Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles has presented concept drawings for its latest Multivan, which it says will have the most flexible interior system that a Bulli (Transporter) has ever had.
The design features the existing model’s signature touches, including a high seating position in the front with up to five moveable/removeable individual seats in the back. The second row of seats can be rotated 180°, enabling the rear seats to be arranged in the typical face-to-face arrangement of the Multivan. This is a concept that originates from the Multivan T3 (launched in the 1980s) and VW says it has been a winning formula for over 35 years.
Albert Kirzinger, head of design at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, explained why flexible seats and a middle seat that is both moveable and removeable are so important for a Multivan: “It is wonderfully practical. And a car is practical, if it can be used flexibly. To that end, we’ve created a new seating system. You can easily take seats out to get your sports equipment, mountain bike and/or surfboard into this generously proportioned space. With these seats, everything is possible in the new Multivan.”
Notably, the new model will have only individual seats – the full-width bench seat on the third row is no more. The individual seats of the second and third rows have also become much lighter.
This, says VW, means they can now be moved extremely quickly and also taken out and put back in with the ease. This is thanks to a redevelopment of the track system, which runs end-to-end from the back through to the second seating row. Since the three-seater rear bench has given way to individual seats, it is possible, for example, to simply remove the seats on one side of the vehicle or to push the middle seat of the third row forward to just shy of the first seating row for transporting cargo.
