http://www.autonews.com/article/2009...304209960/1197

VW's Routan isn't moving; future murky
Bradford Wernle
and Diana T. Kurylko
Automotive News
April 20, 2009 - 12:01 am ET

The Volkswagen Routan minivan, which arrived in showrooms in September, is selling so slowly that no units have rolled off the assembly line since December.

"We launched Routan at the worst moment," last fall when U.S. auto sales were plummeting, said Stefan Jacoby, CEO of Volkswagen Group of America. Jacoby said VW has not decided whether to build a second-generation Routan. One generation of a vehicle design typically lasts four or five years.

Chrysler LLC assembles the Routan for VW at its Windsor, Ontario, minivan plant.

VW has sold only 5,582 Routans; the factory has produced 22,037. A VW spokesman said the company has not decided when to resume production.

To boost Routan sales, VW is offering 0 percent loans for 60 months and $325 monthly payments for leases. VW owners receive $500 loyalty cash.

The Routan is built on the same platform as the Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan minivans.

The Grand Caravan's base sticker is $23,545, while the Routan starts at $25,950. Both prices include shipping.

Chrysler has cut production from three shifts to two in Windsor.

 

A local dealer has few models topping out at $36K. They are running a $10K discount on them now. Yikes! Not a bad price if I were in the market for a minivan.

VW really dropped the ball on this one. And the commercials with Brooke Shields were a complete failure. Whoever was involved in the approval of that ad campaign needs to be spanked with a giant paddle and give a pink slip.

 

I'm yet to see one in person. The minivan market is already too saturated IMO for new entries.

 

Brooke Shields= Kiss of Death

 

Yes, that combined with crap product.

 

Marketing it specifically for pregnant people didn't help either.

 

I still say they should have developed an updated model off of the Microbus concept in keeping with a true VW van rather than a Caravan disguised as a VW. It would have been a much costlier effort, but would have sold.

 

^They said it would have taken until 2012/2013 for a proposed Microbus. But then again, the New Beetle wasn't such a hot idea in Wolfsburg meeting rooms before it was released either...

 

I will admit, of the Voyager/T&C and Caravan family, the Routan looks the best.

 

That shifter is weird...

 

They shouldn't even make it that updated.

They should make it look oldschool, but have new features.

 

interior looks cheap. I'd rather get a Honda Odyssey

 

materials were vastly upgraded to benefit the vw logo, but there still are some cheap bits creeping around from Chrysler.

 

THe Microbus would have been great. It would have been different. This is a damn rebadge.

Odd though, its actually selling relatively well compared to some other models.

March 2009 Volkswagen US sales

Jetta Sedan 6,263
CC Sedan 2,351
Tiguan 1,235
Jetta Sportwagen 1,128
Routan 1,029
Passat 781
Rabbit 698
New Beetle Coupe 517
Eos 493
GTI 461
New Beetle Convertible 317
Touareg 236
Passat Sportwagen 205
R32 6

 

^^

Wow, except for the Jetta, VW's numbers are pathetic. Although the CC is doing pretty decent considering it's price.

It is surprising that the Routan is above all those though.