Volkswagen has unveiled a new concept van, named the Tristar, at the IAA commercial vehicle show in Hanover. The Tristar is significant because Volkswagen says it provides a pointer as to how the T6 — the next generation of VW’s best-selling Transporter van — will be designed.

The Volkswagen Tristar concept provides clues as to the likely design of the next-generation T6 Transporter, according to the German firm.

The Tristar concept has been inspired by the Transporter Synchro, the four-wheel drive version of the Transporter which celebrates its 30th birthday this year. There is no Transporter Synchro model any more — and while 4Motion all-wheel drive is available on T5 Transporters, the raised suspension and rugged design of the old Synchro models is no longer an option.

Inside the cab is thoroughly VW — and very nice

The Tristar concept has been engineered as a beefy pick-up with an extended cab, short wheelbase has permanent four-wheel drive with mechanical rear axle differential lock and 30mm additional ground clearance.

Volkswagen says that the vans designers have developed a high-precision, new and yet familiar design language: the sharp wrap-around lines, LED headlights and a changed architecture of the whole front give the concept vehicle a wide and purposeful appearance. In other words, it looks like an updated and more modern version of the current Transporter.

If the Tristar is anything to go on, the T6 will be an evolution of the current T5, not a revolution — although that’s no bad thing, as the T5 remains one of the most desirable and modern vans in its class.

Indeed, Volkswagen says that firm’s Hanover plant, where most Transporters are built, has reached capacity and is working an extra night shift to meet demand — with Transporter order books now full until ‘well into the first quarter of 2015’.