Released in 1980, the first Volkswagen Caddy is a coupe utility

Coupé utility

The coupé utility automobile body style, also known colloquially as the ute in Australia and New Zealand, combines a two-door "coupé" cabin with an integral cargo bed behind the cabin—using a light-duty passenger vehicle-derived platform....

, and van

Van

A van is a kind of vehicle used for transporting goods or groups of people.In British English usage, it can be either specially designed or based on a saloon or sedan car, the latter type often including derivatives with open backs...

 based on the Volkswagen Group A1 platform, shared with the small family car Volkswagen Golf Mk1

Volkswagen Golf Mk1

In May 1974, Volkswagen presented the first-generation Golf as a modern front-wheel-drive, hatchback replacement for the Volkswagen Beetle.-History:...

.

Volkswagen Typ is:

• 147 = LHD
• 148 = RHD

The Caddy came into fruition when Volkswagen

Volkswagen

Volkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...

 was experimenting with Golf

Volkswagen Golf

The Volkswagen Golf is a small family car manufactured by Volkswagen since 1974 and marketed worldwide across six generations, in various body configurations and under various nameplates – as the Volkswagen Rabbit in the United States and Canada , and as the Volkswagen Caribe in Mexico .The...

 derivatives, an estate

Station wagon

A station wagon is a body style variant of a sedan/saloon with its roof extended rearward over a shared passenger/cargo volume with access at the back via a third or fifth door , instead of a trunk lid...

 and a pickup.

Volkswagen of America was interested in the pickup, when Volkswagen released the Caddy it first was produced at the Volkswagen Westmoreland Assembly Plant

Volkswagen Westmoreland Assembly Plant

The Volkswagen Westmoreland Assembly Plant is a manufacturing plant formerly operated by Volkswagen of America , south of Pittsburgh in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania near New Stanton. The complex manufactured 1.15 million vehicles from 1978 to 1988...

 in Pennsylvania from 1979 to 1982.

It was known in North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

 as the VW Rabbit Pickup with trim levels such as LX and Sportruck.

The Caddy competed with other mini-pickups such as the Ford Courier

Ford Courier

- North America :This was a commercial model based on Ford's full-size stationwagon line. Its model code was designated 78A.From 1952 to 1956 access to the rear storage area was through a unique door hinged on the side. For 1957 and 1958, the rear access door was a combination of the lift gate and...

 and Subaru Brat

Subaru BRAT

The Subaru BRAT was the coupe utility version of the Subaru Leone from the 1970s...

 of that time.
The Caddy nameplate was never used in the USA.