New Transporter - first official pic

[EAN]

NO, any angle other than directly front on and it’s a Ford Transit.
If I want a Ford, I’ll buy a Ford.
VW talk about the all important VW DNA and Bulli line then screw it up by keeping the Ford DNA curve in the rear quarter.
I’ll be keeping my 6.1 for as long as I can.
Not for me.

 

[z1ts]

I’ll be keeping my 6.1 for as long as I can.

My thoughts exactly....

If we're representative of the masses, then T6 & T6.1 prices will hold well for a few years!

 

[DaveD]

My T6 is 8 years old now but I've always planned to hang onto it until it's no longer doing what I need it to do or is no longer reliable.
That T7 certainly doesn't tempt me to change my mind.
I don't need or want a wider van and visually that T7 looks bland, IMHO.

 

[RobertO2023]

Well I’m going to come straight out with it.
It looks shit!
Front looks like a Citroen
And the back.
Dear god it’s really bad.
That transit rear quarter.
It’s that bad I’d rather have the real one.
A transit custom.

I’ve seen better looking shit …

 

[Littleblackflash]

My T6 is 8 years old now but I've always planned to hang onto it until it's no longer doing what I need it to do or is no longer reliable.
That T7 certainly doesn't tempt me to change my mind.
I don't need or want a wider van and visually that T7 looks bland, IMHO.

That was my idea but I quite like the T7 and could see my self swapping to a hybrid one

 

[Lubrown]

Just my view but I can see the Transporter DNA in there. The Transporter is no looker and I don’t think they’ll age well. Not many modern cars do.
I have a fondness for the T2 as that was one of my first ever drives and I always loved the odd style (preferred my Beetle though) but even the T2 is an ugly duckling compared with a split screen and the Transporter will always be worse than a T2 in my view.
I find the T5.1 more elegant than an equivalent age van from any other brand but that’s not saying much. And if pimped with daft mods you lose that elegance anyway.
This new one is the same to me - better than the Tranny to look at but it’s not setting my world on fire and there is no way the better looks (be the Tranny) will justify the price leap. The only way they can do that would be with adding far more kit (self parking and things to give a more premium option).

 

[True Romance]

Someone at VW is going to get the chop soon Who the hell agreed this partnership??

 

[Bav]

Someone at VW is going to get the chop soon Who the hell agreed this partnership??

Da bean counters.

 

[cgtmiles]

Isn’t there a thread with a similar sentiment to this from when the t6.1 was released?

 

[Pauly]

Loads !

 

[Sasquatch]

If I want a Ford, I’ll buy a Ford.

And that's the rub. The VW will inevitably cost more, because that's what VW do. What substantive reason is there for anyone to not simply buy the Ford and trouser the difference?

I guess VW are relying on blind brand loyalty to generate the sales. It remains to be seen if people are that gullible/loyal/ill-informed to put their money VW's way. That's a very cynical view to take of your customers and suggests to me the board level contempt for the customer that led to Dieselgate and the late 90's Nazi slavery revelations hasn't gone away.

 

[Curlynot]

Da bean counters.

This is probably true. With the current state of the car industry VW and quite likely Ford could not afford to make a new model each with the impending "electrification" of everything and huge uncertainty in the mean time. The T6.1 design is already years old and couldn't last in production until 2030 etc so maybe as an interim measure to help both companies to keep going they joined forces to produce the Caddy,Amarok,Transporter range. Ford apparently have lost over 2.5 BILLION dollars in the first six months of the year on their electric production and are predicted to do the same in the second half of the year. VW are fairing no better and are almost bankrupt and there are rumours around the industry that a BIG player could go bust next year or get taken over and this could even be VW. They are currently looking at shutting a couple of factories in Germany soon, this has never ever happened before since they rebuilt after the war and shows the severity of the situation.

I have no idea of the numbers but I am wondering how many Caddy/Amarok/Transporters are bought worldwide for commercial use and how many are bought by the likes of us to tart up and play around with often as second vehicles? I suspect the former is a much much higher number and that's who the sales are aimed at.

Whether we like the look of the T7 or not we are heading into strange times vehicle wise in the next few years and who knows but this joint venture might even help VW from going bust.!!

Just to clarify tho, I'm still a bit of petrolhead, I absolutely love my van and use it every day, plus I've had VW's in my drive continuously since July 1982 so all of these current issues are a little unsettling but there is nothing we can do about it other than if you don't like the T7 don't buy one!!

 

[z1ts]

I have no idea of the numbers but I am wondering how many Caddy/Amarok/Transporters are bought worldwide for commercial use and how many are bought by the likes of us to tart up and play around with often as second vehicles? I suspect the former is a much much higher number and that's who the sales are aimed at.

What s/he said right here... they're designed to last for 5 years on a fleet then die quietly or be exported to some third world country who doesn't give 2 hoots about emissions etc. and MOT's etc...

 

[dubber36]

I have no idea of the numbers but I am wondering how many Caddy/Amarok/Transporters are bought worldwide for commercial use and how many are bought by the likes of us to tart up and play around with often as second vehicles? I suspect the former is a much much higher number and that's who the sales are aimed at.

Nail on head.

VW and Ford will be sharing the load of producing a fresher stop gap range of vehicles until they know which direction the form of fuelling is going to go. The market is predominately commercial based, so it 'will do' for the time being. They may loose potential sales to the likes of us, but we are a tiny drop in the ocean.

 

[Bav]

VW are fairing no better and are almost bankrupt and there are rumours around the industry that a BIG player could go bust next year

Yes, VW are bang in trouble. It's hard to imagine the biggest car manufacturer of them all going bust, but their disastrous transition to electrification, plus the fall-out from the emissions scandal, means they are financially very exposed.

 

[James147]

Well I absolutely love driving wife’s id3 so there is that!, back to topic it looks exactly like it is a transit with Vw group headlights slapped on meh

 

[Lubrown]

but their disastrous transition to electrification, plus the fall-out from the emissions scandal,

Plus the steady decline in quality and reliability over recent years.
They need to get their act together all round.

 

[Bav]

Plus the steady decline in quality and reliability over recent years.
They need to get their act together all round.

Have suspected for a while that the decline in VW quality is a direct consequence of financial distress - either current or forecast. Probably the same for reliability issues, though (as with other marques) they've been exacerbated by emissions regulations outpacing R&D progress, leading to rushed, substandard engineering solutions.

 

[Greybeard]

Nail on head.

Also agree with @Curlynot

but we are a tiny drop in the ocean.

Was it just me that smiled at the missing quotation marks around “Ocean”?!?
Any Cali owners?!?

 

[Captain Quick]

Have suspected for a while that the decline in VW quality is a direct consequence of financial distress - either current or forecast. Probably the same for reliability issues, though (as with other marques) they've been exacerbated by emissions regulations outpacing R&D progress, leading to rushed, substandard engineering solutions.

And let's not forget too the very tangible decline in quality standards found in service work undertaken at authorised VW Commercial workshops. It seems hard to understand how VW will be able play the 'premium' card when they attempt to differentiate the new Transporter from Ford's new Transit models. Having owned VWs since the 1970s, I'm really struggling to see VW as a premium brand these days.