2025 Volkswagen Multivan T7 aimed 'head on' at Kia Carnival: Australian details

09/30/2024 03:00 AM

Volkswagen will mount a fresh challenge for the top-selling Kia Carnival with the new 2025 Volkswagen Multivan people mover, due in Australian showrooms early next with diesel power.

Production bottlenecks that pushed Australia down the priority list mean the new Multivan – now with passenger-car, rather than delivery-van DNA – will arrive in local showrooms more than three years after it launched in Europe.

It is the first all-new Volkswagen Multivan for Australia in 21 years, as the outgoing nine-year-old T6.1 traces its roots back to the 2003 T5.

MORE: Volkswagen Australia announces new model onslaught

The Multivan is now based on the MQB passenger-car underpinnings of the Golf hatch and Tiguan SUV, rather than the chassis of the heavy-duty Transporter van.

It means it is a closer rival than ever for the Kia Carnival – also based on family SUV, not van underpinnings – which accounts for three in four people mover sales in Australia.

Multivan prices are yet to be confirmed, but a VW Australia spokesperson said it would not stray too far from the current model’s circa-$70,000 plus on-road costs starting price, despite the added technology.

It means the entry-level Multivan Life – fitted with LED headlights, dual 10-inch screens, and seven seats – will be priced in line with a top-of-the-range diesel Carnival ($72,910 plus on-road costs).

“On MQB, this vehicle can tackle a Carnival head-on, but beat it for flexibility,” Volkswagen Australia spokesman Daniel DeGasperi told Drive.

“We haven’t really been able to look head-on at some of those more passenger-car-based people movers before.

“But I think with this one [new Multivan], we can absolutely look [at] those Carnival buyers directly and go ‘yes, you probably will get a little bit more leather and tiz [bling] in your Carnival, but if what you really want is engineering, technology, flexibility, those sort of things, come over to the Multivan.

“It’s essentially about retaining the current base, which I think will love this car – because it does everything the commercial vehicle-based Multivan can do – but we can now go, it drives like a passenger car.”

The first Multivans to arrive in Australia by April 2025 will be the entry-level Life, powered by a 110kW/360Nm 2.0-litre turbo four-cylinder diesel engine with front-wheel drive, and fuel consumption rated at 6.4L/100km.

A better-equipped Style model is due between July and September, with a yet-to-be-determined “second powertrain option”. Two-tone paint choices are due at a similar time.

There is a strong chance it will be a higher-output turbo-diesel, but DeGasperi said a plug-in hybrid is also under consideration.

“We’re obviously investigating what the best powertrain is for that Style. It may likely be a higher-power diesel, but of course we’re looking at [a PHEV] … It has to be for the right price and it has to make sense.”

Two body lengths will be available, 4973mm and 5173mm – both on the same 3124mm wheelbase, but with longer or shorter rear overhangs.

The short-body T7 Multivan is 69mm longer than its predecessor – on a 121mm longer wheelbase – but the long-body version is 131mm shorter overall, and 279mm shorter in its wheelbase, than the previous long-wheelbase Multivan.

The T7’s body is 37mm wider than the T6.1, and the roof about 80mm lower. Boot space is rated at 469 litres behind all three rows, and expands to a maximum of 3672L with only the driver and front passenger seats fitted.

Seven seats are standard in the Multivan, with the five behind the front two able to be slid individually between the second and third rows as desired – or removed entirely to create myriad configurations.

Volkswagen says the weight of each removable seat has been reduced by 25 per cent compared to the outgoing Multivan, with rear occupants treated to folding tray tables on the front-seat backrests, a sliding centre console with pull-out tables, and drawers under the seats.

Standard features up front include a 10-inch touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a 10.25-inch instrument display, heated fabric front seats, LED headlights, ambient interior lighting, and keyless entry and start.

The list of safety features is much longer than before, with lane-keep assist and lane-centring assist available for the first time, as well as intersection awareness for the autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system.

Blind-spot monitoring, adaptive cruise control, rear cross-traffic alert, tyre pressure monitoring, and front and rear parking sensors are also standard on the Life.

The T7 Multivan will arrive in Australia more than three years after its European launch – and nearly four years after its global debut – due to production delays.

“Obviously we’re not super close to Europe in terms of both our distance, and also some homologation things. In reality, there were a number of behind-the-scenes reasons that we couldn’t take it,” DeGasperi said.

“But do we think that the product is still relevant, bang up-to-date and competitive? Absolutely.”

The outgoing Multivan was based on the T6 Transporter launched in 2015 – which became the T6.1 for its 2020 facelift – but its roots date back to the T5 generation launched in 2003.

A new Transporter van is also due in Australia next year, as well as a Caravelle passenger-focused sibling, but they are closely related to the latest Ford Transit Custom, rather than ground-up Volkswagen designs.

2025 Volkswagen Multivan Life standard features:

• Seven seats
• 17-inch alloy wheels
• Dusk-sensing LED headlights with auto high-beam
• LED tail-lights
• Dual power-sliding side doors
• Power-operated tailgate
• 10-inch infotainment touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
• 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster
• Rear-view camera
• Fabric seat upholstery in grey/cream
• Heated front seats with manual position adjustment, power lumbar support
• Leather-wrapped steering wheel
• Keyless entry and start
• Tri-zone climate control
• 30-colour ambient interior lighting
• Eight-speaker sound system
• Six USB-C ports
• Rear privacy glass
• Seven airbags
• Autonomous emergency braking with intersection awareness
• Adaptive cruise control with stop and go
• Lane-keep assist
• Lane-centring assist
• Blind-spot monitoring
• Rear cross-traffic alert
• Front and rear parking sensors
• Automatic parking
• Emergency Assist
• Tyre pressure monitoring

The optional Goodnight Package adds:

• Folding bed (1211mm wide x 2020mm long)
• Blockout blinds for all windows
• Folding camping table
• Two folding camping chairs
• Storage bags
• Ventilation grille for front windows

Other options include:

• Multi-function second-row table
• Panoramic sunroof

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