The Volkswagen Transporter, based on the

Volkswagen Group Volkswagen AG (), known internationally as the Volkswagen Group, is a German multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. The company designs, manufactures and distributes passenger and commercia ...

's T platform, now in its seventh generation, refers to a series of vans produced for over 70 years and marketed worldwide. The T series is now considered an official Volkswagen Group automotive platform. and generations are sequentially named T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6 and T7. Pre-dating the ''T platform'' designations, the first three generations were named Type 2, indicating their relative position to the Type 1, or Beetle. As part of the ''T platform'', the first three generations are retroactively named T1, T2 and T3. The Transporter is the best-selling van in history with over 12 million units sold worldwide, and it comprises a gamut of variants including

van A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and bigger than a common car. There is some varying in the scope of the word across th ...

minivan Minivan (sometimes called simply as van) is a North American car classification for vehicles designed to transport passengers in the rear seating row(s), with reconfigurable seats in two or three rows. The equivalent classification in Europe is ...

minibus A minibus, microbus, minicoach, or commuter (in Zimbabwe) is a passenger-carrying motor vehicle that is designed to carry more people than a multi-purpose vehicle or minivan, but fewer people than a full-size bus. In the United Kingdom, ...

es, pick-ups and campervans. Competitors include the Ford Transit, Toyota HiAce and Mercedes-Benz Vito. __TOC__

Type 2

T1 (1949)

1964 Volkswagen T1 Transporter Kombi bus (6106456722)

Initially derived from the Volkswagen Type 1 ( Volkswagen Beetle), the Volkswagen Type 2 (T1) was the first generation of

Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German Automotive industry, motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a ...

's Transporter family.

T2 (1967)

The Volkswagen T2 platform was marketed from 1967 through 1979 model years, with a Volkswagen Type 4 engine optionally available from 1972 on.

T3 (1979)

The Volkswagen (Type 2) T3 Transporter, also known as T25 in the UK or VW Vanagon in the United States, was introduced in 1979. The T3 Transporter was one of the last all-new bodied Volkswagen platforms that still used an

air-cooled Air-cooled engines rely on the circulation of air directly over heat dissipation fins or hot areas of the engine to cool them in order to keep the engine within operating temperatures. In all combustion engines, a great percentage of the heat ge ...

rear-engine design In automobile design, a rear-engine design layout places the engine at the rear of the vehicle. The center of gravity of the engine itself is behind the rear axle. This is not to be confused with the center of gravity of the whole vehicle, as a ...

. Compared to its predecessor, (the T2), the T3 was sturdier and heavier, with a slightly larger, much more square and boxy body, that offered more usable interior space than the original models' rounded front side, roof, and edges. The T3, with its front now folding sharply along a horizontal middle axis, instead of the old model's curve, is sometimes called "the wedge" by enthusiasts, to differentiate it from earlier VW "Kombis". The Volkswagen air-cooled boxer engine was supplanted by a

water-cooled Cooling tower and water discharge of a nuclear power plant Water cooling is a method of heat removal from components and industrial equipment. Evaporative cooling using water is often more efficient than air cooling. Water is inexpensive and n ...

one – though still rear-mounted – in 1983. Both Porsche and Oettinger built six-cylinder versions of the T3 Transporter in very small numbers, with the Porsche-built version achieving a top speed around . A

four-wheel drive Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer ca ...

Syncro model was introduced, premiering in January 1985. While production of the T3 ended in Europe with the Syncro produced in Austria until 1992, the T3 was also produced in South Africa, until 2002.

Transporter/Multivan

T4 (1990)

The first officially designated "T platform" vehicle, the Volkswagen Transporter (T4) dramatically updated the Volkswagen van line by using a front-mounted, front-wheel drive, water-cooled engine. The T4 was marketed in North America as the Volkswagen Eurovan.

