With updated appearance, added equipment, and suspension tuning from the fifth-generation Dodge Grand Caravan and Chrysler Town & Country, the Volkswagen Routan is a seven-seat minivan that is a rebadged derivative of the Chrysler RT chassis. [3] [4] [5]
The Routan made its premiere at the 2008 Chicago Auto Show and began on sale in the US in September 2008. It was produced in Windsor Assembly alongside the Chrysler and Dodge minivans and sold in the US, Canada, and Mexico.
[6] The Dodge Caravan, Ram C/V, Chrysler Town & Country, and Lancia Voyager (export) are some of the Routan’s minivan versions. With more than 12 million units sold by 2009, the Routan was the 13th best-selling automobile nameplate globally. [7]
Volkswagen declared that the 2013 model year would mostly be held for rental car businesses and other fleets, with limited access to the general public at dealer showrooms, after the Routan’s production was halted in 2012 due to excessive inventory levels.
[8] This was also accurate for the Routan model year 2014. [9]
In This Article...
When did the VW Routan stop being produced?
For the 2009 model year, the MPV was originally presented in 2008. At the Windsor Assembly factory in Ontario, where Dodge and Chrysler minivans were also produced, Volkswagen attempted to advertise the Routan as a car designed exclusively for the American market. Additionally, it was Volkswagen’s first minivan since the 2003 release of the Volkswagen Eurovan. It had a standard 3.6L V6 engine that generated 283 horsepower and 260 lb-ft of torque, but it quickly lost favor due to the high price. Although the $28,000 MSRP wasn’t awful, it was significantly more than other models that essentially delivered the same thing. In 2013 Volkswagen released the final Routan for the 2014 model year.
Volkswagen Models Similar to the Routan
Sadly, Volkswagen is no longer able to provide interested car buyers with a minivan. A comparable model, nevertheless, will accomplish the same thing and offer more than the Routan actually did. Similar to the Routan, the Volkswagen Atlas is a midsize SUV with seven seats and 96.8 cubic feet of cargo space. It also features a 12.3-inch display, a panoramic sunroof, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and many other features.
It’s perfectly fine if you don’t acquire the Routan; just remember that Volkswagen offers better options. You may schedule a test drive on our website or at Hall Volkswagen in Brookfield if you’re interested in seeing the SUV or any other Volkswagen model.
Volkswagen, however, no longer has a minivan to offer potential car buyers. However, you can locate a comparable design that will do the same thing and offer more than the Routan actually did. Similar to the Routan, the midsize SUV Volkswagen Atlas has seven seats and 96.8 cubic feet of load space. In addition, it has a 12.3-inch display, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and many other features.
If you don’t want the Routan, that’s absolutely great. Just remember that Volkswagen has better options. You may schedule a test drive on our website to check out the SUV or any other Volkswagen vehicles here at Hall Volkswagen in Brookfield if you’re interested in seeing them.
The VW Routan is still produced?
Volkswagen claims to have canceled the Routan minivan, a Chrysler with minor modifications, and is considering replacing it with a seven-passenger SUV based on the CrossBlue concept car.
There is no information on a potential production date for VW’s replacement for the SUV because it has not yet received formal approval. An exotic diesel-electric hybrid with three rows of two seats each was the concept model that made the rounds of auto exhibitions.
VW advises not to interpret that in any way. If there is an SUV to replace the Routan, it may not even come in a hybrid form, much less a complex and pricey diesel-electric vehicle.
Additionally, VW never formally proclaimed the Routan dead until Monday, when Jonathan Browning, the company’s U.S. CEO, acknowledged it in a TV interview.
Volkswagen claims that the 2014 Routan is strictly for work use. A VW dealer won’t let you purchase one.
Sales of Routan began in September 2008. According to Autodata, in the five years it has been on the market, VW has sold 57,683 units. That amounts to roughly 11,500 annually on average. Almost identical to the Routan, Chrysler’s Dodge Caravan sells 110,000 units annually.
VW had anticipated to sell about 45,000 vehicles annually, but it failed to anticipate the brutal U.S. recession, which ruined sales of the majority of automobiles and trucks in 20082009.
VW wanted to avoid incurring the high cost of designing its own family van. With the exception of certain trim, Routan was almost identical to the Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Caravan. Chrysler’s Stow ‘n’ Go second row seating, which enables the middle row to fold into sizable storage tubs under the floor, wasn’t offered with the VW.
One benefit of this was that the Routan seats did not need to have as much padding as the Chrysler Group vehicles had in order to fit inside the tubs. As a result, the second row in the VW van was more comfortable than the second row in a Chrysler or Dodge van equipped with the Stow ‘n’ Go option.
Is there a minivan made by Volkswagen?
