T7 has been approved for South Africa. However, it remains to be seen whether the facelift model or pre-facelift variant will be offered.
T7 has undergone of a series of ID. Buzz inspired exterior changes. Picture: Volkswagen
Already five years old in Europe this year, Volkswagen has removed the wraps from the facelift T7 Multivan and California camper.
Positioned above the Ford co-developed Transporter, the T7’s gains are mostly aesthetic, but with a series of revisions applied to the interior as well.
New outside
Visually, the changes are easy to spot and derived, to an extent, from the all-electric ID. Buzz.
These include a new more rounded front bumper, redesigned air intakes, new LED headlights, an optional illuminated Volkswagen logo and new wheel designs between 17 and 19-inches.
At the same time, six new two-tone colour options have been added for a total of 16 on the Multivan and 24, including for the pop-up roof, on the California.
Seemingly, no changes have taken place at the rear as no official images were released.
Interior revisions
Inside, the influence from not only the ID. Buzz but also other ID models has seen a complete redesign of the dashboard.
Central to this is the new 12.9-inch infotainment system which adopts a freestanding design as opposed to the previous 10.25-inch’s integrated look.
At the same time, the instrument cluster has been revised and the toggle switches for the DSG transmission on the dash replaced by a new steering column-mounted lever.
Not stopping there, illuminated touch sliders for the climate control and audio system now feature, as do illuminated cupholder surrounds, more type-C USB ports for those at the rear and improved charging for all of the various smartphone charging pads.
Model line-up
On the model front, the European market Multivan will have a choice of six derivatives; Trend, Life and Style, California Beach, California Coast and California Ocean.
As before, buyers can choose from standard or extended wheelbase bodystyles.
Powertrains
Up front, the choice of combustion powertrains include a 2.0 TSI producing 150kW/320Nm and a 2.0 TDI rated at 110kW/360Nm.
Both are, again, paired to a seven-speed DSG, with drive going to the front wheels only.
Serving as the flagship is the eHybrid, which combines the 1.5 TSI Evo engine with a 19.7-kWh battery pack powering a single electric motor.
Mated to a hybrid specific six-speed DSG, the setup produces a combined 180kW/350Nm, which translates to an all-electric range of 95 km.
As standard, the eHybrid is further equipped with the 4Motion all-wheel drive system.
South Africa conundrum
Priced from €48 290 (R907 308) in Germany, with the California kicking-off at €55 535 (R1 043 433), the T7 Multivan has been confirmed for South Africa and will make its debut around the third quarter of the year.
Although shown at Volkswagen’s annual product Indaba in February in pre-facelift guise, it remains to be seen whether the eventual local market variant will be updated version.
What is known, though, is that will it drop the Multivan designation and become the T7 Caravelle. More interestingly, only the eHybrid has been confirmed.
