The arrival of the all-new Crafter van and cab-chassis model range heralds new opportunities and a new urgency for the team at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles New Zealand.
Volkswagen New Zealand general manager Tom Ruddenklau has appointed Kevin Richards as the new head of VWNZ commercial vehicles.
Richards will join commercial vehicle national sales manager Scott Duggan, and commercial vehicle marketing manager Jake Tobin in driving the brand’s growth aspirations.
Ruddenklau told DIESELtalk two stand-alone Volkswagen commercial dealerships are being established in Auckland – by Giltrap Group in the city and Tristram European on the North Shore.
And Continental Car Services is poised to open a new commercial vehicle service centre in Vestey Drive, Mt Wellington, Ruddenklau says.
He believes there is plenty of growth opportunity across the VW commercial range of Caddy, Transporter and the new Polish-built Crafter.
The Crafter will spearhead VWNZ commercial vehicles’ renewed focus on growing its business, particularly in the large van category where the runout model took 43 sales in the year ending June 2017.
Ruddenklau reckons Crafter should grow to more than 300 sales a year and its smaller sibling, the Transporter, to more than 500 sales annually.
New from the ground up
The “old” Crafter shared a chassis and body panels with the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter but the new large VW van and cab-chassis models are ground-up designs with a huge input from global customers to meet market needs and wants.
Breaking more new ground and establishing that it has serious intentions for global growth, Volkswagen also established a new purpose-built manufacturing facility for the Crafter line at Wrzesnia in Poland.
All New Zealand-bound Crafter van models have a Euro 6 compliant 2-litre inline four-cylinder turbodiesel engine, available in two states of tune: a single turbocharged 103kW/340Nm unit as standard, and an optional and more powerful twin turbocharged 130kW/410Nm unit.
The initial line-up consists of the entry specification front-wheel drive medium wheelbase (MWB) 103kW Crafter 30 Runner six-speed manual for $59,990.
Next up is the front-wheel drive 103kw Crafter 35 MWB (pictured here) six-speed manual from $65,990. Long wheel base (LWB) and extended long wheel base (ELWB) versions are also available.
The front-wheel drive 130kW Crafter 35 MWB six-speed manual retails from $69,990 and its engine can also be optioned for the 35 LWB and 35 EWLB models too.
An eight-speed automatic will be available on all versions from the 103kw Crafter 30 Runner to the 130kW Crafter 35 ELWB before the end of 2017.
The extra cost option of 4Motion all-wheel drive with the eight-speed automatic transmission will be available to all models, except the Crafter 30 Runner, in 2018.
The heavy-duty Crafter 50 rear-wheel drive van and cab-chassis models will begin arriving in 2018, as will the 4Motion variants.
All Crafter van models offer a 50,000km service interval for greater uptime on the road.
VWNZ has also teamed up with local supplier Auto Transform to offer a premium and a luxury 12-seat minibus package on the Crafter 35 MWB.
Generous specification
The new entry point Crafter 30 Runner arrives with a high level of standard equipment, including front and rear park distance control and active side protection, as well as a reversing camera.
Dual sliding side doors are standard as are the 270-degree opening rear barn doors. These have powerful magnetic attachments that allow you to open them and then reverse into tight spaces or a loading bay.
The power steering is a speed-dependent electromechanical system with active energy control.
The Crafter also benefits from side wind assist, hill start assist, cruise control and an automatic post-collision brake system.
Its multifunction steering wheel also drives the Display Plus multifunction screen in the dashboard.
Inside the cabin there is a comfort seat for the driver and a two-passenger bench seat with storage underneath. The middle seat folds back to provide additional cup holders and a small work space.
Other features inside the cabin include three 12-volt power outlets and a USB port which allows an iPhone to connect to the Apple CarPlay system within the Crafter’s 8-inch colour touchscreen.
Moving up from the Crafter 30 Runner to the Crafter 35 adds yet more specification such as the comfort seat-plus for the driver with arm rests and greater adjustability including lumbar support.
The Crafter 35 (and upward models) also pick up forward collision warning with autonomous emergency brakes, side marker lamps, rear traffic alert, lane change assist system with blind spot monitor, and intermittent control windshield wipers with a light and rain sensor.
Customising your Crafter
A huge list of optional features for the Crafter include park assist, adaptive cruise control, LED headlights, tyre pressure monitoring system, front fog lights with cornering function, trailer manoeuvring assist, active lane departure warning, driver system alert, Discover media package and Trendline package.
Buyers can also upgrade the driver’s seat from the comfort seat in the Runner, and the comfort-plus seat in the Crafter 35 (and models above) to an ergo comfort suspension seat for $500 or an ergo active suspension seat for $600.
Inside the cargo area, buyers can also specify a universal floor package for $2000. The 10mm thick beechwood veneer floor is not glued and is easily removed. It also offers longitudinal or transverse rails with an airline profile and, depending on vehicle length, it has 10 to 14 fastening rings sunk into it.
A roof removable rack in the load compartment is available for $600, and plywood cladding up to the vehicle’s roof frame is $700.
First drive
DieselTalk was the first media outlet to try out the new Crafter 35 MWB for a week and we came away from the experience suitably impressed.
The first thing you notice is just how quiet the van is on the move. The 2-litre engine burbles away quietly and most of the noise at motorway speed is the wind rustling around the tall A pillars surrounding the enormous windshield.
For a vehicle that’s just under six metres in length, more than 2.5 metres in height and just under 2.5 metres wide, the Crafter 35 MWB is a surprisingly easy beast to manoeuvre.
Parking is certainly made easier, thanks to the front and rear and side sensors as well as the reversing camera, and if you are in the city, the automated parallel parking feature is worth its weight in gold.
VWNZ had ticked quite a few of the options for this Crafter 35 demonstrator vehicle, as it will be sending it out to potential fleet and business customers for evaluation.
The importer added Reflex Silver metallic paint ($2500), seat heaters ($500), heated rear windows with wiper system ($480), plywood to roof ($700), LED headlights/running lights ($1900), active cruise control ($1250), compartment lighting ($300), trailer assist, park assist, distance control and side protection ($4200), universal floor ($2000) and internal roof rack with 50kg moveable bars ($600).
Therefore, from a base price of $65,990, our test vehicle’s retail value was $80,920 inclusive of GST.
We didn’t get to try out the trailer assist but we did use the active cruise control and the self-parking functions. We even managed to activate the forward collision alert, and the lane keeping assist system is also a good thing on a motorway during a windswept day.
Some might gasp at the price tag, but this is a working vehicle designed for a long and economic life on the road. It’s also a mobile workplace, so offering a great number of safety and comfort features to the driver and fellow occupants can only be a good thing in this health and safety conscious time.
The Crafter’s abilities and functionality certainly impressed us and, hopefully, will do the same for future VW customers.
