VW, Chrysler mull minivan deal

[SoCalCTS]

CNN Story

Paper: VW, Chrysler mull minivan deal
DaimlerChrysler and VW in advanced discussions on minivan based on Chrysler's for U.S. market.
August 22, 2005: 3:58 PM EDT

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German car maker Volkswagen is in advanced talks with rival DaimlerChrysler about creating an alliance in the United States to build minivans, Germany's Handelsblatt newspaper reported.

Chrysler head Dieter Zetsche and VW brand chief Wolfgang Bernhard could sign an agreement at the Frankfurt auto fair in September, the paper said in a preview of its Tuesday edition.

Volkswagen plans to build a van based on the Chrysler Town & Country, the paper said.

Volkswagen declined to comment on the report on Monday and a spokesman for Zetsche, at Chrysler's headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan, did not immediately return a call from Reuters.

The vehicle would only be sold on the U.S. market, so as not to hurt the Chrysler minivan's chances of success in Europe. It could be launched in 2007, the paper said. Top of page

[daves87rs]

What? My first question-why?? :blink:

[VenSeattle]

Won't this be the first time that a German company will market a vehicle in the US on an American brand developed platform?

[HarleyEarl]

Won't this be the first time that a German company will market a vehicle in the US on an American brand developed platform?

[post="2090"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

You might be right. This may be an historical first. I can't wail to see what happens with this, very interesting. I'll bet if Mercedes didn't own Chrysler, this wouldn't be happening. Edited August 22, 2005 by HarleyEarl

[Robert Hall]

What? My first question-why?? :blink:

[post="2077"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

They probably want to have a minivan in the US with minimal investment. After all, neither VW nor Audi have any sort of minivan in their US line...

Their last minivan (for Europe) was a joint venture with Ford (Sharan/Galaxy).... kind of odd to see VW wanting to partner with Chrysler, though, considering how VW and DC are competitors... Edited August 22, 2005 by moltar

[Sixty8panther]

WTF? Since when do Daimler Benz and VW partner up? :blink: WEll, I guess if GM can sell 6-spd autopmatic trans. to Ford and call it a pertnership then why not.

[Robert Hall]

WTF? Since when do Daimler Benz and VW partner up?  :blink:

WEll, I guess if GM can sell 6-spd autopmatic trans. to Ford and call it a pertnership then why not.

Yeah...strange stuff... I wonder why they don't bring the Sharan here..they probably decided it was too small and lacked sliding doors.

[Chicagoland]

VW motors once went into '78-?? Omnis and Horizons, so it's not the first collabertion. Edited August 23, 2005 by Chicagoland

[HarleyEarl]

That's not what VenSeatle said.

[Petra]

Remember: Bernhard and Zetsche have a history. I'm really not surprised by this at all; it's just another corprate, "You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" deal.

[The O.C.]

It's an interesting business venture.....and maybe it will work. However, like the article said, there is going to have to be ALOT of engineering redesign going into the exterior design and, more importantly, the interior design. It's going to take alot of work to take the DCX minivans and give them the look and feel of a VW interior. What I'm most worried about is the dated structure of these minivans and the unimpressive 3.3L and 3.8L pushrod engines. I don't know how significantly they will be able to affect these bits and pieces. However, at one time, Chrysler did have a plan to put the DOHC 3.5L V6 into the T&C. I'm not sure why they didn't carry through with that, but considering it fits into the Pacifica (based on the minivan architecture) I'm sure they could use the 3.5L in the VW version. It may not be the best V6, but it's not that bad...and the power and torque numbers would be competitive. Plus, it would avoid putting those dated pushrod V6s into a German-branded minivan.

[Flybrian]

VW may benefit from Chrysler's reliability. :D

[A_Whole_New_GM]

It's an interesting business venture.....and maybe it will work.

However, like the article said, there is going to have to be ALOT of engineering redesign going into the exterior design and, more importantly, the interior design.  It's going to take alot of work to take the DCX minivans and give them the look and feel of a VW interior.

What I'm most worried about is the dated structure of these minivans and the unimpressive 3.3L and 3.8L pushrod engines.  I don't know how significantly they will be able to affect these bits and pieces.

However, at one time, Chrysler did have a plan to put the DOHC 3.5L V6 into the T&C.  I'm not sure why they didn't carry through with that, but considering it fits into the Pacifica (based on the minivan architecture) I'm sure they could use the 3.5L in the VW version.  It may not be the best V6, but it's not that bad...and the power and torque numbers would be competitive.  Plus, it would avoid putting those dated pushrod V6s into a German-branded minivan.

[post="2406"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Recall that the DCX minivans are nearing the end of their cycle. If there is a collaboration with VW, their minivan would probably be based off the next generation Town & Country

[rkmdogs]

Dated structure??? Who else in the minivan business has the "Stow N Go" feature" Everyone else is scrambling to come up with a similar feature in their vans! And before, the partnership did not include both body & drivetrain. For all we know, VW may just want the platform structure and will do their own drivetrain! That's the part that takes the longest to develop with certfied crash testing, etc.

[The O.C.]

Dated structure???

