Not content to simply rebadge a Chrysler minivan, Volkswagen has putting on a brand-destruction clinic by pairing its Routan with a brand new marketing gimmick incentive. If you inexplicably want to pay extra to have a VW badge on your Dodge Caravan and put a down payment on a Routan, VW will give you $1,500 back. Except that it won't. The Wall Street Journal explains: "The money — held by Upromise Inc., a subsidiary of SLM Corp., which also owns Sallie Mae Bank and is the largest maker of college-funding contributions– can then be moved into a college savings fund known as a Section 529." This would be bad enough if VW were simply admitting (via cashback) that its cynical Chrysler rebadge is DOA, but instead it's offering an incentive that makes Chrysler's "$2.99 gas" gimmick look reasonable. The weirdest part? VW claims that 6k buyers have already signed up for the offer. But with analysts projecting Routan sales capacity of 20k to 40k, Volkswagen has lots of suckers still to round up. Let's just hope that claiming a single-digit-percentage slice of the shrinking minivan market is worth the epic brand dilution that the Routan– and its ridiculous incentive– are sure to cause VW.
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This is not a bad idea in principle: VW does need an unpretentious mass people-mover because, let’s face it, they have a huge hole in their lineup and anyone trading up from a Passat or Jetta is probably going right over to Honda.
The problem is that it’s a gussied-up Caravan. Pretty mundane effort from the company that sold the Microbus/Vanagon/Eurovan, and still sells cars like the Sharan in Europe.
It might work–might!–if it’s a very good gussied-up Caravan, but everything about the Routan project implies “done as cheaply as possible.”
Let me me see if I get this. VW, who designed the minivan and then let it wither in the States, is teaming up with Chrysler. VW has a decent driving experience, not some thing I’d say about a minivan.
So, do we get Chrysler quality with VW Service at the dealer, or VW Quality with Chrysler service ?
The mind boggles. VW has a niche for a “performance minivan” (think a less fat and expensive R class) and blows it on this.
All of the gimmicks are just that for anyone reasonably aware about money. The cheap gas deal is capped, so don’t think you are getting over. The idea is how to put ‘cash on the hood’ without looking like you are ‘putting cash on the hood’
We are not fooled.
Heck, why not just bring the Sharan to North America and call it the Minibus?
The days of the “full-sized” minivan are waning. The market is crying out for Mazda5 sized alternatives that seat 6 or 7 only in a pinch.
Sigh. I really wish VW would go back to its roots. Simple, reliable, honest cars… With pronouncable names.
Yeah, because Volkswagen names are so hard to pronounce.
The Sharan would be nice…but I believe it is the Touran that is the more direct Mazda5 competitor.
The Touran is Golf-based, whereas the Sharan
was co-developed with the Ford Galaxy. Not sure which company’s DNA takes precedence on that one.
Either would be far better than a Routan.
Can you picture the confusion in the showrooms when the salesmen try to explain the difference between a Routan and a Touran?!
@Michael Ayoub
Tiguan, Routan, Touarag… All have a crappy vowel-to-consonent ratio.
@marlin66
Agreed, the Touran would be a better Minibus. It looks like the name for the Routan is just “Touran” with the T and R swapped.
It’ll be Chrysler quality with VW service – how much of a nightmare is that? Reminds me of an old joke that I won’t repeat at length – man ends up with a Japanese house, and English cook, German police force …..
This is perhaps the dumbest branding mistake ever made. It truely boggles. On the up side, they probably won’t sell as many as they plan. People will know. They’ll either think _eeewww, a Chrysler, and go to the Honda dealer, or they’ll think, well, hell, if it’s a Chrysler, why don’t we just pick up the same vehicle at a Chrysler dealer’s desperation sale?
Yes, it seems this vehicle will only sell to either the extremely ignorant (that don’t know it’s a Chrysler), or those who feel the VW badge somehow adds “value” to this minivan.
“The weirdest part? VW claims that 6k buyers have already signed up for the offer.”
Conclusive proof (as if we needed more) that our schools are failing us.
Does this at least get vw seats or are they not even trying to suggest a vw quality interior? Yeah, I see those people that put up with all of vw’s ‘charms’ for the great interior and driving experience drawn into a chrysler passenger compartment. Oh wait, it might draw some new folks in due to Chrysler’s legendary engineering prowess and reliability.
Yes, thought VW, let’s partner with the only company that has less to offer consumers than we do. This can’t go wrong.
This is probably the only time in automotive history where the new badge will actually diminish reliability expectations for a vehicle
At least minivans make more sense than SUVs.
Why they didn’t put the New Microbus prototype from a few years back into production, I’ll never know. It could have been an awesome compliment to the New Beetle.
Who in the heck would buy a rebadged Chrysler Minivan without the (are they going to honor it anyway) Lifetime Powertrain Warranty?
Perfect. “Buy our minivan and we’ll make a contribution to your kids’ college funds.” Just the ticket to remove the “soccer Mom” stigma that these vehicles carry…
The automaker with the best interiors in the business hires the automaker with the worst interiors in the business to make them a minivan. Both automakers share some of the worst reliability ratings of all automakers. Something crappy this way comes…
To tie this in to the comments regarding the engineering shortfall, this has “marketing department” written all over it. Soon to be followed by “market failure”.
