Volkswagen group which has made great strides with Audi,Skoda and Volkswagen in the passenger car segment is now eyeing commercial vehicles segment in India. Volkswagen will launch two mini vans – caravelle and crafter in India by November – December. These two vans will be primary targeting the business class and will be imported from Germany as completely built units (CBU). Caravelle is a 6-9 seater passenger carrier and the 3.5 tonne crafter is 15 seater which can be converted into a cargo carrier.
Caravelle:
The caravelle is actually not a van but a MPV based on the van. Caravelle is essentially a plusher, passenger version of the Transporter van and sold through Volkswagn’s car dealership in Europe. In Europe Caravelle is offered in three engine options: – 1.9 TDI PD (104bhp), 2.5 TDI PD (130bhp) and 2.5 TDI PD (174bhp). This 6-9 seater gives you the luxury of folding the middle seats. It can also be slide and removed but they also swivel round to face backwards, converting the back of the car into a mobile boardroom. If you wish, you can place a table in the middle.
Caravelle’s spacious interiors, luxurious and sophiscated cabin makes it ideal for every CEOs to work at run. Volkswagen Caravelle will be priced around Rs45 lakhs and will compete with Mercedes Viano. To know more about caravelle visit http://www.volkswagen-vans.co.uk/caravelle/
Crafter:
Crafter a multi utility van which can be converted into a cargo carrier is built by Volkswagen jointly with Mercedes. Infact Crafter shares few mechanicals with Mercedes cargo carrier the sprinter. Crafter is available with a choice of three wheelbases, three roof heights and four load lengths in western markets. If Volkswagen brings the crafter with these much number of variants, I can bet that you will find a Crafter that suits your needs. Crafter will be available with a 2.5L common rail engine.
Crafter is equipped with host of safety features which includes front airbags (standard), and side and curtain airbags (optional), anti-lock braking system (ABS), Load Adapting Electronic Stability Program (ESP), Anti Slip Regulation (traction control) (ASR), and Electronic Differential Lock (EDL).
Volkswagen Crafter is expected to be priced around Rs25 lakhs. To know more about crafter visit http://www.volkswagen-vans.co.uk/crafter/