The interplay of electronics and software is making new functions possible. In the next generation Multivan, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles utilises this interplay to transform the gear knob into a switch and thus to reduce it in size so that the gap for climbing through to the back becomes even bigger. The technology behind it: shift-by-wire. That means electronic relaying of the gear change signals. With one click. The prerequisite for this is the fact that in future the Multivan is being equipped with a dual clutch gearbox, aka a DSG. That’s because where there is no longer a manual gearbox, space for a manual gear change mechanism, gear knob included, is no longer needed.
what also makes the Bulli a Bulli in the interior: “Generosity in the interior. We have taken out the gear knob. We’ve even cleared the space in the middle, assigned it to the driver. The new Bulli will be an exciting product. You can look forward to it.”
Instead, a small switch is now sufficient. It is integrated ergonomically perfectly into the new instrument panel to the right of the steering wheel. The DSG switch is thus on a level with the 10-inch display of the infotainment system – on which, for the first time in the Multivan, a real 360-degree representation of the vehicle is also displayed as an ‘Area View’ (optional) in order to make parking and manoeuvring very easy. One floor lower, meanwhile, the conventional handbrake lever has also been cleared out of the way. From now on, the parking brake is activated electronically by button or automatically. And thus the space between driver’s seat and front passenger seat increases even more. So that you can quickly jump into the back to see to the children during a stop. Or to get something from the cool box. Or to use the new multi-function table from the back as a centre console between driver’s and front passenger seat. But that is already moving on to another story about the new Multivan. To be continued.
Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles: We Transport Success, Freedom and Future
As a leading manufacturer of light commercial vehicles, the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles brand (VWCV) is reshaping the transportation of goods, services and people in a fundamental and lasting way. Our vehicles transport construction workers, families and adventurers, bread rolls, parcels and surfboards. Every day they help countless people all over the world to do a good job, they operate as mobile workshops and they bring paramedics and police personnel to wherever they are needed. At our sites in Hannover (D), Poznań (PL), Września (PL) and Pacheco (ARG), around 24,000 employees produce the Transporter, Caddy, Crafter and AmarokNutzfahrzeuge 3 model lines, and, as of 2022, will be producing the ID. BUZZ – the fully electric version of our iconic Bulli. Within the Volkswagen Group, VWCV is also the lead brand for autonomous driving and for mobility offerings such as Mobility-as-aService and Transport-as-a-Service – areas in which we are shaping the future of mobility.
In this way, the brand is transporting the society of tomorrow with all its requirements for clean, intelligent and sustainable mobility. It is this that Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles stands for with its brand promise: We transport success, freedom and future.
