Volkswagen commercial vehicles

Volkswagen commercial vehicles
Owner / user	Volkswagen AG
Introductory year	1950
Markets	Worldwide
Website	www.volkswagen-nutzfahrzeuge.de

VW commercial vehicles at the Volkswagen plant in Hanover

Panel trolley from 1946

The division Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles carrying in Volkswagen AG as an independent brand is responsible for the production of light commercial vehicles . The model range today includes vans and pick-ups from the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles brand.

history

From June to December 1945, around 500 panel vans based on the Type 51 (Beetle) and Type 82 ( Kübelwagen ) models were produced at the Volkswagen plant in Wolfsburg , using parts from the Second World War . The customers of the vehicles designated as Type 83 (Beetle-Basis) and Type 28 (Kübelwagen-Basis) were mainly the post office and other authorities in the British occupation zone , some vehicles were also equipped as emergency ambulances.

From 1946 onwards, so-called panel wagons were manufactured in the Wolfsburg plant based on the Kübelwagen, later the Beetle, but due to their design - the driver sits behind the loading area - they were only suitable for internal transport.

The history of the large-scale production of commercial vehicles at Volkswagen began in 1950 with the start of series production of the VW Transporter , internally known as Type 2, popularly known as VW Bus or Bulli . In addition to the related VW Beetle (Type 1) with an air-cooled rear engine , VW produced a second model that proved to be extremely successful. The VW bus or VW transporter was the first large-scale commercial vehicle from Volkswagen.

The VW plant in Wolfsburg quickly proved to be too small for the additional production of the van. A new factory location was sought and was found in the Hanover district of Stöcken . The new plant in Hanover began production in 1956; From 1958 engine production began there. In 1961 the completion of the millionth van was celebrated.

By 1967 about 1.8 million of the first version of the transporter, designated internally as T1, had been produced; then it was replaced by the successor model T2. This mainly had a redesigned front with an undivided windshield . The two millionth transporter rolled off the production line as early as 1968, and in 1971 it had reached 3 million.

In 1975 the range was expanded upwards: the “big brother” of the Transporter is called VW LT and, unlike the Transporter, had an in-line engine with water cooling installed on the front axle .

From 1977 to 1993 VW cooperated with the commercial vehicle manufacturer MAN . Light trucks were jointly developed, built and sold under the name "MAN-VW" from 1979 onwards.

The third generation of the Transporter (T3) came on the market in 1979. It sold - especially abroad - significantly worse than the previous model. The engine, which was still installed at the rear, did not offer as well an interior space as the vans of the competition, and the vehicle with the boxer engines initially offered was underpowered, and the air-cooled 2-liter engines were not very stable. Only after the introduction of water-cooled gasoline and diesel engines did sales figures rise again. However, the quality of the T3 was rarely criticized.

In 1981, the subsidiary “Volkswagen Caminhoes Ltda.” In Brazil began building medium-duty trucks, which were initially only sold in South America. In the following year, the VW Caddy , a pick-up based on the Golf I , appeared as another commercial vehicle .

The three millionth T3 Transporter rolled off the assembly line in 1986 and was built in Wolfsburg, Hanover, Brazil, South Africa, Mexico and Australia. From 1989, the Hanover plant also produced the VW Taro , a pick-up that was developed jointly with Toyota and which was slightly larger than the Caddy.

The fourth generation of the Transporter (T4) was built from 1990. It formed a radical break with the past: The engine is now in front, the drive is on the front axle. Production of the predecessor T3 only ended two years later. From 1994 the VW L80 , a light truck built in Brazil, was also available on the German market.

In 1995 VWN became its own brand in the Volkswagen Group and Bernd Wiedemann became head of this brand. In the following year the second generation of the LT appeared, which was developed together with Daimler-Benz . The eight millionth transporter was built in 1997, and the plant in Poznań, Poland, became an integral part of VWN. The Brazilian plant in Resende followed in 2000 ( integrated into MAN SE in 2009 ).

Eckhard Scholz , former CEO of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles

The fifth generation of the van has been built in Hanover and Poznan since 2003. In 2004 a new plant was opened in Hanover-Limmer , where the “California” mobile home is built. The new Caddy, which is built in the Poznan plant, was also presented in 2004. The Caddy is also available as a family sedan for the first time (referred to as "Caddy Life" until 2012).

On January 1, 2007, Bernd Wiedemann was replaced by Stephan Schaller as head of VWN.

In 2009 the truck and bus division Volkswagen Caminhões e Ônibus was sold to MAN .

The internet portal umbauportal.de was launched in 2011 to intensify the cooperation between Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles and the bodybuilders.

In the 2012 financial year, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles sold 550 thousand Amarok, T5, Caddy and Crafter vehicles worldwide.

2019 was awarded the Cargo E-Bike , a first cargo bike presented. The three-wheeled electric bicycle is manufactured in the commercial vehicle plant in Hanover.

Models

Timeline of the models from Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles from 1950 to today
Type	1950s										1960s										1970s										1980s										1990s										2000s										2010s										2020s
	0	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	0	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	0	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	0	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	0	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	0	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	0	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	0
Panel van / high roof combination															Type 147 "Fridolin"															Caddy I.																Caddy II									Caddy III
Pick up																																								taro																					Amarok
Vans	Type 2 "Bulli" (T1)																	Transporter (T2)												Transporter (T3)													Transporter (T4)												Transporter (T5 / T6)
																										LT 1																					LT 2										Crafter I.											Crafter II [2]
																														G90 / MAN-VW [1]																L80 / Delivery
Toyota built under license together with Mercedes-Benz Sprinter together with MAN : [1] as a cooperation model, [2] MAN TGE as badge engineering for the VW Crafter manufactured by Volkswagen Caminhões e Ônibus , part of MAN since 2009

