Is this a VW Camper Van for the 21st Century?

Volkswagen are teasing a new concept for the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) which could be a modern take on the VW Camper Van / Microbus.

Depending on how old you are, and where you live, you’ll know the Volkswagen Type 2 by a different name.

Officially the Type 2 when it first arrived in 1950 (the Beetle was the ‘Type 1’), it was known as the VW Kombi, although we in the UK would know it as the VW Camper Van (whereas elsewhere in the world it became the Bus, or VW Microbus) and, for many years, the Hippie Van.

But despite signs VW may revive the Camper Van in one way or another over the years, it’s perhaps seemed too much a ‘Peoples Car’ relic, and not quite the image VW wants. But that could be about to change.

Volkswagen are teasing a new model to debut at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas in the New Year, and although they’re not saying it’s a new Microbus, there’s plenty pointing that way.

The tease photo VW released (above) shows a vehicle that clearly has a bluff front and over-sized VW badge – pointers to a new Microbus – and a shape, from what we can see, that looks distinctly boxy.

VW also talk about the concept as illustrating the “major changes the car will go through in the coming years”, and that it will offer “affordable long-distance electromobility”.

That seems to point towards a flexible vehicle that can be all things to all people; a boxy space filled with connectivity an all about transporting from place to place, in comfort in a space that’s more like being at home than in a car.

But then we could be completely wrong. We’ll find out in January in Las Vegas.