VOLKSWAGEN LT REPLACEMENT BOWS IN AT LEIPZIG
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• Volkswagen chose last week's Leipzig Show—the biggest show in the former East Germany—to launch its new LT van and a Skoda-based lightweight pickup.
The new LT supersedes the previous model which dated from the mid-seventies. It is based on the same platform as Mercedes' Sprinter and covers a similar weight range; load space and cab interior are identical, but the external appearance of the front end has been changed and a different range of engines will be fitted.
Engine options will be: Mercedes' 140hp petrol engine; VW's own 100hp five-cylinder 2.5-litre TD1 turbo-diesel (as fitted to the smaller Transporter van); and, from next year, an all-new 2.8-litre four-cylinder VW turbo-diesel with direct-injection and three valves per cylinder, producing 123hp (92kW).
Like the current IT range there will be a choice of wheelbases and body styles. These are expected to include normal and high roof vans and chassis cabs. Rear-wheel-drive is the most likely layout, possibly retaining the Mercedes gearbox and axles.
VW also launched the Caddy pickup at Leipzig—not a variant of the Seat-built Caddy van but a rebadged version of Skoda's Felicia pickup.