Volkswagen Euthanizes The Routan

by Derek Kreindler

Published: January 4th, 2013

Well, looks like it’s official. The VW Routan is dead.

A Routan-owning TTAC reader alerted us to the announcement via email. After months of idled production, VW announced that the Routan would come back online by summer 2013 – but that never came to pass. Perhaps the long-rumored three-row crossover will finally arrive as a replacement for the Chrysler-based van.

Chrysler and VW have a deal to assemble the van through 2014, but the agreement will have to be scuttled somehow to help end the Routans natural life – and it definitely come from a face to face meeting between Messrs. Marchionne and Piech.

#Minivan #Volkswagen #VolkswagenRoutan

Derek Kreindler

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6 of 42 comments

SCE to AUX on Jan 05, 2013

This will really hurt VW's plan for world domination. Or not.

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Car follower on Jan 06, 2013

It must have been embarrassing for a VW salesman to look a customer in the eye when he/she told a prospect the price of a Routan. The arrangement between Chrysler and VW was a bad deal for the VW dealer as the Company was the only one that made any money. Whenever I saw a Routan on the street which wasn't very often I couldn't help think that driver was ripped off or the dealer dumped it at cost after it sat on his lot for months on end.

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- Krhodes1 on Jan 06, 2013
  
  Uh, why would that be? At MSRP they cost about the same as a similarly equipped Chrysler Town & Country (which is what it is, after all), and were nicer to drive as the VW version got a better suspension setup. And then they discounted them epically. Really, the only issue is that they launched the thing right into Carmaggeddon - you know, that couple years when the housing bubble burst, the economy and credit markets crashed, and nobody was buying new cars? An OK idea launched with really bad timing. I'm sure VW wasn't thinking they would sell 100K of these a year. Where did this idea come from that Routans had some crazy MSRP? They were no more crazily priced than a Town & Country. Which might seem crazy compared to a stripper Caravan, but the loaded version of a car always costs.
  
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Acuraandy on Jan 07, 2013

what, not many hipsters want minivans? I've questioned the existence of Routan since its inception. I wonder if VW ever hit their sales target with this...thing.

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- Lorenzo on Jan 07, 2013
  
  That's it! VW should name its in-house replacement the "Thing"!!
  
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Colinpolyps on Jan 07, 2013

Oh gosh I have always wanted to pay 10,000 more to get a Grand Caravan complete with rude service desk people and crappy techs. Now where can a fellow go to overpay and be insulted at the same time. Silly me I forgot I could buy a Vanagon I suppose.

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