The first-gen Crafter was a rebadged Mercedes Sprinter — this second generation is the first Crafter Volkswagen engineered entirely on its own.
Lead trim: e-Crafter electric (100 kW / 134 hp) · up to 177 hp
Volkswagen Crafter Typ SY / SZSY-SZ · 2017–present
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Nobody in Burbles has spotted a Volkswagen Crafter Typ SY / SZ yet. See one on the street, point the app at it, and the first card is yours — with your @handle permanently credited on this page.
FactThe first-gen Crafter was a rebadged Mercedes Sprinter — this second generation is the first Crafter Volkswagen engineered entirely on its own.
The second generation of the Volkswagen Crafter was developed entirely by Volkswagen after the end of its collaboration with Mercedes-Benz, in the brand's current design line, in Startline or Trendline trim, and is no longer associated with the Sprinter. It is built in Września, Poland, in a new factory built specifically for it (planned volume 85,000 vehicles a year on a 220 ha site, cost about 800 million EUR), and is also sold by MAN Truck & Bus as the MAN TGE. The 2020 ANCAP test of all van variants gave 44% (Silver). The Grand California motorhome, shown as the California XXL concept at the 2017 IAA Frankfurt and at the 2018 Caravan Salon Düsseldorf, came in two lengths (6.0 and 6.8 metres) and went on sale at the beginning of 2019. Engines are 2.0-litre TDIs (109, 114 and 140 PS) and a 2.0 BiTDI of 179 PS, all Euro 6, with a six-speed manual, six-speed Shiftmatic automatic or, for FWD models, an eight-speed Aisin automatic. The all-electric e-Crafter, unveiled in September 2016 at the IAA Commercial Vehicles show in Hanover with a 43 kWh battery and an estimated range of 208 km (129 mi) on the concept, has a payload rated at 1,709 kg and 11.3 cubic metres of cargo space and was production ready with initial retail deliveries slated for 2017.
Collectors Spotted in the Volkswagen Crafter Lineage
No member has published a public street spot of the Volkswagen Crafter yet — the First · Worldwide stamp is wide open.
Trims & Figures
5 published trims in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crafter 2.0 BiTDI CR 179 PS | 2017–present | 2.0 L Inline-4 | 177 hp | 295 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
| Crafter 2.0 TDI CR 109 PS | 2017–present | 2.0 L Inline-4 | 108 hp | 221 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
| Crafter 2.0 TDI CR 114 PS | 2017–present | 2.0 L Inline-4 | 112 hp | 221 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
| Crafter 2.0 TDI CR 140 PS | 2017–present | 2.0 L Inline-4 | 138 hp | 251 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
| e-Crafter electric (100 kW / 134 hp) | 2017–present | Electric | 134 hp | 214 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
Owning one
An estimate, for the Crafter 2.0 BiTDI CR 179 PS trim: fuel on its EPA figure and a dated national price, upkeep on a per-mile average for the kind of car it is.
Owners’ builds
Nobody has claimed one yet.
Photographs
The first-gen Crafter was a rebadged Mercedes Sprinter — this second generation is the first Crafter Volkswagen engineered entirely on its own.
VW's own-brand Crafter wasn't really Volkswagen's: the first generation was a rebadged Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, built on Daimler's own line with only the powertrain supplied by VW.
Rivals
Same body, same money, other badges — tap any card to flip.
Chevy pitched the Astro as the anti-minivan, telling buyers life was too big for one, while it rode on a rear-wheel-drive truck frame.
The IIHS rated the Astro Poor in a 1996 crash test, yet 2001–2004 Astros later had the lowest driver death rate of any US passenger vehicle.
The boxy, unglamorous Astro quietly posted one of the best real-world safety records in America: IIHS found 2001-2004 models had the fewest driver deaths per million vehicles of any passenger vehicle on US roads.
The third-generation Tourneo Connect, released in Europe in October 2021, is a rebadged fourth-generation Volkswagen Caddy, assembled by Volkswagen in Poland.
Ford beat the 25% "chicken tax" by importing the Transit Connect as a passenger van — rear windows and seats included, then stripped out and recycled once it landed in the US.
Ford spent years in federal court over the second-gen Transit Connect: in June 2019 the US won its appeal, and judges ruled the van was cargo-only — ending Ford's workaround for the 'chicken tax.'
GM sold a rebadged Nissan NV200 as the Chevy City Express for four years, then killed it in 2018, citing weak sales and the fact that its parts weren't even compatible with GM's own parts catalog.
Its name is a pun: "S-Cargo" means "Small Cargo" but sounds just like escargot — French for snail, the shape the whole van was built to resemble.