The Chrysler-sourced VW Routan minivan will start $24,700 for the "S" model. The mid-range "SE" stickers at $29,600, and the range-topping "SEL" starts at $33,200. As an added incentive VW is partnering with Upromise, the country's largest private source of college funding, to offer Routan customers $1500 towards their kid's college education.

"We know parents are concerned about saving for their kid’s future. To help families tackle this challenge of saving for college, we’re excited that we are able to partner with Upromise,” said Tim Ellis, Vice President of Marketing, Volkswagen of America, Inc. “We’re aware that the cost of college continues to rise exponentially, far outpacing inflation, and our hope is to help our customer’s off-set that cost, while getting a great new vehicle.”

The vehicle will go on sale in September.

Full story here.

In Japan Honda has announced a true "mini" minivan called the Freed. It's based on the Honda Fit, and will seat 5, 7, or 8 people depending on the configuration. It's powered by a 118 hp 1.5L engine, hooked up to a CVT.

Is this something Honda should consider selling this over here?

Here is a translated version of the French-speaking site Le Blog Auto that reported it, so bear in mind that there are a few goofy phrases in it. Winding Road is also reporting on this story here.

We found ourselves minivanless, so we added a 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan to our long-term fleet.

We opted for the SXT version with the 251-horsepower 4.0 SOHC V6.

It's loaded with goodies like Swivel 'n Go seating, second/third-row removable/stowable table, three-zone A/C, and much, much more including Inferno Red paint.

Read the Introduction of the Dodge Grand Caravan on Inside Line.

Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor

 

The Ford Transit Connect Taxi is one of Ford's more recent "Better Ideas." No, make that one of its "Best" ideas, as this vehicle is perfectly suited to the chore of carting people around urban areas. The 2.0-liter gas engine gets 19 mpg, which is roughly 30 percent better than the Crown Vics that are the staple of most taxi fleets. Better still, it has a 90 percent improvement in emissions over most current taxis. I would also hope it's considering a clean diesel option for this vehicle. It almost goes without saying that New York, and the New York auto show, is the perfect place to debut such a vehicle.

Some features of this new taxi include a new infotainment and navigation system that shows passengers their accumulating cab fare and scrolling news, weather, sports scores and a stock ticker. The driver's area comes with a fold-flat passenger seat that Ford says doubles as a work station. It also gets a version of the Ford Work Solutions integrated computer.

Here's Inside Line's take: 2008 New York Auto Show: Ford Rolls Out a New Take on the Taxicab

We've done something a little unorthodox. Instead of comparing direct competitors, we put different types of vehicles together to find the best family car.

We took a minivan, an SUV and a crossover -- a Honda Odyssey, Toyota Sequoia and GMC Acadia.

Which one would you choose?

Read the comparison test on Inside Line.

Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor

 

If you sold a subcompact minivan called the Nemo Combi, you'd simply have to build a concept car with a tie-in to the five-year-old animated film, Finding Nemo, would you not? The Citroën Nemo Concetto (concetto just means "concept") is all done up to look a clownfish. However, due to the fact that it's a van, it looks more like a flamboyant Geek Squad vehicle than Nemo himself.

This is what happens when you force excessive amounts of cuteness into a class of car that already has that angle covered. Still, the anemones growing out of the dash tug at the heartstrings.



Continue reading...

Volkswagen of America's President and CEO Stefan Jacoby announced that the Windy City was an appropriate place for the 2009 VW Routan debut as there is a "fresh wind" at VW. Perhaps "winds of change" may have been a more appropriate translation.

Either way, with "Come and Get Your Love" playing in the background, Jacoby and Volkswagen R&D Chief Ulrich Hackenburg posed happily for a photo op with their, er, Chrysler's baby, the Routan minivan.

We say Chrysler's baby, because underneath its shiny VW sheet metal, the Routan is really a Dodge Caravan without the benefit of Chrysler's handy Stow 'n Go seat option. What it does have, however, is a more Euro-style exterior.

VW's new tagline says, "Prepare to Get Happy." We'd have been happier with a real VW. -- Kelly Toepke, News Editor

Well, here you have it folks: VW's Town and Country, er, Grand Caravan, er, Routan...

Power comes from a 197 hp 3.8L V6 or a 251 hp 4.0 V6. The tranny is a 6-speed automatic. Biggest selling point? 13 cupholders!

The Chrysler Town and Country and Grand Caravan, which the Routan is based upon, are pictured at the right for reference. If you look closely, not all the panels carry over from the Chrysler twins, which is good.

Prices are expected to start under $25K. So is this enough for minivan customers to visit a VW showroom, rather than a Dodge or Chrysler showroom? Or a Honda, Toyota, et. al show room?

Full story here.

Here's Inside Line's take: 2009 Volkswagen Routan and 2008 Chicago Auto Show: Volkswagen Routan

VW has announced that their new Routan minivan will debut at the Chicago Auto Show.

Never heard of a "Routan," you say? Well, it's a byproduct of a VW-Chrysler get together. Chrysler's done the heavy lifting here, with VW sprinkling some people's car fairy dust upon it.

It's sort of ironic that VW invented the minivan back in the 1950's, only to have Chrysler and others rewrite the book on this vehicle type. Now VW is desperately trying to get back in the game with a very non-German vehicle. I haven't seen it yet, but my gut feeling is not good. I just have a very hard time with the thought of a VW-badged Chrysler. In any event, I guess we'll find out next month.

Here's Inside Line's take: 2008 Chicago Auto Show Preview: Volkswagen Routan Just for U.S.

The iconic VW Transporter is 60 years old.

Some historical Transporter tidbits:

1947: First design sketch of the rear-engined Transporter
produced

1950: Production of the first generation, 'split-screen' Transporter started in Wolfsburg for the 1950 model year with an air-cooled, 1131 cc engine developing 25 PS borrowed from the Volkswagen Beetle.  By comparison, today's Transporter has a choice of four TDI PD diesel engines from 1.9-litres to 2.5-litres, producing from 84 PS to 174 PS

1955: Volkswagen imported the first Transporter to the UK

1956: Transporter production moved to a new Volkswagen factory in Hanover.

1967: The second generation, 'bay window' Transporter was introduced.  Over three million were made during 12 years of production. It's still produced to this day in Mexico

1979: The third generation Transporter was introduced

1982: After 32 years and with production totalling over five million vehicles, the Transporter switched from air-cooled to water-cooled engines - still rear-mounted

1990: The fourth generation Transporter was introduced and became the first to have the engine at the front to leave a completely flat load area

2003: The current, fifth generation Transporter made its debut

2007: Rock legends, The Who, performed live at an official event to celebrate 60 years of Volkswagen vans held in Hanover, Germany, which attracted 71,000 visitors with an amazing selection of over 5,000 Transporter vans

I would love to see modern Transporter-like trucks here once again. Maybe these high gas prices will spur on development in this area?

Full story here.