New Volkswagen Crafter - International Van of the Year

Volkswagen has taken the International Van of the Year crown for a second successive year with their brand new large van, the Volkswagen Crafter despite the fact it has yet to go on sale!

The latest-generation Crafter is the first to be designed and built totally from scratch, having been based on the Mercedes Sprinter for its entire lifespan. Volkswagen have ended their association with Mercedes and the results speak for themselves. In fact, the judges were particularly impressed by Volkswagen's commitment to developing the new Crafter in-house.

Having only been revealed to the public for the first time at the Commercial Vehicles IAA in Offenbach, Germany just a couple of weeks ago - the new Crafter now has critical acclaim. It truly is a fantastic van - with style, capacity and efficiency in abundance.

International Van of the Year 2017

Designed to meet the needs of end-users, the new Volkswagen Crafter claimed the International Van of the Year award for 2017 after impressing a panel of commercial vehicle journalists from 24 different European countries.

Scoring a total of 101 points, Volkswagen's new large van finished just 12 points ahead of its nearest rival - the joint effort from the PSA Group with three different guises; the Peugeot Expert, Citroen Dispatch and Toyota Proace. Third place went to the latest Euro 6 version of the Iveco Daily. The only other vans in contention were the Euro 6 Ford Transit Custom and the brand-new Hyundai H350 after having made the five-van shortlist for the coveted award.

Dr. Eckhard Scholz, Chairman of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles accepted the award last night at the Commercial Vehicles IAA in Hanover: "After the T-series last year, we are delighted to now receive this special award for the new Crafter as well. We are very proud of our latest product and of our team whose hard work has made the Crafter the best large transport van. We will be using this award to spearhead a successful launch."

New Volkswagen Crafter

So, what do we know about the latest model? All of the engine options are Euro 6 compliant having been developed specifically for the new van. Its 2.0-litre engine can be specified with one of four power outputs ranging from 102PS to 177PS. The new Crafter has a maximum load volume of 18.4 cubic metres and max headroom of 2196mm.

Volkswagen claim some class-leading figures including a maximum load length of 4855mm, 1380mm between the wheel arches and a drag co-efficient of just 0.33cd, improving fuel efficiency. The all-new Crafter even has a purpose-built plant in Wrzesnia, Poland dedicated to producing the new model.

New vans on finance

Unfortunately the new Volkswagen Crafter is not available to buy just yet. If you can't wait, check out the current range of Crafters as well as our large vans! To discuss your requirements or find out more about any van in our range give us a call on 0845 021 0444 or enquire online.