You Probably Forgot These Vans Existed

Image: Volkswagen

This list wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the Routan. The Routan was rolling proof of VW’s inability to understand the U.S. market. VW wanted more vehicles specifically for the U.S. market but didn’t seem to want to spend any money to develop them. Having never offered a minivan in North America, VW partnered with Daimler Chrysler to develop one. Execept they didn’t. Remember VW didn’t want to spend the development money. So the Diamler Chrysler partnership resulted in VW heavily rebadging the Chrysler RT platformed minivan.

While the Routan got unique front and rear fascias and a distinct gauge cluster, it was nearly identical to the Town & Country/Caravan of the time. Chrysler didn’t let VW use its Stow n’ Go system however. Engines were identical though, with the Routan using Chrysler 3.8-liter and 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 engines.

VW was over ambitious in its sales projections for the Routan; the brand predicted it would take five percent of the U.S. van market when it debuted in September 2008. By January 2009, VW told Chrysler to hold production of the Routan the following month because dealers had received 29,000 they couldn’t sell. By the summer, just under 12,000 had been sold. By 2014, its final year on the market, only 1,103 had been sold the whole year.