So we had this idea and it was a good one...but we gave you the 80k Phaeton instead.

They totally killed it...

This photo of the new Chrysler-based minivan was caught on the dealer TV, I see nothing magical about it.

Anyone else remember the TV ad that VW put-out with something like the tag line of, "soon we will welcome to the world" with some headlights in thebackground? Was that for this?

Replacing the Microbus prototype with the Chrysler design has to be the worst substitution foisted on western civilization since Shemp replaced Curly in the lineup of The Three Stooges.

Only VW can build a modern Microbus, yet they choose to piss away that brand equity with a rebadged Chrysler.

@TampaRon: Which they then tried to sell in the same showroom as the $16k Golf. Not too bright. And as much as we all like the idea of the Veyron, VW poured a lot money into that instead of fixing nagging design problems, like electrics that were approaching Lucas-like reliability.

@goatrope: The real issue isn't Chrysler contract manufacturing a vehicle for VW. To a handful of people this will be seen as a step down in some form or fashion (status maybe?), but the forthcoming van will probably have higher initial and long-term quality ratings than any other VW product. In this respect there is no brand equity to piss away.

The real issue, which you nail, is the bait and switch. VW wowed us with the Microbus, flooding the media, their website and the forums with photos, specs and production dates. The hype machine has been largely silent on the new offering. VW abandoned their rabid fan base on this one leading it to assume the new offering will be sucktacular. No juicy concepts, no real details... just "we're building a van with Chrysler."

The reality is, VW could care less about the VW faithful when it comes to their new North American van/minivan. They want a van for the massses that will be competatively priced and slightly more unique than a Toyonda Camcord. They haven't had a hit in the North American van market in at least two decades and they don't want to make the same mistake with the $32k base Microbus that they made with the Eurovan.

OK yes it would've looked great, but who are we kidding? It would've been overpriced by $10,000, it would've set new lows for VW reliability, and sold in numbers so low that the Aztec sales figures would've looked like a home-run in comparison.

@TampaRon: Yeah, VW NA always seems to ask, "Why just shoot ourselves in the foot when we can shoot ourselves in the crotch?"

@halfshaft:
Overpriced and rather unreliable? You have just defined the MINI - which sells rather well. demand seems to be one unit ahead of supply.
With the Microbus name there is an emotional attachment which trumps reliability and price issues - an emotional, passionate attachment that Japan Inc. (Toyota, Honda, Nissan) will never have. One which overrules common sense and value-for-the-dollar. And that is the unexploited equity of the Microbus.

what if they took the F/F layout of the minivan, stick it in like an MR2, make it tall like a freightliner/mercades, with a big flat nose. itll def pass euro pedestrian smackdown tests.

@goatrope: From my understanding, the forthcoming VW "Town and Country" won't have the Microbus moniker, so it won't have that going for it in the marketplace.

@eltonito: Spot on.

By the way, I don't think there ever was a "Microbus" moniker. Weren't the official names "Type 2"/"Transporter"/"Vanagon"/"Campmobile"?

According to this article, VW is responding to the success of the recent event in Hannover (Germany). The 2001 concept is still too expensive for production, VW is apparently considering producing a revised, pared-down version in the US, in part because the dollar is cheap and qualified labor available. However, I doubt they'll open up a new factory just for this one model. Dr. Winterkorn has hinted at possible US-based production of the New Small Family (Up! et al.) We'll see, the plant in Mexico isn't running at full capacity.

[www.autoexpress.co.uk]

Btw: Bulli has no particular meaning in German, other than as a reference to the VW Transporter. I doubt they'll use that name to market the vehicle in English-speaking countries.

I like how the narrator just ends up spouting emotional touch words that have nothing to do with vehicles in any way. "We had an idea of a vehicle that was honest..."

Honest? Really? I've had some bad cars before, but I've never had the car itself LIE to me. Maybe some of the indicators were lazy and I got stuck on the side of the road with no gas, but I am pretty sure that wasn't premeditated...

I'll take a 60's Ford Econoline, any day.

@stu-rock: You are absolutely correct, the Microbus Concept was the first VW to officially use the moniker. I would argue that the nickname "microbus" specifically refers to only the T2 and is specific slang to North America. I've never heard someone refer to a T3/T4 as a "Microbus", but I'm sure there are non-VW folks who refer to them as such.

@eltonito:

Ugh! They're not really calling the "Town and Country," are they??? Why not call it the Combi? At least that would be somewhat cool.

I remember taking a class at Art Center in Pasadena from the guy who did the interior of this concept. He was extremely emotionally attached and showed us pictures of different variants they had planned including a weird truck version. It got cancelled while I was still taking the class and I distinctly remember him coming in with his face all red and a very angry attitude for about a week after the announcement. I really think this car would have sold very well as it was retro done right (i.e. not like the Ford Thunderbird).

The original Bus was slow, noisy, unsafe, incredibly slow, totally lacking in creature comforts, and did I say that it was slow. People love it anyway. This Microbus would absolutely bomb in Santa Cruz except among a few poseurs. Inside, it looked like standard soccer mom equipment, DVD screens and all. Borrrriiinnnggg. Neither VW nor any carmaker is willing to leave enough of the rough edges on to recapture the genuinely elemental feel of the Bus.

@Brian B: he's not saying they'd call it the "town and country", but it will be a chrysler town and country with vw badges.

you know, i think a vehicle with chrysler minivan interior flexibilty and vw microbus concept styling wouldn't be terrible. i'd still rather have a VW California or a Mercedes Sprinter James Cook, because if i'm driving a van, i damn well better be able to live out of it.