When Volkswagen officially stated it would have a new minivan for the North American market, in association with Chrysler LLC, it was pretty obvious the new VW Routan would use the same architecture in which Chrysler Town & Country and the Dodge Grand Caravan are based. Now we confirm that with the first spy photos of the vehicle, obtained few days before the official presentation, scheduled for February 6, 2008, when the Chicago Auto Show will open its doors to the press.
The pictured minivan may seem to be a regular Town & Country, but there would be no reason to disguise a production vehicle. Besides, pay attention to the taillights. When they are turned on, it is possible to see they are round, just like most of the modern VW cars? In the picture in which the back of the minivan is more visible, the camouflage leaves an uncovered space for the rest of the taillights to appear. And they invade part of the backdoor, just like the taillights of the Sharan… By the way, since the Touran is aimed for the USA, the Sharan will continue to be sold in Europe. At least meanwhile (you know, plans can always change). Photographers also stated that the rear-side windows are very different from the ones used in Chrysler and Dodge minivans.
Unless Volkswagen decides to use its own engines, the Routan will have three option of V6: a 3.3 delivering 175 hp, a 3.8 that generates 197 hp and the top of the line 4.0, that counts on 253 hp to move the new VW minivan ahead. Customers interested in the Routan, which will be produced in Canada, will have to wait until September to buy one. Volkswagen has already rebadged other carmaker products, such as the VW Taro, based on the Toyota Hilux, and the VW Apollo in Brazil, based on the Ford Verona. In both cases, results were not as good as expected.
Source: Copyright AUTOMEDIAVW Routan Spy Photos
Copyright by AUTOMEDIA / VW Routan
Chicago will reveal final version
By Gustavo Henrique Ruffo
February 2, 2008 4:27 PM
Filed Under: Chicago Auto Show, German, Spy Photos, Volkswagen
Comments
NICKKOP
February 2, 2008 6:33 PM
ILLGH... VW what are you doing? If you are going to do something this stupid, at least try to use your own engines to make the van have something desireable...?
NICKKOP
February 2, 2008 6:36 PM
a real VW bus or EuroVan would be attractive to some buyers, especially with a TDI!! When i worked in the VW dealership, many people asked if VW still offered a EuroVan.. but no one asked for a VW ChryslerVan.. :O
NaBUru38
February 3, 2008 12:46 AM
No new Sharan is really dumb. It should be similar to the Croma, S-Max and Journey: relatively low roof, original design and seven seats.
flyerbry
February 3, 2008 7:34 AM
When we purchased a new Jeep recently the dealer had one of the new Chrysler minivans with the three TVs on the showroom floor with a kid movie playing. My kids of course thought it was "sooo cooool!" The problem is once you get past all the TVs the rest of the vehicle all looks like cheap plastic. Hopefully VW at least insists on maintaining their normally high level of quality in the interior. We had previously looked at the Odyssey and the Chrysler left me highly disappointed in the fact that there doesn't even seem to have been the slightest attempt made to compete in the quality department. We also drove a top of the line Toyota Sienna and it wasn't much better. Hopefully VW is able to make this van look better on the outside as well as the inside. That slab-sided styling on the Chrysler models is the definition of boring!
dcars62
February 3, 2008 2:42 PM
M&B destroyed crysler products, but this van is far better than any van produced by VW. They would have done better to partner with Hyundia/Kia
Audi_fan
February 3, 2008 8:18 PM
why routan? touran-routan....Couldnt' they find something new or different from that?
muellr
February 4, 2008 1:39 PM
As far as I remember that cooperation was a brainchild of Mr. Berhard who headed Chrysler but was booted when he was shooting for the Mercedes CEO job (now Zetsche)and ended up at VW under Pischetsrieder, where he got shown the door when Godfather Piech put his Audi nursling Winterkorn in the top spot.
Berhard was a conultant for Cerberus who bought chrysler and the circle closes - and the world has another minvan no one really wants...
joelynn
February 5, 2008 12:07 AM
VW- "We have a reputation for build quality and have an immense product range with many different platforms and engines to draw on... how to make a new minivan.... hmm... stick a badge on a Chrysler voyager! Honestly, how did it happen???
flyerbry
February 6, 2008 3:13 AM
radmeister... We looked at all the minivans at one point or another. The biggest hangup with minivans in general for me was the whole driving dynamics of the design; I've yet to drive a minivan that was fun to drive. They are tops in space eficiency but when you take a box and put all the drivetrain weight on one end you basically end up with a bad case of oversteer. Unfortunately this VW minivan is doomed by the traits it inherits from the Chrysler platform.
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