6.1 was previously the best-selling model of the VW Commercial Vehicles (VWN) brand. Production ended at the end of June.
VW employees fear for the future
Ford and VW agreed on extensive cooperation on light commercial vehicles in 2020. After the Amarok pick-up truck, the transporter is now the second VW model to come from the partner. In return, VW will supply the Ford Tourneo Connect delivery van, which will be built together with the VW sister model Caddy in the Polish VWN factory in Poznan.
Volkswagen announced at the beginning of the month that it would significantly tighten its austerity program. Redundancies and plant closures are no longer excluded; the job guarantee, which is actually valid until 2029, has been terminated. Employees at the VWN plant in Hanover are also worried about their future. The location has around 14,000 employees.
