The California Camper model has been a staple of Volkswagen’s T series of vans. In July, VW’s Commercial Vehicles arm marked the manufacturing of the 50,000th T5 California camper van at its Limmer plant.
The anniversary vehicle is a California Comfortline in Natural Grey with 7-speed DSG, a 138hp (140PS) TDI engine and BlueMotion package. The 50,000th California will be on show at this year’s Caravan Salon in Düsseldorf (August 30 – September 7) on the firm’s stand.
“The Volkswagen T5 California is the most popular and best-selling camper van in its class. Today, we have completed production of the 50,000th T5 California since 2004. And this year, with a figure of over 8,100 units, we will achieve the highest level of annual production yet,” said Dr. Eckhard Scholz, Chairman of the Board of Management of the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles brand.
The VW California is offered in two versions: the California Beach with a basic level of equipment for occasional overnight stops and the California Comfortline with full camper van amenities for longer tours. To date, 13,000 units of the California Beach have been produced, while for the California Comfortline, the number is 37,000.
The California production facility belongs to the Special Vehicles business unit of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, which converts the Transporter and Multivan ranges for special uses. These include operations vehicles for the police, postal and customs services, plus taxis, vehicles for people with disabilities, the Multivan Business and especially the T5 California.
Since the launch of the California model, its popularity has grown with every new generation. Production figures for the T3 version reached 22,000 and for the T4 version 39,000. The latest T5 version has so far racked up 50,000 sales, with manufacturing being continued on a two-shift basis to meet high demand.
By Dan Mihalascu
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