Volkswagen Caravelle凯路威

The Caravelle is a Volkswagen minivan that was sold on the Chinese domestic market. The series is closed: cars under this name were built from 2014 to 2019, and nothing later appeared in the Chinese catalogue.

A van body is arranged around its cabin: the bonnet is short, the front seats sit well forward, and almost the entire length works for interior volume. That brings a tall roof, an upright seating position and a walk-through between the rows that a passenger car body never offers.

Rear doors on vans usually slide rather than swing, so they need no clearance at the side, and passengers can step out in a narrow courtyard or a tight parking space where a hinged door would stay shut. Seat rows fold away or come out altogether, and the same vehicle carries people one day and cargo the next, which is the whole point of the format.

In a Chinese catalogue such series stand apart from passenger cars: buyers judge them not by how they drive but by how much room is left behind the second row and how easy it is to get there. No new cars are offered under this name any more, so only used examples remain in circulation.