Hi-tech upgrade for VW’s camper

VOLKSWAGEN’S iconic campervan, the California, is going hi-tech with a raft of upgrades and design tweaks both inside and out.

More than 18,000 Californias were sold worldwide last year – with 1,235 of those sold in the UK – making it the number one campervan on the market and its appeal is about to be increased with enhanced and optimised living and sleeping areas, a redesigned dashboard including new analogue instruments with digital instrumentation available as an option for the first time and new online infotainment systems featuring eSIM.

There’s a striking redesign for the front end and, among numerous interior changes, the multifunctional camper control unit in the roof console has been redesigned and digitalised.

Like the Multivan 6.1 which was revealed earlier this year, the new California 6.1 features electromechanical power steering and will be fitted with numerous new assistance systems, including lane assist, side protection, a side-wind compensation system and trailer assist, which, according to VW, makes light work of manoeuvring with a trailer. In addition, it makes travelling in the California 6.1 even safer. Power will be provided by a 196bhp, two-litre turbodiesel engine.

As yet there are no details of when the new campervan will go into production but Volkswagen has released design sketches ahead of the new-look model’s world premiere at a caravan show in Dusseldorf, Germany, at the end of August.