It’s bad enough that VW decided to “create” the Routan, a rebadged version of Chrysler’s Town & Country/Dodge Grand Caravan minivan “built” for the U.S. and Canadian market. Now they have to try and sell the thing. WardsAuto caught-up with Bret Scott, product planning manager for Volkswagen of America. Scott began with a counter for the minivan’s terminal– as in a declining market share in a declining market– unhipness. “If they can get over the philosophy of owning a minivan, which we find a lot of people do, if it’s a cool Volkswagen, we think they’ll get into it and they won’t get out of it.” So what makes the Routan the Hotel California of minivans? German engineering! Well, some German engineering. Done in America. Presumably by Americans. “I think the biggest challenge for the Routan was not to turn it into a (more sporty VW) GTI because the temptation was very great. We wanted to make the purest Volkswagen minivan, but there are some hard and fast rules in the minivan segment that have to be followed with regard to chair height, comfort and off-center feel. VW engineers fiddled with the steering for more of a European touch and tweaked the standard suspension tuning, achieving 15% more stiffness than the equivalent Chrysler vans.” But why did VeeDub ditch ChryCo’s Swivel ‘n Go and Stow ‘n Go unique selling points, and still decide to charge more for the Routan than the Chrysler and Dodge products? Pass. Thankfully, there is an expiry date for this madness. “Under contract, VW will source minivans from Chrysler for five years.”
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I hope VW did something to upgrade the standard issue Chrysler interior materials. I’d love to get a peek in one of these.
As for Stow-n-Go seating, it’s an awesome option, as long as you never have to sit in the seats for long periods (or maybe any) of time. The seats are flimsy and thinly padded, and in my opinions, suitable for children only. Maybe VW decided not to offer that compromise?
But to be fair, my dog loves it when I rent one of these and fold all the seats down and she gets to run around in the huge flat area left behind. Not enough to get me to ever buy one, but it amuses me nonetheless.
I’m sure Chrysler wasn’t willing to give VW their ace-in-the-hole…stow n go and swivel n go. Those two items are really the only big reason people have to choose the Chrysler over anyone else. Why would they share that with VW?
Are those chromed side-mirrors?
If they wanted to make the purest VW minivan as this nut case states, they would have brought over one from Germany not re-badging a Dodge Caravan.
If they wanted to make the purest VW minivan as this nut case states, they would have brought over one from Germany not re-badging a Dodge Caravan.
If I said it once, I’ve said it a million times. VW should have put the New Microbus concept they had a few years back into production as a compliment to the New Beetle. THAT would have been hip, and my Deadhead parents would have bought one to replace the Grand Cherokee my dad has…
I can see my friends’ wives, with their “new-mom but still want to be hip” attitudes dragging my buddies to the dealers for these things.
“I want to get into this motherhood thing, but I still want to be ‘cool\'”. Ugh.
There’s a market out there for early-30-something-new-mothers, but the market’s not that big.
“I want to get into this motherhood thing, but I still want to be ‘cool’”. Ugh.
Which you can do, even with a minivan. Easily. We’re new parents, and maybe it’s just me, but all of the mothers in our group of friends are doing quite well. Better than the dads, at least.
Driving a truck or a Volkswagen isn’t going to make you any more or less “cool” as a parent, and I pity the children of parents who harbour such an insecurity.
“… we think they’ll get into it and they won’t get out of it.”
Well, it does have Chrysler door handles and locks…
So sad, when VW has other great vans already in production like the Caddy Life and Sharan.
And I must add that Ms Shields has growed up real nice, as evidenced by the VW ad she’s in.
I can’t wait to see the Porsche version. All it needs is a Cayenne nose and a huge price tag. Call it the Jalapeno and bill it as the world’s fastest minivan.
