Vans

Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles have announced a large scale investment as part of its 'Grip 2025+' strategy.Billed as the most extensive change in the history of the brand, Volkswagen Commercial aims to transform the company from a pure carmaker into a "mobility service provider" with new products, revamped factories and a wider audience reach.Speaking at a conference in Hannover in Germany, CEO of Volkswagen’s Commercial division, Dr. Thomas Sedran, said that company must adapt to consumer trends in order to survive."Our strategy is a response to changes in the industry – we will transform ourselves from a pure carmaker to a mobility service provider,” he said.“We as a whole industry are facing the biggest change in our history - e-mobility, digitisation, autonomous driving, as well as this trend towards new transportation systems.”“We are developing from a pure carmaker to a mobility provider. To this end, we are investing more than 1.8 billion euros this year."Coming off the best sales results the brand has ever achieved, Volkswagen Commercial is beginning 2019 with investments in both product and its production facilities in Hannover."We can shape the transformation at the peak of the industry, because we are financially strong and can exploit synergies within the Group.”The brand also formally addressed its new alliance with Ford, which will see the two companies co-develop commercial vehicles together, including the next-generation of Amarok and Ranger, a new shared city-sized van and further develop Ford’s Argo autonomous driving brand.“Volkswagen and Ford compliment each other perfectly in our regional strengths - as you know, Ford is strong in North America, while we are strong in Europe. In the future, production capacities will be bundled, that way the different demands of our customers can be better served and production will be in larger volumes, allowing scalability and cost savings.”Over 500,000 Volkswagen Commercial vehicles were delivered to customers in 2018, with particularly strong sales coming from South America and Europe, though political unrest in Turkey affected results in the Middle East.  

Ford Australia has released local pricing and specifications for the updated 2019 Ford Transit Custom range, which now offers a full suite of active safety technology such as auto emergency braking (AEB) and adaptive cruise control as standard, as well as the addition of a new Sport version and new long-wheelbase crew van.The new Sport model is designed to appeal to dual-purpose buyers, with an uprated engine and more premium interior with second-row seating. The Sport is the premium version of the brand's crew model - labelled the Double Cab-in-Van (DCiV) by Ford - a variant that gives Ford a much needed competitor to crew-van rivals like the Hyundai iLoad, Renault Trafic, Volkswagen Transporter and Toyota HiAce, all of which have crew van models available. The updated Transit Custom range is from $42,190 plus on-road costs, and range-wide it now includes AEB with pedestrian detection, lane keep assist, driver attention alert, adaptive cruise control and blind-spot monitoring with rear cross traffic alert as standard across the range. The safety gear was previously available as an option for $1600.The 2019 Transit Custom range features a new 125kW/390Nm 2.0-litre turbo-diesel engine, which is available with either a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission. In addition to the standard safety equipment, an 8.0-inch multimedia system with Ford’s Sync 3 software is standard, which also includes Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Sat nav will cost you an extra $600. Short wheelbase (SWB) Transit Custom models have earned an increased gross vehicle mass (GVM) rating, which is now 3400kg - hence the new 340S model name (previously 3000kg, and 300S). The increased GVM has enabled the Transit automatic to achieve a maximum 2150kg braked towing capacity (was 1800kg). The Sport model features an uprated 136kW/405Nm 2.0-litre turbo-diesel engine and a six-speed automatic transmission. Confusingly, this version is a 320S, with a 3200kg GVM. The Sport also has 17-inch alloy wheels, bi-xenon headlights body coloured mirrors, a gloss black grille and even a body styling kit for extra visual attitude. The Transit Custom Sport is also available in two unique colours - ‘Blue Metallic’ and ‘Orange Glow’, but Transit Custom buyers can choose from more than 100 colours by special order (adds $1400).The interior of the Transit Custom Sport also includes a 10-way adjustable driver’s seat, gloss black detailing, chrome vent surrounds, LED rear load area lighting, part-leather upholstery and a leather steering wheel. The 340L DCiV model pushes seating capacity from three in the standard van up to six, with a rear row of seats. Both the 340L DCiV and 320L Sport DCiV models have a standard rear bulkhead, dual sliding side doors and 4.4-cubic metres of cargo area. The Ford Transit Custom accounts for about 10 per cent of mid-sized van sales in Australia, with 1880 units sold in 2018. The job is soon to be even harder, with the all-new 2019 Toyota HiAce due to launch within the next few months.  Dual side load doors (windows): $1,700