German carmaker Volkswagen (VW) on Sunday presented the new generation of its Transporter fleet on the sidelines of a major trade fair in the northern city of Hanover.
Introduced by Carsten Intra, the chief executive of VW's commercial vehicles unit, the new Transporter is to succeed the bestselling previous T6.1 model.
The new vehicle has been developed jointly with U.S. auto giant Ford and will be built by Ford in Türkiye.
The factory in the western province of Kocaeli is run by Ford Otosan, a joint venture of Ford Motor and Turkish conglomerate Koç Holding.
The model will be delivered in late 2024 in selected European markets before a wider roll-out next year.
More than 10,000 orders for the new vehicle had come in since August, Lars Krause, head of VWC sales and marketing, said.
Intra on Monday predicted a difficult second half of the year following strong sales in the first.
"We are aware that many markets are currently cooling," he said during the IAA Transportation commercial vehicles trade fair. "The second half year will be challenging," Intra said.
During the first half, VWC deliveries were up 11.5% on the same period last year, with adjusted operating profits up 43% to 641 million euros ($713 million). The return on sales came in at 7.9%.
The figures were boosted by strong orders for the T6.1 transporter, a midsize van that came onto the market at the end of June.
Along with the 2022 Multivan and the all-electric ID. Buzz, the new Transporter, is set to replace the all-in-one Transporter vehicles, built in six generations since 1950 and nicknamed the "Bulli" in Germany.
Ford and VW agreed to cooperate on light commercial vehicles in 2020. After the Amarok pickup truck, the Transporter is now the second VW model to come from the partnership.
In return, VW will supply the Ford Tourneo Connect van, which will be built together with the sister Caddy VW model at its plant in the Polish city of Poznan.
Volkswagen has attracted a storm of controversy in Germany recently after announcing a wave of cuts and threatening redundancies.
It canceled a job guarantee that was originally due to be valid until 2029 and has not ruled out plant closures in Germany.
Employees at VW's commercial vehicle brand are also fearing for their futures. The brand's production facility in Hanover has around 14,000 employees.
