Hippy Favourite is Reborn

VW plans to reveal a retro style VW Kombi MPV concept at the Detroit Motor Show in January, with a 3.2-litre 225bhp V6 engine lifted from VW's 4x4 joint venture with Porsche.

Styled at VW's California design studio, which was also responsible for the New Beetle, the concept has a similar styling to the classic flat-fronted Kombi, better known as the VW camper.

Artist's Impression of the New Bus

Called the Retro Bully after the German name for the original air-cooled split-screen Kombi, the concept heralds a model three years away from production but based on the platform from the next-generation T5 Transporter van, which launches in 18 months.

Designed to rival premium MPVs such as the Chrysler Grand Voyager, the Bully will be larger than most European MPVs and have entirely different body panels to the next Transporter-based Caravelle passenger van.

VW has made passenger versions of its Transporter commercials since the first Kombi in 1950 to today's Caravelle. The forthcoming T5 has been designed to meet more rigorous commercial needs than in the past: it is larger with more upright body sides and eschews the Bully's retro looks for a thoroughly modern exterior.

Encouraged by the runaway success of New Beetle sales in the US, VW intends to market its new vehicle as a premium-priced "designer label" people carrier. We want a vehicle for US customers of the New Beetle and Passat to move up to when they start having families', says VW's worldwide head of commercial vehicle sales, Stefano Chmielewski.

Although the Retro Bully will be billed as a concept, VW is scheduled to complete marketing studies on the vehicle well before the end of this year, with a view to getting the vehicle into the marketplace tow years after the T5's launch next autumn.

Chmielewski says the strategy calls for 60,000 a year to be built at VW's factory in Mexico, which builds the New Beetle, with all models initially earmarked for the US.

The vehicle's 3.2-litre V6 will be built at VW's Salzigitter engine factory in Germany and has been developed from the current Golf V6 unit. It was first seen under the bonnet of VW's New Beetle RSi concept at the Geneva Motor show in March, but sources say there are significant cooling problems that need to be overcome before it can be made to work properly in the flat-fronted Retro Bully.

The vehicle, larger than the T5, will feature a modular interior package with six, seven or eight seats, and a full length slatted glass sunroof, similar to that fitted to the Mercedes A-class.

Like the New Beetle, the Retro Bully seems certain to appeal to Europe, but it is mainly destined for the US.

"If such a model existed in the product plans, we'd certainly want it here," says VW UK's head of commercial vehicle marketing David Williams.

of course, VW did comply, see our other article