Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles has launched a conversion for the Crafter Luton van that includes a tail lift as standard.
Crafters with the tail lift start from £45,690 (basic price excluding VAT) and Volkswagen says fitting the lift as standard on an off-the-shelf model rather than requiring customers to specify it as an option will increase residual values by between £600 and £1,000.
Produced through the VW Engineered to Go programme, the Palfinger V500LQ tail lift has a 500kg lifting capacity. The aluminium load platform is operated by dual controls fitted on the exterior and interior of the vehicle.
The lift is built onto Luton versions of the Crafter chassis cab. This is designed around an extendable ladder frame allowing construction to a wide variety of uses – Dropside, and Tipper variants are available alongside the Luton, with wheelbases from 3.7 to 4.5 metres, payloads of up to 1,562kg and a choice of engines.
The chassis cab can be produced in single or double formats with seats for three or seven occupants.
Several driver assistance systems top the standard equipment on all chassis cabs, including automated emergency braking. Bluetooth connectivity is also included, while an optional Business Pack starting at £1,380 adds air conditioning, an anti-theft alarm with interior monitoring, back-up horn and towing protection.
Luton van variants include as standard a dip-painted and powder coated rear frame to guard against corrosion, a four-tier restrain system to lash down payloads, and at the rear a high-strength shutter door, footstep and full-height grab handle with an integrated spot lamp that rotates through 360 degrees.
Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles specialist sales manager Nick Axtell believes that making the tail lift standard will add convenience for customers as well as increasing residual values. “Our conversions have been designed to suit a range of industry requirements, while still offering the opportunity of tailoring the vehicles to further suit specific needs via our Van Centres,” he said.
