The VW Transporter: Built like the Ford Tourneo but not better

Much like the Volkswagen Amarok and Ford Ranger, the new VW Transporter has a relationship with the Ford Tourneo. It is part of a global commercial vehicle alliance between the two brands. What does that mean? Well, instead of cross-ownership, both competitors agreed to share development costs and technology across specific commercial vans, mid-size pickup trucks and electric vehicles.Although designed and tuned differently, essentially, the Transporter is now built by Ford and shares its chassis, underpinnings and drivetrains with the Ford Tourneo. I had the Ford Tourneo Titanium X and Sport on test in 2025 and found them to be fuel efficient, comfortable and practical. When I received the VW Transporter last month, I certainly thought that it was better looking than the Ford Tourneo. A clean silhouette, a tribute to previous Transporters situated in the grille and headlights, makes the car stand out. Although I’m not sure it beats the Hyundai Staria with its styling, it’s in line with VW’s style-language and well, it feels like stepping into a VW. When you jump in, that’s where you start to notice the Ford is significantly more practical. Storage space? While very clean, the VW Transporter lacks places for personal belongings. For starters, both the Tourneo Sport and Titanium X models have automatic back sliding doors. The Transporter comes with manual sliding doors, which I sometimes had to fight with to close properly. Then we come to the seats in the second and third row. The Tourneo implements a highly advanced track-mounted seating system. This allows you to effortlessly slide, rotate into a face-to-face conference layout or entirely remove the second and third rows. The Transporter relies on a traditional modular layout. While you can turn the second row around or remove the seats, the individual seats weigh roughly 28kg each, which means I will not be moving them. Storage space in the cabin is also ample in the Tourneo, with storage bins in the front,