Volkswagen South Africa hosted us in the sunny Mpumalanga side to experience the latest Transporter people mover that is still great at long distance travel and looks just as good.
For 2025, Volkswagen have given us an alliance sourced transporter bus as they stated that this technically isn't a T7 generation and that a T7-gen would be coming to our shores soon? confusing a bit but this particular Transporter is a product of the standing agreement between the Blue Oval brand and Volkswagen.
In the briefing we also learnt that the 222kw VW Amarok is now available at R1 099 000 for all of those who chase speed and performance in a much bigger package.
I'm glad to announce that there are distinctive changes that set the two apart, from a styling perspective we see that the Transporter gains a VW styled fascia featuring some LED day-time running lights, air vents and plenty of body colored bits that would normally be finished in a gloss or plastic black.
The side profile grows to 5050m if you opt for a Short Wheel Base and 5450m if you decide to go for the Long Wheel Base. The wheels are beautiful 17 inch alloy wheels that are wrapped in a generous amount of rubber which improved the ride quality that much more.
The back view also features some VW specific LED lights along with Transporter badging on the tailgating to let you know what's in front of you.
Our luggage was properly dealt with by the ample 3,002 mm of boot space even with seats up.
The inside sees the driver gain a multifunctional steering wheel that controls and adjusts cruise control, a steering mounted gear leaver, volume level buttons, and configuration of the crisp driver display. The drivers display is accompanied by the massive and informative 13-inch touchscreen that has all of the phone connectivity apps.
I am also glad to report that the interior is absolute a great space to be in and shows that there has been plenty of thought put into ergonomics by Volkswagen. The road trip was far and so that meant spending most of the time seated, luckily the seats were wrapped in a soft leather material that doubles as spill-proof.
The seat arrangement still accommodates 8 passengers in total, including the driver and had slight adjustments mainly to get into the last row at the back and some for some additions there are optional individual seats with electric eight-way adjustment (front passenger: six-way) and four-way lumbar adjustment are available however ours was largely manually operated.
I spent most of my journey in the last row where I quickly learnt that battery percentage anxiety was no such thing and that if things got too hot,
I had the option of adjusting my own rear air conditioning to keep cool or keep warm as we traversed through many terrians, peaks, altitudes that came with different whether conditions.
My turn behind the wheel let me discover that the 2.0 TDI engine was refined as ever and in inclines and declines the 8-speed automatic transmission handled all the changes quiet well and was never short for breathe not once. The engine in our unit outputs 125 kW and drove the 4MOTION® all-wheel drive (model dependant).
The Transporter is still as versatile as ever as Volkswagen will offer Crew Bus, Kombi and Panel Van body styles. The Panel Van and Kombi models has been introduced in September 2025 with Crew Bus and Kombi Style planned for local introduction in October 2026.
Retail Prices (VAT and emissions tax included)
| Panel Van 2.0 TDI 81kW 4x2 Panel Van Manual LWB | R 770,000 |
| Kombi 2.0 TDI 125kW 4x2 Basic Auto SWB (8-seater) | R 1,081,700 |
| Kombi 2.0 TDI 125kW 4x2 Commerce Auto SWB (8-seater) | R 1,055,200 |
| Kombi 2.0 TDI 125kW 4x2 Life Auto SWB (8-seater) | R 1,116,845 |
| Kombi 2.0 TDI 125kW 4x2 EDITION Auto SWB (8-seater) | R 1,167,400 |
The Volkswagen Transporter range warranty plans follow:
Panel Van: 2–year/unlimited km manufacturer warranty,
3-year/60,000km EasyDrive Service Plan, 15,000km service intervals and 12-year anti-corrosion warranty.
Crew Bus: 2–year/unlimited km manufacturer warranty,
3-year/60,000km EasyDrive Service Plan, 15,000km service intervals and 12-year anti-corrosion warranty.
Kombi: 3-year/120,000km manufacturer warranty, 5-year/60,000km
EasyDrive maintenance plan, 15,000km service intervals and 12-year anti-corrosi