VW Routan to Return Via Oprah

One of the first big scoops I ever landed as an automotive blogger was the story that Oprah was giving away free cars to her audience. My wife just happened to walk by Harpo Studios, which is near her office in Chicago, and filled me in that there were hundreds of cars with bows on them. The giveaway was one of the biggest model-specific promotions ever, and the Pontiac G6 seemingly had Oprah’s stamp of approval.

The same is happening again, except the vehicle being given away is a VW Routan minivan, and there will only be two lucky winners, not 276.

The Routan has been a failure for VW since its launch last year, and many thought production wouldn’t resume at the Chrysler plant where it’s made alongside the Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan minivans.

The company hopes Oprah’s stamp of approval will bring some of that Pontiac G6 frenzy to the Routan.

REPORT: VW banking on Oprah giveaway to raise awareness of slow-selling Routan minivans (Autoblog)

2009|Volkswagen|Routan

Comments

I always wondered why this van looked like a Chrysler van and I seriously doubt Oprah's stamp of approval will create a frenzy especially if somebody can find a cheaper Chrysler or Dodge branded van.

Usually everything Oprah touches turns to gold but we all saw what has happened to Pontiac. Not even the queen of T.V. could save the G6.

Is the Routan so different from the Dodge to justify the extra cost?

It's "German-tuned suspension" and "German touches" that VW "brags" about in its commercials are very minor differences, and are not enough to warrant the extra thousands over the Chrysler & Dodge.

And the dash has a little bit of soft-touch plastic.

You know what,it's probably a nice van that could use some improvements, I mean i heard that it's built on a passat platform, how could they go wrong with that?(European engineering), plymouth, i mean chrysler touches nice.