This Volkswagen minivan was introduced for the U.S. market as the brand’s first entry in the American minivan segment. It was developed under Volkswagen’s cooperation with Chrysler and debuted at the Chicago Auto Show in February 2008 as a 2009 model year vehicle. Rather than being a clean-sheet Volkswagen design, it was a joint product based on a Chrysler minivan platform, with Volkswagen-specific exterior and interior treatment tailored for North American buyers. Assembly took place at Chrysler’s Windsor, Ontario, plant.
The nameplate’s retail life was relatively short. Volkswagen announced that 2012 would be the last model year offered for retail sale, but limited numbers of 2013 and even 2014 model year vehicles were still built for company-fleet or related internal use, which is why the nameplate extends beyond its main showroom run. In the market, it served as a practical family-oriented people mover and is remembered as an unusual chapter in Volkswagen’s U.S. history: a German brand minivan with clear Chrysler underpinnings, created to give Volkswagen a foothold in a very competitive segment.