VOLKSWAGEN has slashed prices on its Caravelle people carrier line-up by an average of £576 and made air conditioning standard on GL models instead of a £1,675.55 option. The changes to Caravelle almost complete Volkswagen's pricing and model revisions for the 1998 model year following the decision to increase prices on Passat, Polo and some Golf models earlier this month.

Volkswagen has also announced that there will be no price changes to Golf Cabriolet, Vento and Sharan, while prices of the Passat VR5 and V6 Syncro will be announced in the near future once final specifications have been decided. The Caravelle, dubbed 'king of the MPVs' because of people and load-carrying capacity, is available in CL or GL trim - the Club 8 has been deleted from the range - and with a choice of short (seven or eight seats) and long wheelbases (nine seats) and four engines - 2.4 litre SD diesel, 2.5 litre TDI, 2.5 litre five cylinder and 2.8 litre VR6.

During the last model year, sliding side windows on all Caravelles and metallic paint on the GL were standard features. They are now options allowing the price of the Caravelle GL eight seater with the 2.5 litre TDI 102 bhp engine to fall from £24,069.50 on the road to £23,517.25 including standard air conditioning. The price of the entry-level Caravelle eight-seat 2.4SD CL falls £548.72 to £19,001.73.