T5 (2003)

2003–2009 (pre-facelift)

The Volkswagen Transporter (T5) is a variant of the Volkswagen T platform. In

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

it is sold in Mexico but neither in the United States nor Canada. As with other light trucks, the T5 range would face a 25% tariff, known as the

chicken tax The Chicken Tax is a 25 percent tariff on light trucks (and originally on potato starch, dextrin, and brandy) imposed in 1964 by the United States under President Lyndon B. Johnson in response to tariffs placed by France and West Germany on imp ...

, if imported to the US.

2009–2015 (facelift)

VW Transporter TDI (T5) Facelift front 20100902

VW Transporter TDI (T5) Facelift rear 20100902

The Transporter T5 range received a

facelift A facelift, technically known as a rhytidectomy (from the Ancient Greek () "wrinkle", and () "excision", the surgical removal of wrinkles), is a type of cosmetic surgery procedure used to give a more youthful facial appearance. There are mul ...

in late 2009. Updated powertrain options include common rail diesel engines, and a world-first usage in a light commercial vehicle of a

dual clutch transmission A dual-clutch transmission (DCT) (sometimes referred to as a twin-clutch transmission) is a type of multi-speed vehicle transmission system, that uses two separate clutches for odd and even gear sets. The design is often similar to two sepa ...

– namely Volkswagen Group's 7-speed

Direct-Shift Gearbox A direct-shift gearbox (DSG, german: Direktschaltgetriebe) is an electronically-controlled, dual-clutch, multiple-shaft, automatic gearbox, in either a transaxle or traditional transmission layout (depending on engine/drive configuration) ...

(DSG).

T6 (2016)

2017 Volkswagen Transporter T28 Highline TDi 2

2018 Volkswagen Transporter T32 Highline TDi 2

In 2016, Volkswagen released the T6 Transporter which is based on the T5 Transporter. A refreshed version was first shown in 2019 as the T6.1 Transporter.

T7 (2022)

In June 2021, Volkswagen unveiled a new passenger van as the "T7 Multivan" to replace the Caravelle, slated to go on sale in Europe in 2022. The Multivan is built on the MQB platform and will offer a plug-in hybrid version as well as both gasoline and diesel engine options. For commercial markets (cargo/panel van), the T6.1 Transporter will continue in production until 2023. The commercial van successor to the T6.1 Transporter will be built as a sibling of the Ford Transit Custom at

Ford Otosan Ford Otomotiv Sanayi A.Ş. (''Ford Automotive Industry'') is an automotive manufacturing company based in Turkey that is equally owned by Ford Motor Company and Koç Holding. It was established in its current form in 1977, with original relatio ...

in Turkey. Both the VW and Ford vans will be offered with diesel, mild hybrid, plug-in hybrid, or all-electric drivetrains. Sales are expected to begin in 2024. File:Volkswagen T7 Multivan 1X7A0297.jpg, Rear view File:Volkswagen T7 Multivan PHEV IAA 2021 1X7A0062.jpg, Interior

Competitors

Citroën Jumpy The Citroën Jumpy (badged Citroën Dispatch in some countries) is a light commercial van jointly developed by Fiat Group and PSA Group (currently Stellantis), and mainly manufactured by Sevel, a joint venture between the two companies since 1 ...

, aka Citroën Dispatch, Fiat Scudo, Opel/Vauxhall Vivaro, Peugeot Expert, Toyota ProAce * Ford Transit Custom * Mercedes-Benz Vito *

Renault Trafic The Renault Trafic (pronounced as "traffic") is a light commercial van produced by the French automaker Renault since 1980. It is also marketed as the Fiat Talento, the Nissan NV300, the Nissan Primastar, the Mitsubishi Express and, until the ...

, aka Mitsubishi Express, Nissan NV300/Primastar (previously Fiat Talento, Opel/Vauxhall Vivaro)

References

External links

{{Volkswagen (South America) timeline 1980 to date Vans Minibuses Minivans Front-wheel-drive vehicles All-wheel-drive vehicles Cars introduced in 1950 Cars powered by VR engines 1950s cars 1960s cars 1970s cars 1980s cars 1990s cars 2000s cars Transporter Pickup trucks