Indeed, why don't they import the Tauran..  
Cost and marketing or emissions reasons I imagine.
And..........there are all kinds of 'minivans' around..........car like
vans.
What there isn't too much of is boxier almost semi-off road vans with good
ground clearance...........uh, whatdyknow- just like the vanagon !  

And not so 'smooth car' like either - but a lean toward 'sporty
almost-truck' ........which is what a vanagon is . Wow.  Just re-do the
vanagon concept with modern requirements in safety, crashabillity, and
emissions and performance parameters..........a big, big
challenge........but that would sure be one fine 'do everything' vehicle,
which is what a vanagon is - the one we know just lacks a few modern things
like aerodynamics and flush windows, ABS brakes, air bags , stability
control etc.  
But a nice blend of old attributes with modern requirements, and don't make
it too car-like and too swoopy/low but more utilitarian some.   That would
be SO fun to design, engineer, and market. 
Scott
www.turbovans.com 

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Richard Golen
Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2008 12:12 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: new vw rotten unvieled.

I can't understand why VW just doesn't bring in the Touran. Its a
mini-van, built on the Golf chassis. Two years ago, while I was in
Grenoble, France, I rented one for a month. It was TDI powered w/6
speed manual transmission. We (3 adults plus luggage) made a trip
from Grenoble to Kassel, Germany and back. Our average speed was 100
mph, and mpg was 33 mpg!! Of course these figures were converted from
metric to miles/gallons. I found it a competent car. It was
comfortable, able to drive up to our house in the Alps above Grenoble
in snow, etc.

Here's a link on Touran:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Touran

Ric

At 02:44 PM 2/6/2008, JordanVw@AOL.COM wrote:
>heres pics of the new vw rotten.
>
>pardon me, i just threw up alittle bit in my mouth.
>
>http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=3669830
>
>if i want a chrysler minivan i can buy one from the dodge dealer right now
>for $10k less than vw will want for the same thing with a different grille
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>**************
>Biggest Grammy Award surprises of all time on AOL Music.
>
>(http://music.aol.com/grammys/pictures/never-won-a-grammy?NCID=aolcmp003000
000025
>48)