Article provided by Volkswagen South Africa
From National Fishing Month to International Walk to School Month, there seems to be a special month for almost everything these days. But what is their relevance?
For the public and private sectors, special days and months (e.g. Women’s Month or Earth Day) provide great opportunities to stimulate the economy through focused events and initiatives. These holidays also give our society a chance to focus on important conversations and causes that may easily get overlooked throughout the year.
With October being marked South African Transport Month, this article aims to tell the story of how commercial transport helps move our society forward, while celebrating the South African working spirit.
Commercial transport: The driving force behind society
From the large number of branded company vehicles and people movers we regularly see – to the rail, air and sea ports we may know – the importance of commercial transport in the functioning of our society could never be understated. Whenever products and services have needed to move between businesses and people, there has also been a need for commercial transport to carry, protect and move that cargo.
Throughout history, innovations in transport technology have allowed people to move ourselves, goods and services all around the world. Further and faster, always.
Businesses that run on our roads
Whether shuttling people, delivering products, moving cargo or running businesses-on-wheels; commercial vehicles are among the busiest and most recognizable characters on our roads. Working tirelessly to move our country forward.
Since they are usually purchased for a specific purpose, many commercial vehicles are designed with a focused set of functions like loading space in mind, often compromising features like aesthetics or driver and passenger comfort.
Modern manufacturers like Volkswagen aim to push these boundaries, designing vehicles that can be useful as commercial vehicles or people movers, while having the option of doubling as leisure vehicles when they’re off duty.
The below section looks at how the German manufacturer’s vehicles have been designed with this “flexibility” ethos in mind.
Cars made for business and pleasure
People movers like the legendary VW Transporter Kombi have extra seats and features geared for passenger comfort, making them ideal for moving families, teams and social groups. Their spacious interiors can cater for various loading needs and possible conversions to make them friendlier for passengers with disabilities and special mobility needs. Foldable and removable seats in the VW Transporter Kombi and VW Caddy Kombi stretch these loading capabilities even further.
The stylish designs and versatility of these vehicles epitomises the German manufacturer’s approach to commercial vehicles – a car flexible enough to handle business-business and family business when off-duty.
Cars that make tough jobs feel easy
While comfort, safety and innovation are never compromised in any VW model, commercial vehicle purists will probably appreciate the brand’s more “rugged” offerings (like the Transporter Cab Range and Caddy Cargo). This vehicle range is designed to make light work of the toughest jobs, harnessing technology to make hard work feel effortless.
For example, the industrious Crafter Panel Van boasts VW’s largest payload (up to 9.9 m3 and 17.5 m3 loading capacity), a sturdy frame and a 75 litre fuel tank to handle the biggest and toughest jobs. It also comes with a 20 000km-service interval that significantly reduces maintenance costs.
Over and above their almost spartan designs, each of these super vehicles still have the advanced driver assistance systems and comfort features that Volkswagens have become known for.
Learn more about Volkswagen commercial vehicle offerings
Driving towards the future
As mentioned before, commercial vehicles have always catered to an important need in our society – moving goods and services between people and businesses. As technology and the world changes, each change affects the commercial vehicle industry in different ways. For example,
- The advent of online shopping and consistent improvements in this sector, have led to an increased need for delivery and courier vehicles.
- As COVID-19 and lockdowns ravaged social life, mobile businesses boomed and started serving people in their homes.
Similarly, technology like the Metaverse and other in-home offerings will likely see people having less need to move around for experiences.
Conclusion
Commercial vehicles move people and businesses towards changing the world. As vehicle innovations continue to evolve, it will be interesting to see how commercial transport as an industry moves with a changing world.
Happy Transport Month!
Read more about our technological innovations and what we think the future of transport looks like.
Volkswagen South Africa is a proud partner of the NSBC