By Ellen van Wageningen, The Windsor StarJanuary 11, 2010
Chrysler Windsor Assembly plant validation line worker Ernie Renaud, right, checks out a Volkswagon Routan in this file photo.
Photograph by: Nick Brancaccio, The Windsor Star
DETROIT -- Volkswagen remains committed to producing and selling minivans in North America despite launching the Windsor-made Routan in the midst of a crippling recession.
Volkswagen America president and CEO Stefan Jacoby said Monday the company is already making plans for the future that could include extending its current five-year partnership with Chrysler to build the Routan in Windsor.
"We are investigating and we take into consideration a further extension of collaboration with our partner for the minivan, Chrysler, but we are also taking into consideration to develop this vehicle by ourselves," Jacoby said following the company's press conference at the North American International Auto Show.
Asked to elaborate on future minivan plans Jacoby would only say "stay tuned."…
By the end of the year the company had sold 17,309 Routans in North America, below expectations and only a sliver of the market. Chrysler, for example, sold 175,224 minivans in the United States in 2009, while Volkswagen sold 14,681. The Routan, which is built on a Chrysler minivan platform, is also sold in Canada and Mexico.
The German automaker, which is aiming to lead global vehicle sales by 2018, is prepared to be patient and still sees the minivan as a significant player in its strategy to double its sales in North American in the next couple of years, Jacoby said.
"We launched this car in the eye of the perfect storm, so to say. We see more and more acceptance for the Routan and we do believe Volkswagen should have a minivan in the future," he said.
"We believe we have reached the middle of the black tunnel in 2009 and we now see light at the end of the tunnel."…
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