Auburn Hills, Mich. - DaimlerChrysler’s Chrysler Group and Volkswagen today announced that they have reached a formal agreement under which the Auburn Hills, Mich.-based carmaker will manufacture a unique line of VW minivans for the North American market. Production of the future Volkswagen minivan, which will based on the next generation Chrysler and Dodge minivan platform, will begin in 2008.

 

'Although the Volkswagen minivan shares its basic architecture with upcoming Chrysler and Dodge vehicles, this will be an all new product,' said Wolfgang Bernhard, Chairman of the VW Brand Board of Management. 'We're developing a design that will be uniquely Volkswagen's because we believe there's tremendous opportunity in this market for a vehicle of this type.'

 

'This is a win-win deal for both the Chrysler Group and Volkswagen,' said Chrysler Group President and CEO Tom LaSorda. 'With our manufacturing and platform engineering flexibility, we can deliver a high-quality product specifically tailored to Volkswagen's customers' tastes with little or no substitution effect on the current Chrysler and Dodge minivan lineup.'