I can’t believe VW actually partnered with Chrylser for a van. It’s a match made in the inferno-ey bowels of hell. They could have at least offered a TDI option to differentiate it from every other minivan on the market. Or better yet, they could just bring over the Sharan or even bring the T5/Eurovan back. I think the Sharan would do well in North America, but it’s probably not “big enough” for most people to consider. The SEL model they’ve been featuring in the Brooke Shields ads costs something like $39000. If anyone pays that much for a VWsler van, they should taken out back and put out of their misery.
No more minivan bashing.
Lets be fair.
It really is a very functional vehicle.
Having had 6 or so, they were really the best for a (our) family.
The teammates.
The travel across country.
The volume for hauling.
Every sibling and in-law borrowed them when THEY needed to be real.
Really did enjoy the time in them.
But not sure if the market is there right now for yet another, and similar, minivan.
I have a 2006 Dodge Grand Caravan with Sto-N-Go. The center seats are actually more comfortable than they look. The key is that you MUST raise the headrest and seatback. The padding is a space-foam that doesn’t have to be as thick as on conventional seats. The maximum legroom in the middle is much greater than the average car. Sit in the 3rd row, fold the middle into the floor, and you have a limo. Or leave the seat in place, fold the top, and you have a footrest, really comfy while you watch DVDs. The storage compartments under the floor are really handy.
Overall it’s a great family vehicle. You can’t beat it for road trips. I’m told you can get one for a steal on the used market these days. My car has been reliable. In almost 2 years, I’ve only had one unscheduled trip to the dealer, and that one was probably my fault.
As to the Routan. I think it is much better looking than the current Chrysler van. (I’m partisan to VWs. My other car is a 2003 Passat.) I haven’t seen a Routan in the flesh (steel?). I wouldn’t worry too much about not having sto-n-go. I have only stowed the center seats 2-3 times in 2 years, and then more for convenience than necessity. The center seats come out of the Routan, and the Routan still has the handy bins under the floor.
German engineering? I guess Chrysler was part of DB when they designed the thing.
The “under contract for five years” is the salient point of this article.
This van may sell well. Let’s hope something does in this market, though I have my doubts.
But one thing is clear…
Cerberus wants to get as many different companies as possible hooked on their capacity and capabilities. Getting VW on the minivan-crack is critical.
Because when Chrysler LLC goes Tango Uniform, Cerberus can go back to VW with this, “You like having a minivan in the U.S.? Have we got a deal for you. If you’d like to keep receiving them, you’ll have to buy our entire minivan plant and labor force today, lock-stock-and-barrel. At this attractive, non-negotiable price.”
Same goes for Nissan and their new Ram-Titan, too.
Chapter 7 firesale to buyers who can’t say no.
It really is a very functional vehicle.
At this price, so are the Sienna and Odyssey. There’s a case for the Caravan (for the price, it’s the best way to haul a lot of people and stuff in comfort) but you’d need your head examined if you buy a Routan over the Honda or Toyota.
@ psarhjinian:
“Driving a truck or a Volkswagen isn’t going to make you any more or less “cool” as a parent”
I disagree. Driving the Routan makes you much, much less cool.
I can only imagine the high fives that must have been going around the Cerberus headquarters after they inked this deal.
Resurrecting the Vanagon with a pop-top and a TDI would have been a whole lot smarter. Or actually producing the Minibus concept to go along with the New Beetle. But a re-badged Chrysler? Whisky. Tango. Foxtrot?
VWOA is staffed by morons.
–chuck
I have had 5 minivans, two Cryslers and 1 VW. I think this is the worst combination of two vehicle brands I could ever imagine. The first Plymouth had every issue under the sun starting at 84k and a grand of tranny work at 125k. Finally sold the vehicle at 140k. The second we only put 54k miles on as it had an unexplanable vaperlocking happening after a few hours of driving in really hot weather. Since I didn’t like to lowered floor minivan (my wife is in a power chair and so we have to have a van with ramp or lift) we bought a 01 VW Eurovan. Liked the electronic climate control and the heated seats, but didn’t like the maintenance. At 33k the AC compressor blew. It took two weeks to get the vehicle fixed, and the mechanic didn’t know how to fix it and was on the tech support line with VW corporate. The van ate tires a breaks like cookymonster eats cookies, and at 68k miles I was on my third set of tires. Since the breaks cost me a grand for an all around break job, this was not a cheap vehicle. At 97k miles, the timing chain went out. It cost me over 4 grand to have the dealer fix, and took them 6 weeks to do it. I fixed the timing chain and sold the vehicle, as I found out they were not making parts for it anymore. This is a bad combination and I would never buy it.