Why am I being allowed to edit Duke’s comments?
speedlaw: “The mind boggles. VW has a niche for a “performance minivan” (think a less fat and expensive R class) and blows it on this.”
That would be a great niche for VW. I would like such a vehicle.
Sadly, you’ll never get that from VW. VW’s minivan DNA includes an overpowering “slow” gene. This is the company that brought us the two-ton EuroVan (in ’93 or so) with 109hp, the culmination of a long line of underpowered VW vans.
And “Spartan” doesn’t begin to describe most VW van offerings through the years. “Weird” does. Do you know you could only operate one power window in the EuroVan at a time? I have no idea why. They were noisy. Most of the seats did not recline. The two that did were uncomfortable when reclined (in ze VW seats, you vill sit up!). If you went with the backward-facing second seat option, NONE of the seats reclined. As a bonus, VW used short gearing in 5th… at 55, you were doing something like 3K rpm. Can you say, “Poor fuel economy?” Underpowered was probably a good idea, since it also had lousy brakes. Best not to go too fast.
Excellent road feel, though.
I’m not endorsing the Chrysler rebadge. I think it would be far better for VW to have this hole in its lineup that plug it badly.
Firt off, i do not like chrysler…at all.
But this doesn’t seem like a bad idea for the short-term. the chrysler powertrain and chassis is not that bad. put a decent interior and tweak the sheet metal and you have a half-way decent minivan, as a previous commenter stated, to plug a hole in VW’s lineup.
I think people just love hating on VW here. News flash folks, VW reliability is not…that…bad. Get with the times and realize that it’s not 2000 anymore and VW has stepped up it’s game.
@KixStart
Sadly, you’ll never get that from VW. VW’s minivan DNA includes an overpowering “slow” gene. This is the company that brought us the two-ton EuroVan (in ‘93 or so) with 109hp, the culmination of a long line of underpowered VW vans.
In Europe, you can get a 170hp gas (1.4TSI) or diesel (2.0TDI) Touran. Both are quick.
A VR6 Sharan is not too slow either, but the Sharan is at the end of it’s life cycle and then some.
@Mirko Reinhardt,
So, VW hates Americans with families or what?
After a few years, they upped the power in the EV to ~145. When everyone else was at ~200. And then to ~200, I believe, when everyone else was at ~240.
The EV also never had dual sliding doors. I understand you could get them in Europe. Also very comfortable captain’s chairs options. In Europe. Ours didn’t even have rear windows that would open.
Now, if I recall correctly, the gas tank was shaped to allow a driveshaft to run underneath it. Curious, no?
So, what is it about the US market that drives VW crazy? Even if they fix up the trim on the Routan to be Volkish, why would anyone buy it, rather than a Chrysler? Last year, Chevy sold 14K Trailblazers to Saab’s 500 9-7X’s. That strikes me as indicative of what VW will do with the Routan. Divide Chrysler minivan sales by 28 to get Routan sales.
This is worth doing? What VW dealer is going to want to invest in training to service a Chrysler product that sells in infinitesimal quantities?
@KixStart
After a few years, they upped the power in the EV to ~145. When everyone else was at ~200. And then to ~200, I believe, when everyone else was at ~240.
Why bother with any of the gassers? I’d estimate that more than 90% of T4 (Eurovan) were sold with the diesels, and the 150ho 2.5 TDI did a fine job of moving that big box.
A VR6 in a tall, boxy thing is something even a well-off European family would not consider as practical family transportation. The resale valoe of a minivan with a gas guzzling engine is about zero.
It’s different with a smaller van like the Touran, because that’s the usual car for the kind of mom who drives only 5000 milies a year in the city. hat kind of mom usually prefers the 100hp base gasser.
TTAC please review this minivan! I’ve got to know if the interior is as craptacular as the Chrysler version…but I can’t pretend to be interested enough to go to a dealer.
Does this thing have a Chrysler driveline or a VW driveline? Just curious b/c I would have much more faith in the VW parts. Why? I own three VW products.
They do need more attention but they last and last.
No I don’t rely on mechanics or dealers – I do all of my own work.
No, I don’t recommend them to anybody that doesn’t do their own work.
Does this thing have a Chrysler driveline or a VW driveline? Just curious b/c I would have much more faith in the VW parts. Why? I own three VW products.
It’s a Chrysler where it counts: powertrain and chassis are pretty much standard Caravan. The skin is VW, and I think the first- and second-row chairs might be (hence the loss of Stow- and Swivel-And-Go). I don’t know about the third row or the interior trimmings, but they’ll probably change a little.
It’s worth noting that this vehicle was designed to keep implementation costs down. It won’t diverge much from Chrysler’s original for that reason.
Now, this isn’t a bad thing, per se. Neither company has quality rankings that inspire confidence, but at least Chrysler mechanicals are cheap, simple, easily available and widely understood. It would be better if the vehicle was bulletproof reliable, but if given the choice, I’ll take flakey-and-cheap over flakey-and-expensive.
Of course, Honda and Toyota both make reliable vans. The Routan had better be really nicely trimmed if it hopes to stand a chance against the Oddyssey/Sienna. The Caravan, at least, has cheap going for it.