Fans of the VW Microbus and Eurovan models have been longing for a spiritual successor to the bigger-on-the-inside vans for years, hoping against hope for an unlikely electric van and even turning to Westfalia and Ford to see if they can bring the magic back. Well take heart, Volkswagen van fans, because the spiritual successor to Microbus may finally be here! It’s just that- er … it’s being built by Suzuki.
Seemingly about the size of Volkswagen’s EU-market Golf Sportsvan, this latest van concept from tiny Japanese automaker Suzuki is called the Air Triser- and it’s currently gleaning appreciative ooh’s and ahh’s from the public at the Tokyo Motor Show.
Suzuki Air Triser | What Might Have Been
The real tragedy here, of course, is that the Suzuki Air Triser really could have been a compact, new-age take on the classic VW Microbus. At one point, VW owned nearly 20% of the Japanese car maker and was set to provide fuel-efficient diesel engines to Suzuki in emerging markets like India and China. Suzuki dodged a bullet there, obviously, but Americans lost the chance to see cars like the excellent Suzuki Swift and this Air Triser concept come to the US badged as a GTi or Microbus- and that’s really too bad, because these reliable, inexpensive, and simply-made Japanese cars would have made excellent Volkswagens!
Ah, well. Maybe VW will get it right one day, after all. Until then, let’s talk about whether or not a small footprint van like this makes sense for VW North America in the comments section. Who knows? Maybe VW will read them!
Source | More Images: Suzuki, via Jalopnik.
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