Specialist bodies now a turn-key VW solution

VOLKSWAGEN Commercial Vehicles has revealed a seven-variant conversion range at its Southern Region Office and Training Facility at Essendon Fields in Melbourne, based upon the brand’s commercial vehicle line-up.

Designed as a turn-key solution for commercial, delivery, refrigerated transport, trade and emergency services applications, to name but a few, the specialist range comprises Amarok, Caddy and Crafter variants tailored to meet specific applications, with two further vehicles under evaluation for delivery “in 2023 or 2024”.

VW’s new commercial vehicle conversion offering is conceptually similar to the Renault Pro+ network that started rolling out across Australia in late 2014 with the aim of helping customers find a fit-out that suits their business needs through a combination of factory-backed and aftermarket products.

At a press event this month, Volkswagen Group Australia presented a variety of turn-key solutions it says offers “solutions to specialist requirements across a range of body styles”.

Each is fully backed by Volkswagen Commercial Vehicle’s comprehensive five-year/unlimited-kilometre factory warranty.

“We want to be that one-stop shop for our customer – we want to keep the transaction simple,” said Volkswagen Group Australia national conversion manager Andrew Hester.

The vehicles on display included a current-generation Caddy Maxi Life with rear cut-out wheelchair access conversion, built by AMF-Bruns & Co. in Germany.

VGA says the model shown is the first of its kind in Australia and will soon be available to Australian customers through its Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles dealer network.

The Caddy Maxi Life shown will be offered in six- and seven-seat configurations with two folding passenger seats in the third row and may be configured to offer five standard seating positions and one wheelchair position by folding the rear occupant seat.

It features an Easyflex Ramp with a cut-out floor. With the ramp deployed, VGA says the angle is such that the vehicle may be “accessed comfortably with a wheelchair”. The ramp – and wheelchair-specific head and backrest – may also be stowed when unoccupied so that the vehicle’s luggage area may be used.

Helping to keep wheelchair passengers as safe as possible, the Caddy Maxi Life is equipped with longer wheelchair belts with electric retract – the system to withstand crash forces of up to 20G (and rear-end collisions at up to 10G).

The modified vehicle structure receives full European type approval for torsional loads, which Mr Hester explained is a standard not applied to any comparable converted vehicle currently offered in the Australian market.

“We don’t see that level of approval a lot in Australia because what we see mainly is individually modified vehicles, or vehicles modified using components sourced overseas,” he explained.

“We are currently on the waiting list for local homologation, and this will happen in 2023. We’re really excited about the Caddy because it is the start of us branching into our mobility solutions for the Australian market.”

Mr Hester said Volkswagen is currently working with the NDIS to ensure the conversion portion of the vehicle’s pricing may be correctly invoiced and said the cost of conversion over that of the vehicle itself should be around $25,000. The Caddy Maxi Life retails from $52,640 plus on-road costs.

Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles also featured several converted Crafter-based variants – including those showcasing Australian-sourced products from ARB and Jayco.

A Crafter 35 Medium Wheelbase 4Motion highlighted a specialised cast polycarbonate bullbar known as the Smartbar SpartanBar.

As well as meeting strict ADR and OEM requirements (having been approved by Volkswagen’s internal R&D team), the item also meets the stringent prerequisites set by local emergency services and even mining groups.

Now available priced from $3658, and again covered by VW’s factory warranty, the lightweight (53kg) SpartanBar requires no upgrade to the Crafter’s front axle.

The hollow, polyethylene design provides additional frontal protection with the ability to flex and absorb on impact, then return to shape in case of an accident, Volkswagen says.

As well as being popular with business buyers, private buyers are also showing interest in the Smartbar, in particular those interested in Volkswagen’s Crafter Kampervan converted in collaboration with Victoria-based Jayco.

The 4Motion (all-wheel drive) Kampervan range was announced earlier this year and proved so popular that the initial production release of 69 units was snapped up in less than 72 hours.

VW offers the recreational vehicle in all three Crafter grades, the top-spec Kampervan Style offered with two-tone paint and Lismore 17-inch alloy wheels from $150,440 plus on-road costs.

“Jayco have been a really great partner to deal with. From a volume perspective and production capacity, and obviously they tend to know what they’re doing when making a motorhome or campervan,” said Volkswagen Group Australia product marketing manager Ben Triebels.

“The strong sales we’ve witnessed is testament to that partnership with Jayco and the first deliveries of the Kampervan are due to begin by the end of this month.

“We’re already making plans for another allocation in 2023, but obviously the supply chain globally is a bit of a challenge at the moment. Fortunately, we’ve got the factory on-side with getting us a minimum number of vehicles, which we should get by mid-year.”

Measuring 6800mm in length and 2000mm in width, the Crafter Kampervan range offers not only roomy living and sleeping quarters, but seating for four, sleeping for three, multiple dining and seating areas, fresh- and waste-water tanks, a full bathroom with shower and toilet, full kitchen with two-burner gas cooktop, microwave, fridge and sink, reverse cycle air-conditioning, and diesel heating and hot water.