Who else in the minivan business has the "Stow N Go" feature"

Everyone else is scrambling to come up with a similar feature in their
vans!
And before, the partnership did not include both body & drivetrain.
For all we know, VW may just want the platform structure and will do their own drivetrain!

That's the part that takes the longest to develop with certfied crash testing, etc.

[post="2548"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Stow N Go is a great feature......but this minivan architecture has been around for quite awhile....and if I'm not mistaken, the current minivan shares the same architecture as the last generation minivan (but with a new body and interior.....kinda like the Impala, LaCrosse, and GP still being based off the old W-Car architecture.)

I have no general problem with DCX's vans.....however, when you drive them, they do seem to lack the structural rigidity, solidity, and handling crispness of the newer vans such as the Odyssey and Sienna.

[Flybrian]

But people don't buy minivans for crisp handling; they buy them for comfort, luxurious touches, and practicality. I've heard some positive comments about the Quest's and even the MPV's handling characteristics compared to other vans, but neither offer much in terms of practical minivan innovations.

[mute]

guys and girls, i will tell you right now, . . . i drive a minivan, . . . yeah . . . i know . . ., just wait, . . . and its a dodge . . . i know, yeah i know, but hear me out, minivans are great, they get a large amount of people from point a to point b without wasting an excessive amount of gas, they can be slow, hard to brake, weak, powerless, and most of all not fun to drive, but they accomplish what they were made for, the stow and go is also used i think in some form in the mpv and it is great im sure, the diamler minvans have been at the top of their game for a while now in both looks, architecture, and also quality, they are still slow and boring, but ill tell ya right now, if they use the t&c underpinnins and make a new VW bus, i will shit my pants and start crying and laughing at the same time, i like teh VW cars, i like the t&c, i think they could make a great minivan and just to let you know, all your suv's? they are expensive, gas guzzling, high, powerful, and unpractical in most cases, minivans screw minivans i hate em, sob . . . why cant i get a truck? . . .sob

[MyerShift]

Very interesting partnership here. But, um, by the way, how is it that Chrysler's pushrod V6's (which are now found only in the minivans) are a bad thing, but yet it's ok for GM to put their own pushrod V6's into virtually every American car/brand they make? Let's chalk one up for reasoning along the lines of a girl I work with: I'm so confused! (Yeah, this is our loopy friend HT.)

[rkmdogs]

[quote name='mute' date='Aug 23 2005, 10:46 PM']

screw minivans i hate em, sob . . . why cant i get a truck? . . .sob"

You can, mute! Just go rob a bank, take out a quart of your own blood, and sign
over your first born child......... then maybe they will let you look at the inside
of a baseline truck.

As long as the fuzzy thinkers in our great capital think that they have to protect
us from ourselves, and know how to make cocoon cars, better than schooled designers & engineers, vehicle costs will continue to skyrocket.

In this world economy which everybody on the propaganda mainstream media
thinks evolves around "free trade" instead of "fair trade", you'll be looking at
trucks made in China, sold as GM products, but not made here!

[evok]

Dated structure???

Who else in the minivan business has the "Stow N Go" feature"

Everyone else is scrambling to come up with a similar feature in their
vans!
And before, the partnership did not include both body & drivetrain.
For all we know, VW may just want the platform structure and will do their own drivetrain!

That's the part that takes the longest to develop with certfied crash testing, etc.

[post="2548"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Lets put this into perspective. The RT DCX minvans vans are due out in 07.

Let think of this along the lines of the Porsche and VW SUV's than badge engineering. Edited August 24, 2005 by evok

[Petra]

Stow N Go is a great feature......but this minivan architecture has been around for quite awhile....and if I'm not mistaken, the current minivan shares the same architecture as the last generation minivan (but with a new body and interior.....kinda like the Impala, LaCrosse, and GP still being based off the old W-Car architecture.)

[post="2695"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

True. Chrysler's minivan platform dates back to 1996. The only major change it has had in the last 9 years was when they changed the the chassis a bit to accomidate Stow 'N Go. Otherwise, it's pretty much the same mechanicals from the mid '90's. And, if you know anything about Chrysler vans, you'll know that those mechanicals aren't very reliable.

For their next-generation of minivans, I hope Chrysler decides not to mess around the with chassis a lot (they've got it down pretty good), but, instead, focus on delievering a higher quality powertrain with more guts. I would suggest keeping the current lineup of 3.3L. and 3.8L. V6s, but hooking them up to the new 5-Speed Automatic transmission. These are good engines, but the 4-Speed, 42LE transmission is a power-draining, unreliable P.O.S (trust me, I know from personal experience). The 3.5L. V6 could appear as an uplevel engine. The 2.8L. Diesel from the Liberty would be great, too, but it isn't produced in large enough numbers.

[ToniCipriani]

I'll bet if Mercedes didn't own Chrysler, this wouldn't be happening.

[post="2107"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Isn't it the other way around? Chrysler bought out Mercedes?

[Satty]

Isn't it the other way around? Chrysler bought out Mercedes?

[post="3427"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Nope, it was a "merger of equals" but, just like gay sex, someone has to be the "man" and thats Daimler. And Chrysler just takes it.