A FRESH KIND OF CADDY(some text hidden)

By Jonathan Crouch

Ten Second Review word count: 57

The improved version of the fourth generation Volkswagen Caddy Cargo is a compact van that's described as 'the Swiss Army Knife of urban delivery vans'. It's polished, economical and quite car-like. Plus there can be an advanced digital interior and a whole portfolio of safety systems. You can even have Plug-in Hybrid tech if you want it.

Background word count: 168

With almost three million sales on the board, the Caddy is well established as the core starting point for Volkswagen's commercial vehicle line-up. Its history dates back to 1978 and a Golf-based US market pick-up called the Rabbit which was brought to Europe and rebadged 'Caddy' in 1982. But the Caddy's history as a small van really began in earnest with the second generation model of 1995. That became more sophisticated in the third generation form of 2003 which was subsequently offered in lengthened 'Caddy Maxi' form. By now, MPV and Camper variants were also available - and offered with both body lengths. The 'Caddy 4' updated design of 2015 was visually very little different from its predecessor but much more sophisticated in terms of comfort, safety and efficiency. Five years on though, it was time for a more radical change, which brought us to the current fourth generation SB-series model, which was further updated in Spring 2026 to create the model we're going to look at here.

Driving Experience word count: 216

As part of this update, Volkswagen has slimmed down the number of diesel engine options - there's now just one 102PS version of the 2.0 TDI unit available and you can only have it with manual transmission (which is strange as the alternative Caddy People PV only comes in diesel form as an auto). If you want your Cargo Cargo with an auto, then you'll have to have the 1.5 eHybrid petrol PHEV version (an engine not offered in the MPV model), which offers 150PS. This uses a 6-speed DSG auto. Most customers will choose the diesel, but it's worth taking a closer look at the eHybrid 1.5-litre PHEV drivetrain. This uses a high voltage battery and electric motor to deliver a combined 150PS, with 350Nm of torque through the 6-speed dual clutch automatic transmission you have to have. With this Plug-in Hybrid there are various drive modes you'll need to master: 'EV Now', which drives using only the electric motor; 'EV Auto', which balances electric and petrol power to best suit driving conditions; 'EV Later', which drives using only the petrol engine, saving all the battery energy for use later; and 'EV Reserve', which saves a driver-defined level of battery energy for later use. Towing capacity's up to 1.5-tonnes - the same as the diesel.