Volkswagen Canada says Routan is here to stay (for now)
Jul 12, 2010 
Last week Volkswagen of America spokeswoman Jill Bratina alluded to the fact that the Routan could be on the chopping block as Germany's largest car maker looks to boost its presence in North America.
But don't worry Canadian Routan fans, VW Canada says it's here to stay, at least for now.
Peter Viney, Volkswagen Canada's PR Manager, who has subsequently moved from PR to another position within the automaker, told The Windsor Star, “We are finalizing the next model year with Chrysler right now. We have a five-year contract with Chrysler so we are going to work within the terms and conditions of that contract so anything with respect to production ending in October is not what we understand.”
Production of the Routan at Chrysler's Windsor production facility peaked around 500 units a day, but it has since slowed to 40.
If you were in the market for a minivan today would the Routan be on your shopping list?
[Source: The Windsor Star via The Ottawa Citizen]
Reader Comments (4)
why VW choose Chrysler to partner with is beyond me. in my opinion, doing so tarnished VW reputation for mini vans in Canada. the Eurovan and type 2 were niche vehicles. VW just lacked the PR punch to properly market them to the Canadian population. as a matter of fact, i have never seen a Eurovan commercial in my life, so maybe that was their problem. well, that and them being overpriced and underpowered.
pull the plug and let the Routan fade away, nobody is buying them anyway...
Do some research. The Chrysler minivans are #1 in Canada and #2 in the US (will be #1 in the US before the year is through).
Routan sales are just as slow as all the other vans because you cannot and will not beat the Chrysler for value, its as simple as that. Wouldn't matter if they had Ferrari put the thing together.
Why did they do it then? So they can keep VW buyers in the VW family. When John Smith brings his Jetta back after the lease is up and opt's to walk away because he needs a van..now they have something in-house for that guy. Its also a cheaper way to offer a proven van without the multi-million dollar investment to build their own from scratch (and only sell a tiny amount of them)