Volkswagen’s range sadly no longer includes a minivan. The Routon, a seven-seat minivan based on the fifth-generation Dodge Grand Caravan and Chrysler Town & Country, was the last minivan the manufacturer sold. From 2008 to 2013, the five-door minivan was manufactured; the final model year was 2014. Due to excessive inventories, the Routon’s production halted in 2012, at which point Volkswagen opted to reserve it for fleet programs and rental car businesses.
Which Volkswagen Models are Best for Large Families?
If you know you want to drive a minivan but still want a Volkswagen, take a look at some of the other models the company makes. The largest vehicle provided by Volkswagen is the full-size Atlas SUV, which went on sale for the 2018 model year. The five-door vehicle has three distinct engine choices, the strongest of which is a 2.5L turbo with 299 horsepower and 368 lb-ft of torque. It also has a maximum load capacity of 96.8 cubic feet. The Atlas can accommodate seven passengers, just like the majority of minivans. Similar to how the Routon was built for a family, this SUV has 17 cupholders and optional second-row captains chairs.
What country produces routans?
With its flat-nose, rear-engine Transporter, Volkswagen is reentering the American minivan market that it helped to establish in the 1950s (aka Microbus). VW will instead market a customized Chrysler minivan in place of the vintage van.
The Routan van from VW debuts on sale in September, with prices beginning at under $25,000. On Wednesday, it was unveiled here.
According to VW, modifying a Chrysler is easier and less expensive than creating a contemporary Microbus. A significant amount for VW in the USA, the carmaker wants to sell 45,000 units in the first year.
According to Rebecca Lindland, director of the vehicle group at forecaster Global Insight, “They would have been better off with the Microbus.” She anticipates sales to be roughly half of what VW had anticipated, but she also points out that the Routan gives brand devotees a VW for their growing families.
Separately, VW said it would determine in the next months where to locate a plant in what it refers to as “the North American dollar region,” which would allow it to avoid the currency-exchange pain of not being able to hike U.S. prices enough to offset the strong euro. One of the main reasons foreign manufacturers establish U.S. plants is to keep expenses and prices in one currency.
An aggressive strategy to nearly increase its eight brands’ combined global sales to 10 million by 2018 and more than triple its U.S. sales by that time also makes greater production capacity a good idea. General Motors and Toyota Motor, the market leaders, each sold 9.4 million vehicles last year.
Chrysler to produce Routan in Windsor, Ontario. A Dodge Caravan is transformed into a Routan by VW-designed modifications to the suspension, front and back appearance, and the interior. It will be powered by automatic transmissions paired with Chrysler 3.8- or 4-liter V-6 engines.
According to tracker Autodata, sales of minivans in the United States decreased to roughly 793,000 last year from 971,000 in 2006 and 1.1 million in 2005.
According to VW, the minivan market is stable rather than on the decline. According to spokesman Keith Price, “We see Ford and GM departing the market as an opportunity.”
Sales of Routan should increase as VW no longer makes vans. Ulrich Hackenberg, a member of the VW board, declared that “the USA is a vital aspect in our global strategy.” Without a stronger presence in the USA, “we can’t be a global player,” the statement reads.
According to Autodata, VW’s share of U.S. new car sales is 1.4%, and its Audi brand is 0.6%.
What does the word “Routan” mean?
While the majority of the dealers Ward’s contacted said they are just pleased to have a new product to draw customers into their showrooms, some are perplexed by VW’s naming strategy.
Despite some dealers’ objections, Volkswagen of America Inc. stands by the choice of Routan as the name of the automaker’s new minivan.
It’s “Different points of view are extremely inevitable when you have 600 dealers, according to a VW spokesman.
While the majority of the dealers Ward’s contacted said they are just pleased to have a new product to draw customers into their showrooms, some are perplexed by VW’s naming strategy.
“A U.S. dealer who requests anonymity says the names “are consistently ridiculous.” Dealers believed the automaker was moving away from odd names when they renamed the Golf little car the Rabbit in 2006. “We felt they were getting back on the path to normalcy,” he says. “First we have Touareg, which is ridiculous, and now Routan, which is equally weird.
The VW official claims that changing a name always sparks debate and points out that when the Passat and Jetta were first released, dealers had a similar response.
In line with the naming scheme utilized for VW’s European vans, the Touran and Sharan, which are unavailable in the United States, VW claims that the name Routan is derived from the term “route” and the suffix “-an.”
“The initial part of the word “route,” which denotes what is most crucial, is what matters most to us, the spokesman claims.
The Chrysler minivans, reengineered for ’08, will share underpinnings with the VW model as a result of a 2006 deal between the two automakers. The Routan will be produced at Chrysler LLC’s facility in Windsor, ON, Canada, which also produces the Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan.
Despite the name, the spokesperson claims that the Routan offers a “A fantastic opportunity exists in a market that sells 900,000 units annually.
In some ways, the naming is secondary. It’s a “white area on our product map, and (it will) drive more people into the showroom, he claims.
The Routan will be formally launched at the Chicago auto show next month and available on sale later this year.