Volkswagen Transporter

Volkswagen’s Transporter has come a long way over comparatively recent times. Now in generation 6, Transporter has established its credentials as a serious contender in the New Zealand van market.

In terms of specification, engine configuration, seating and bodywork configuration, Transporter has gone through to where it is today, but in our market, having the nigh-on-perfect van is still not enough, particularly in the New Zealand market. Volkswagen NZ however, has not given up trying. With the ground layers of the Transporter formula already laid down, the only trick was the missing piece of the puzzle – getting the price right. In a utopian world, the T6 Transporter would stack up well on its own merits, but in the world of the commercial vehicle anyway – dollars talk, and the transactional dollar has the loudest voice. How then, does Volkswagen compete on those terms? Simple, and the end result is the Volkswagen T6 Transporter Runner. The Runner concept is one which Volkswagen is introducing throughout its range, but it is best demonstrated with the Transporter T6, which has done this go around before. What go around? Creating the right pricing structure to bring the Transporter to the attention of buyers who look exclusively at transactional pricing when it comes to vehicle selection. But Volkswagen has done this before? Yes, with an earlier generation Transporter and, the concept was right, but the formula wasn’t quite right. Now it is. There are two Transporter Runners available: the 250Nm or the 340Nm short wheelbase. Now, that short wheelbase is 3000mm with a 2324mm cargo bay length, so its not as short as some would have you believe. It’s also 1990mm tall from ground to ceiling and 1904mm in width, meaning it can accommodate regular pallets through the rear lifting tailgate or dual side sliding doors which come standard. And because the payload of the SWB Transporter Runner is just a smidge under 1000kg, chances are you’ll want to stack a few pallets onboard, so the walls are well protected for those taller cargoes. As to the engines; well they are the same two-litre turbo diesels with slightly different tunes to develop the variation in torque. And now there’s another difference, the 304Nm Transporter is the one sporting a seven-speed DSG (dual clutch automatic) transmission, which makes it the best bet for around town driving. The seven-speed is the same tech as is found in most VW Group passenger product and – to equip a commercial vehicle with it – might give a clue as to what Volkswagen thinks is a significant consideration: to make the commercial as close to a passenger vehicle as possible. Now, you can’t do much in the cargo area, but you can do lots in the cabin, which is precisely what Volkswagen has done. Certainly, the cockpit layout is a little different, but you’ll find most of the equipment is there: dual airbags, parking sensors, central locking, ESP with hill holder, ABS, climatic air conditioning, leather wrapped steering wheel with audio and phone controls, electrically heated folding mirrors, electric windows, reversing camera and a host of optional features. So yes, the Transporter Runner has all the attributes of being a car-like van, with car-like handling and no compromise on cargo, but that’s not what’s going to impress the dollar watchers. No, that would be the pricing of the Transporter range and the Transporter Runner especially.