construction time	model series	annotation	image
1950-1967	VW Transporter T1 (Type 2)	first minibus from VW, next to the Beetle VW's best seller of the 1950s / 1960s
1964-1973	Fridolin (type 147)	Delivery van designed for the Deutsche Bundespost
1967-1971	VW Transporter T2a (Type 2)	Revised transporter with undivided windscreen
1971/1972	VW Transporter T2 from intermediate model (type 2)	built for only one year (front like T2a, rear like T2b)
1972-1979	VW Transporter T2b (Type 2)	revised T2
1975-1995	LT, first generation	big brother of the VW transporter
1979-1993	MAN-VW	light trucks from a cooperation with MAN
1979-1992	VW Transporter T3 (Type 2)	last transporter with rear engine, buses under the names "Bus", "Caravelle" and "Multivan".
1979-1993	Caddy I.	Pick-up version of the Golf I, Caddy
1989-1996	taro	created through a cooperation with Toyota
1990-2003	VW Transporter T4 (Type 2)	first VW transporter with front engine, buses under the names "Caravelle" and "Multivan"; several facelifts
1995-2000	L 80	light truck built in Brazil
1995-2003	Caddy II (type 9KV)	City delivery van, badge engineered version of the Seat Inca
1995-2006	LT, second generation	second LT, almost identical to the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter .
1996-2000	Caddy II (type 9U)	Pick-up, badge-engineered version of the Škoda pick-up
2003-2015	VW Transporter T5 (Type 2)	The Multivan and Caravelle differ from the other types by a different front.
2003-2015	Caddy III	City delivery truck built in Poznan ; Poznań (Posen) is the co-plant of Hanover, i. This means that the T5 (except for the Multivan and Camper) and the Caddy are manufactured there, the open versions of the T5 (flatbed / double cab) are built exclusively in Poznań
2006-2016	VW Crafter I.	Successor to the LT2; Except for the engines and the front of the vehicle, it is largely identical to the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter . The Crafter will be manufactured in the Ludwigsfelde automobile plant of Daimler AG until 2016 .
since 2010	Amarok	Pick-up , is built at the VW General Pacheco plant in Argentina and has also been at the VW plant in Hanover-Stöcken since 2012
since 2015	VW Caddy IV	Is just a major facelift from the Caddy III; but is referred to as the fourth generation.
since 2015	VW T6 (type 2)	Is an extensive facelift from the T5; but is referred to as the sixth generation. In 2019 it got a facelift, since then it has been referred to as the VW T6.1 .
since 2016	VW Crafter II	Successor to the Crafter I. Completely new development by Volkswagen AG. Production in the factory in Września, which was built especially for this van . Production since 2016, delivery since the beginning of 2017.
since 2019	Cargo e-bike	Three-wheeled cargo bike with automatic transmission and pedelec support.
from 2020	VW Caddy V.	In contrast to its predecessor, it is a completely new development. It is based on the VW Golf VIII and is the first VW commercial vehicle based on the VW MQB platform .

Works

• Volkswagen factory in Hanover , Stöcken factory
• Volkswagen plant in Hanover, Limmer plant
• Poznań , Poland
• Września , Poland
• General Pacheco , Argentina

See also

• Volkswagen AG (the group)
• Volkswagen (the brand for passenger cars)
• Volkswagen Caminhões e Ônibus (the truck and bus division, part of MAN since 2009 )

literature

• Michael Steinke: VW Bus / Transporter 1949–1979, Volume 1, type compass . Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 2007, ISBN 3-613-02301-6 .
• Michael Steinke: VW Bus / Transporter since 1980, Volume 2, Type Compass . Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-613-02458-6 .
• Rudi Heppe: VW Transporter 1950–1979 - graphics, pictures, brochures . Podszun 2002, ISBN 3-86133-295-7 .
• Werner Oswald : German trucks and delivery vehicles, Volume 3, 1945-1969 . 3. Edition. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-613-01197-2 .
• Werner Oswald: German trucks and delivery vehicles, Volume 4, 1970-1989 . Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-613-02446-2 .
• Volkswagen Chronicle , 2005/2006 edition
• On the way. Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles - 50 Years of the Hanover Plant , ed. from Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, Hanover 2006
• Waldemar R. Röhrbein : Volkswagen, VWN commercial vehicles. In: Klaus Mlynek, Waldemar R. Röhrbein (eds.) U. a .: City Lexicon Hanover . From the beginning to the present. Schlütersche, Hannover 2009, ISBN 978-3-89993-662-9 , pp. 647f.

Web links

• Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles website
• Website umbauportal.de
• FAZ of January 22, 2014, p. 9: Volkswagen is planning a new plant in Poland

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Werner Oswald : Delivery vans, transporters, minibuses. 1945–1980. Motorbuch Verlag Stuttgart, 1st edition 1980, ISBN 3-87943-699-1 , pp. 294-295.
2. ↑ Images of types 28 and 83 on classiccarcatalogue.com , accessed on January 30, 2019.
3. ↑ The most successful VW temporary solution - today in the Gifhorn district. az-online.de, accessed on January 31, 2019.
4. ↑ Bernd Wiedemann: A VW veteran is retiring (handelsblatt.com)
5. ↑ Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles: New Board Members (autokiste.de)
6. ↑ http://geschaeftsbericht2012.volkswagenag.com/konzernbereiche/volkswagennutzfahrzeuge.html
7. ↑ Thomas Harloff: Cargo bike with electric drive: VW builds cargo e-bike for the last mile. In: auto motor und sport. May 3, 2019, accessed February 22, 2020 . 
8. ↑ Cargo E-Bike: The Volkswagen among cargo bikes - derStandard.de. In: The Standard. September 14, 2019, accessed February 22, 2020 .