One thing I notice about this design (nit picking, I know) is it has dual side opening doors. In todays minvan market, that is a definite no-no. Also, the wipers that are required to wipe a huge windshield need to be concealed behind the hood/cowl, or they will whistle like mad on the highway. Plus, I don't really see much room in the front for the engine (and despite what many people say or think, there's no way this thing will be rear engined - what platform would this be shared with? The Cayenne and Colorado are front engined!). Other than it's cool. But I don't think VW is trying to make a copy of the microbus, so this may look too much like the original for them. The round headlights are the key though. Those little slit type rectangular ones they have are awful. But of course, their goal is to try and integrate headlight, foglight and turn signal into one unit. This lowers the cost of production and allows for more product sharing between lines. Something VW has to do to lower the price of the van. Too many unique parts on the Eurovan push the price way up. I kinda like the Microbus. I don't expect anything to come into production that looks like this of course. I use it more as a "looking glass" to see what styling cues will appear in the T5 in a couple of years. No info yet about price reductions in the Eurovan, but they have said: "In addition to the unveiling of this concept vehicle, Volkswagen will make announcements about its upcoming Van strategy and significant price reductions for the Eurovan lineup. Volkswagen of America wants to make a definite push into the van segment here in North America and has plans to increase sales of the Eurovan significantly over the next several years till the new T5 platform replacement arrives (expected to look more than a little like the Microbus concept vehicle)." $0.02 + tax Keith |
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