I’ve like the Minivans my family has owned. All Chrysler. The Routan’s styling is the best I’ve seen in a Minivan. I’d love to have one, except we paid pretty little money for our minivans (although lots in repairs). They were (we still own one) good vehicles. I want an updated one with (much) better composure. The Routan “looks” like it has those that compusure, but being a Chrysler, I doubt it. Too bad too, A Mercedes R or GL seem more like what I want. Except I cant give Mercedes what it wants.
A Mercedes R or GL seem more like what I want. Except I cant give Mercedes what it wants.
The R-Class is heavily discounted, even the R320 CDI version. If it weren’t for, well, the fact that it’s a Mercedes (and all the service department woes that implies) it might not be a bad deal. I’ll bet you could get a desperate Benz dealer down to Sienna XLE prices, if you tried.
VW Routan: “We think they’ll get into it and they won’t get out of it”
Especially if they weld the doors shut and seal the windows with epoxy….
Seriously, there are way too many of these minivan “things” on the highway as it is – especially the Honda Odysseys driven by the Stepford-like “pod people”…
Come to think of it – the Routan does look like an Odyssey.
ferrarimanf355: “If I said it once, I’ve said it a million times. VW should have put the New Microbus concept they had a few years back into production as a compliment to the New Beetle.”Maybe if VW hadn’t put all their eggs into the ill-conceived, short-lived (but higher profit) Phaeton basket, they could have.
Maybe if VW hadn’t put all their eggs into the ill-conceived, short-lived (but higher profit) Phaeton basket, they could have.
I swear, sometimes I think that VW must have eaten the same big bowl of stoopid that the TTAC B&B swear that GM must be eating from…
I have friends with a 180K+ Eurovan. Has required more upkeep than some of the other brands but it is on it’s original engine and auto tranny. Van is really solid but like most VWs of the 90s requires a lot of little stuff to be fixed here and there.
BlindGeek007 – how does a brake job add up to a thousand dollars? Not doubting you, just do my own work and wonder how the numbers add up. Just checked and the brake pads are $40, rear shoes are $60, and front rotors are $50 each. $1K would really hurt.
The Eurovan is a really heavy vehicle and I have seen tire stores put passenger tires on old VW vans and news alike. When this happens the tires last a very short time. Perhaps this happened to your van. I don’t know. I belong to an internet Eurovan list to track the common ailments of these vans (may buy one soon) and the a/c compressor failure is a common one. The factory may have not put enough oil in the system during assembly.
Gas mileage is not very good but it would not matter to us b/c we would use it as an occasional use only vehicle, choosing small cars for commuting.
Still not warming up to any vehicle Mitsubishi or Chrysler was part of. Feel better about VW products than I do Mitsu or ChryCo.
I swear, sometimes I think that VW must have eaten the same big bowl of stoopid that the TTAC B&B swear that GM must be eating from…
VW does pretty good in other parts of the world.
Perhaps it is a screwed up VWoA division or maybe America is a really, really tough place to do business? I know I haven’t had alot of success with their dealers. Prices too high, service departments which I am incompatible with.
I don’t know. Am asking.
Perhaps it is a screwed up VWoA division or maybe America is a really, really tough place to do business? I know I haven’t had alot of success with their dealers. Prices too high, service departments which I am incompatible with.
Probably the former, considering that VWoA is passing on the Sirocco…