The Volkswagen Sharan is a seven-seat MPV built at the AutoEuropa plant in Palmela, Portugal, over two generations from 1995 to 2022. Through badge engineering it shares its platform with the SEAT Alhambra, and the first generation was in most respects identical to the Ford Galaxy, the product of a Volkswagen-Ford joint venture. It was not sold in the United States or Canada.
Volkswagen Sharan at a glance
| Maker | Volkswagen Group |
|---|---|
| Production | 1995–2022, two generations |
| Plant | AutoEuropa, Palmela, Portugal |
| Related models | SEAT Alhambra; Ford Galaxy (first generation) |
| Joint venture | Volkswagen and Ford, 1987–2006 |
| Concept shown | 1994 Paris Motor Show |
| Production start | May 1995 |
| First-generation facelifts | 2000 and 2004 |
| Second generation | 2010–2022 |
| Total sold | almost 670,000 first-generation cars |
| Safety | three stars in Euro NCAP, 1999 |
| Routan | the Chrysler-based replacement sold in Mexico from 2009 |
History of the Volkswagen Sharan
The Sharan was the Volkswagen-badged product of a joint venture with Ford to build cars for the growing MPV market, then filled by the Renault Espace and the Chrysler Voyager. Development began in top secret in 1987 with a team that included Ford’s Steve Harper and Paul Coucill and Volkswagen’s Peter Knapp, and Harper’s design was chosen at the first review that September; the original proposal was boxier and used a conventional minivan layout with a single sliding door. The Volkswagen Sharan concept and the Ford Galaxy were shown at the 1994 Paris Motor Show, and production started in May 1995 at AutoEuropa in Portugal alongside the closely related Galaxy and the SEAT Alhambra. The name was said to come from the Persian Shahran, carrier of kings, though Volkswagen describes it, like Touran, as a made-up word.
The first-generation Sharan was launched in August 1995, with the 2.8 VR6 available with Syncro all-wheel drive. Its design and technology mixed Volkswagen and Ford thinking: the front resembled a Ford Mondeo Mk1 and the rear a Volkswagen Passat B4, and while each of the three MPVs had subtle exterior differences, the Galaxy also differed inside. Small changes came in 1998 with door skins from the Golf Mk4 and a revised dashboard, and the car scored three stars in the Euro NCAP test of 1999. A major facelift in May 2000 extended the wheelbase by 6 mm, widened the tracks, gave the car Volkswagen’s family look and a new dashboard no longer sourced from Ford, with seven seats as standard. A further cosmetic facelift at Frankfurt in September 2003 for the 2004 model year changed mainly the grille and the tail lights.
Production ran for more than fifteen years and by the time the car was replaced in 2010 it was one of the longest-running models in Europe; nearly 24,000 Sharans were still sold each year as late as 2008, and Volkswagen sold almost 670,000 first-generation cars in total. It was the best-selling MPV in Germany, and it outsold the technically identical SEAT Alhambra and Ford Galaxy there despite costing up to €2,500 more. Its reputation for reliability was poor: it scored 200 points on the UK Reliability Index, where the average is 100 and a good car scores 60 or below, and it came last, 138th, in a 2003 British customer satisfaction survey. The Volkswagen-Ford cooperation ended in 2006, when Ford built the second-generation Galaxy alone. The Sharan was never sold in the United States or Canada, partly because of an agreement with Ford that left the North American minivan market to the Aerostar; when Volkswagen finally entered that market in 2009 it used a rebadged Chrysler minivan, the Routan, which replaced the Sharan in Mexico. A second Sharan generation was produced from 2010 to 2022.
Design and features
- Joint venture: the first Sharan was developed with Ford and shared with the Galaxy and Alhambra.
- Seven seats: standard from the 2000 facelift.
- Syncro: all-wheel drive available with the 2.8 VR6.
- Long life: more than fifteen years of the first generation and almost 670,000 cars.
- Routan: the Chrysler-based minivan that replaced it in Mexico.
Volkswagen Sharan versions
- Sharan Mk1 (1995–2000): the original joint-venture car.
- Mk1 facelift (2000–2004): longer wheelbase, new dashboard, seven seats as standard.
- Mk1 second facelift (2004–2010): new grille and round tail lights.
- Sharan Mk2 (2010–2022): the second generation.
- SEAT Alhambra and Ford Galaxy: the same car under other badges.
The Sharan was the largest MPV of the range above the Touran, and its people-carrier role overlapped with the Transporter-based Caravelle. More cars are in the Volkswagen collection.
Video: 2011 Volkswagen Sharan 2.0 TSI Start-Up and Full Vehicle Tour
Video by alexlovesmac on YouTube.
Sources
- Volkswagen Sharan, English Wikipedia: joint venture, generations, facelifts, sales, reliability
