VW and Chrysler thought it would be a cool idea to take the Dodge Caravan and stick a VW front end on it and an interesting name, but apparently no one else does. Sales of the VW Routan have been so slow that it hasn't been produced since December at Chrysler’s Windsor, Ontario plant.
Production isn't expected to restart since of the 22,037 Routans produced, only 5,582 have been sold.
“We launched Routan at the worst moment,” Stefan Jacoby, CEO of Volkswagen Group of America told Automotive News.
Jacoby also stated that no decision has been made to create a second generation of the Routan. It makes sense since less than a quarter of the Routan's produced have actually found homes.
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Comments (16)
what a joke this was. noone buys the dodge minivan, why not make it a vw and see if noone will also buy that one. HA HA HA HA HA. RIP chrysler, i will enjoy my viper.
Posted by josh | April 20, 2009 11:19 AM
Posted on April 20, 2009 11:19
I guess they figured by claiming it was 'german engineering' that people would actually want a chrysler!
Posted by Totenglocke | April 20, 2009 11:27 AM
Posted on April 20, 2009 11:27
I'd be more surprise if it was selling, duh!!!!! Do they consumers are that stupid??
Posted by Topper | April 20, 2009 12:03 PM
Posted on April 20, 2009 12:03
At least the VW name is more fitting to the quality and dependability. lol...
Posted by rawanduntamed | April 20, 2009 12:14 PM
Posted on April 20, 2009 12:14
@ Topper
Yes, they do think that consumers are that stupid.
It can easily be seen that this is just a Dodge Caravan but because of the VW badge they probably charge more for it too. Volkswagen would have been better bringing back the minibus. That would have sold like hotcakes, at least for awhile. I hope they kill this monstrosity though because it really just brings down the whole VW lineup.
Posted by D! | April 20, 2009 12:33 PM
Posted on April 20, 2009 12:33
Hmm, how can Chrysler make their terrible minivan better? I know, pair it with the only brand that has a worse performance record than they do.
Posted by gm0n3y | April 20, 2009 12:37 PM
Posted on April 20, 2009 12:37
I think they were hoping VW buyers were as dumb as Mac sheeple....
Posted by Noya | April 20, 2009 1:01 PM
Posted on April 20, 2009 13:01
Hey, look at what I found.... (just kidding, but it makes the point):
GM/Chrysler Internal Document of Marketing Strategies:
- When engineering fails, resort to re-badging and confusion tactics.
Posted by Icester | April 20, 2009 2:02 PM
Posted on April 20, 2009 14:02
This idea was total fail from the start. If they'd asked fans of the Volkswagen van/campers they would have found this vehicle had NOTHING they like about VW van/campers.
And yet if you stick a VW badge on a minivan you will alienate the very people who prefer American minivans.
They clearly did zero market research on this. And there IS a market for an updated VW van/camper out there. But it's like Chrysler couldn't be bothered to even try.
Posted by kw | April 20, 2009 2:50 PM
Posted on April 20, 2009 14:50
I wonder thou, by the time you add roll over protection, air bags, crumple zones, enough power to make it safe to drive, basic comfort items like a real heater, side impact protection, 'you fly is open' alarms and bells; you can't make a retro original VW van/camper - not even close. Just too many restrictions and a poor market to boot. Too bad. I like to see unique vehicles on the road.
Posted by rawanduntamed | April 20, 2009 6:04 PM
Posted on April 20, 2009 18:04
Not surprised, I would sure love to know the history behind this development. How the deal was struck and under what terms. It all seemed to fall into place right after the sale of Chrysler. As far as engineering goes, Chrysler built the shell but the drive train was all VW. Maybe there was some "me too" when MB came out with the R350?
I really don't think this was more than a cheap deal for VW to "use up" a bunch of Chrysler chassis in some sort of half-baked deal to put some cash in Chrysler hands after the sale. Sort of a "house cleaning" of spare parts.
The Chattanooga plant is supposed to build something on a Passat+ chassis. Let's just hope it's not another minivan like this.
cheers,
Bob
Posted by Bob | April 20, 2009 10:21 PM
Posted on April 20, 2009 22:21
Where do you get, "but the drivetrain was all VW"?
Its the same thing the grand caravan has.
The same 3.8 and 4.0 liter engines, I fail to see how this thing is anything but a rebadged chrysler.
I have heard this rubbish more than once and it's not true.
Anyway, this thing was an epic fail from day 1.
Posted by zippy | April 21, 2009 4:40 AM
Posted on April 21, 2009 04:40
EVERYONE, JUST STOP ALL THIS RE-BADGING SHIT !!!!!
Posted by madashell | April 21, 2009 8:31 AM
Posted on April 21, 2009 08:31
Except that Chrysler minivans outsell all other vans and despite Volkswagon reliability Volkswagon has a high owner satisfaction.
So maybe the deal wasn't that ill thought. It seems that Volkswagen buyers are just that and want a Volkswagen product and that's the simple truth of the matter nothing to do with quality.
So the ill thought part is that Volkswagen buyers would buy anything but a Volkswagen. Having recently been in a Volkswagen dealer the self assured arrogance was quite a surprise and i suspect is at the route of Volkswagen marketing errors.
ken
Posted by Ken | April 21, 2009 10:27 AM
Posted on April 21, 2009 10:27
This came out as the Dodge/Chrysler minivans have become also-rans in the minivan department. Honda/Toyota/Hyundai have a better hold on the minivan market, which itself is smaller than several years ago.
For VW this was a relatively lowbuck way to get into the minivan market. For Chrysler it was a way to keep the plant humming. However, slick marketing does not sell substandard minivans (sorry Brooke). And yes , I have driven the new Dodge/Chrysler minivans and they are an improvement but in terms of fit/finish the Honda wins hands down.
Posted by longdxcommuter | April 21, 2009 12:42 PM
Posted on April 21, 2009 12:42
I wonder how many of the people that have left posts have actually driven the Routan? Or even seen it "live"? We test drove it on the weekend and it was great. It felt good, looked good, and is a definite improvement over the Town and Country or Caravan.
Posted by jgr | August 10, 2009 6:42 PM
Posted on August 10, 2009 18:42