Volkswagen continues to tease new Caddy van

VOLKSWAGEN Commercial Vehicles has previewed its new-generation Caddy and Caddy Cargo small vans ahead of their international debut next month, promising “more driver assistance systems and a completely new level of digitalisation for the customers”.

Amongst the sea of newness – unsurprisingly – comes a fresh face for the new model with the latest concept teaser sketches revealing a much narrower, almost frowning grille and headlight arrangement sitting atop an almost solid front bumper.

Below, a purposeful looking mesh chin, doubling as the air intake continues the impression of sportiness, perfectly fitting VW’s description of the new Caddy: “Dynamic, confident, sporty and at the same time practical”.

Looking side-on – and ignoring the classic concept style too-big wheels – designers have continued with this sense of muscularity, gifting the Caddy some subtly flared wheelarches, sculptured parabolic lines and a sporty looking lower air-channel running between the front and rear wheels.

The rear is not exempt from a styling update either, boasting a redesigned, more vertical tail-light arrangement than before.

Beyond the extensive facelift, VW says “no screw has been left untouched” on the fifth-generation Caddy after the brand stopped and listened to what consumers wanted.

For the Cargo, this means an extended wheelbase and bigger wheels while the regular Caddy has also grown marginally in both length and width.

While VW are hyping up the addition of “more driver assistance systems than ever before”, the German giant has not actually revealed what they may be, opting to save those details for the official debut in February.

One thing the brand did hint at though was on-the-go connectivity, with each vehicle to be fitted with its own internet connection to provide occupants with “real-time information on wheels”, possibly alluding to traffic and route predictions and streaming services among other things.

Another feature being championed at this early stage is “the huge panoramic glass roof” fitted to the MPV version, which VW says is the largest in the segment – or at least should be when the vehicle goes into production.

No details of powertrains or drivetrains have been released yet however it would be more than safe to assume the familiar line-up of small petrol and diesel engines from the car range will make it across to the new Caddy as well as a DSG automatic transmission and possibly even a mild-hybrid system.

Last year VW sold 1672 Caddy Vans and 309 regular Caddys which accounted for 62.7 per cent of the sub-2.5-tonne van market and 2.6 per cent of the sub-$60,000 people-mover segment, respectively.