The Kampervan range is further equipped with a TV and DVD system featuring internal and external speakers, lithium in-house battery with additional solar array, LED internal and external lighting, App Connect, a Wi-Fi extender and an external awning.

Versatility of the Crafter platform means it is also suitable for a range of commercial conversions, including a tipper body, produced in partnership with Ingimex in the United Kingdom.

In Australia, VW says the Crafter dual-cab with tipper body is a “foray into some additional development and potential market demand” for the brand here and that the unit on display is being used to “test and gauge demand”.

The tipper body features full height, embossed steel panel construction while the platform is made from high tensile steel. The version on display offers 400kg of payload capacity.

“This particular tipper body is something that we’re looking to offer in the future and is shown here on our Crafter 35 Double Cab Chassis,” explained Mr Triebels.

“This is one of the highest selling conversion models in the UK – it’s very popular because it can be operated on a car licence – and is an example of something we could readily offer right here in Australia.”

Mr Triebels said that if introduced, the tipper body would move to challenge established rivals in the market, including those from Fuso, Hino and Isuzu.

The tipper body was joined by a Crafter single-cab 50 box body vehicle, again offering car-licence driveability as well as Volkswagen’s full range of safety and driver assistance technologies, up to 1752kg of payload capacity (the highest in its class), and the availability of both an eight-speed automatic transmission and pre-installed dual battery system.

Designed to be light yet robust, the box body weighs almost 500kg less than a comparable metal competitor. The unit is transported to Australia for fitment by PrixCar in Melbourne and Sydney and can be further optioned with a 500kg column-mounted or a 1000kg cantilever tailgate lift.

Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles said it is preparing 22 units for sale across its dealership network before Christmas and will have even more available in 2023.

The finished vehicle pictured is priced from $79,990 plus on-road costs and features Volkswagen’s 130kW/410Nm bi-turbo TDI410 engine paired to an eight-speed torque converter automatic driving the rear wheels. It is further equipped with an ErgoComfort driver’s seat with massage function (optional), rear-view camera and three-seat capacity.

A Crafter 55 single-cab with a Lithuanian-made Eutectic cold body was also on display at VW’s Conversion Day, the unit produced by Carlsen Baltic UAB and renowned as one of the most thermally efficient on the market.

The Euctectic cooling system fitted to the Volkswagen Crafter 55 Single Cab does not require any engine power to keep cold during transport runs, or while parked. It is cooled “at base” while connected to three-phase power and takes six hours to “pull down” to a temperature of -40 degrees Celsius.

Once acquired, the target operating temperature (between -33°C and -20°C) can be maintained for between nine and 13 hours, depending on how many times the doors of the 16.2 cubic metre body are opened.

Speaking to media gathered for the Volkswagen Conversion Day event, Volkswagen Group Australia national conversion manager Andrew Hester said the example shown was an evaluation model that will be used to provide real-world testing data in Australia’s broad and tough conditions before being fine-tuned ahead of sale.

“We’re going to get some real-world drive testing in the Australian summer. We’ve got a GPS tracking system installed in this unit, with a number of temperature sensors in the back that will measure how the vehicle body is performing on-run,” he said.

“This vehicle is going to one of our cold goods fleet customers. They’ll be putting four weeks of driving on the vehicle, and we’ll be able to monitor the data coming here in real time. The reason is we need to see if we need to make any adjustments to the system for Australian climatic conditions.

“The vehicle will be initially tested up and down the east coast and then in the centre north from Adelaide, and that will inform our decision for the next step.”

Mr Hester said that should the decision be made to move ahead with an Australian on-sale date for the Eutectic cold body Crafter, an estimated selling price of $130,000 + ORC was likely.

Finally, Volkswagen took the opportunity to show off its original Amarok Highline 580 Black W Series development prototype. Converted by Walkinshaw Automotive Group, the vehicle was sent to Germany for validation testing ahead of factory certification.

The vehicle was driven and assessed by VW’s factory team before being awarded with its Letter of no Objection (LONO) and is pictured with pre production Walkinshaw test parts fitted by VW AG Group Services in Hannover, Germany.

Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles director Ryan Davies said Amarok, Caddy and Crafter vehicles displayed prove that the local division is committed to selecting the best blend of Australian and international suppliers to “create unique solutions in the market”.

“We know from the success of the Australian-engineered Walkinshaw Amarok and Crafter Kampervan that there are great opportunities for Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles to provide even more tailored solutions to a variety of recreational and specialist needs,” he said.

“From ambulance fleets to wheelchair access vehicles, from refrigerated transport to tough tipper bodies, the Caddy and Crafter in particular provide the perfect basis to provide versatile and integrated solutions – factory backed with warranty, turn-key solutions that are ready to go.

“These seven vehicles show the clear intent of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles to expand beyond the series production vehicles available in showrooms.”