Volkswagen Sharan

In 1995 the large MPV is still very popular. It is a hard-fought segment with cars such as the Renault Espace, Citroën Evasion and Peugeot 806. Time for Volkswagen to respond to this. The Volkswagen group is doing this in collaboration with Ford. The car was marketed as Ford Galaxy, Volkswagen Sharan and in 1996 also as SEAT Alhambra. Initially, logos and grille were pretty much the only difference between the three cars, but an interim facelift in 2000 brought more diversity. The name Sharan is derived from a Persian word meaning ‘bearer of kings’.

In 1995 the large MPV is still very popular. It is a hard-fought segment with cars such as the Renault Espace, Citroën Evasion and Peugeot 806. Time for Volkswagen to respond to this. The Volkswagen group is doing this in collaboration with Ford. The car was marketed as Ford Galaxy, Volkswagen Sharan and in 1996 also as SEAT Alhambra. Initially, logos and grille were pretty much the only difference between the three cars, but an interim facelift in 2000 brought more diversity. The name Sharan is derived from a Persian word meaning ‘bearer of kings’.

Step up

Only in 2010 the second and current generation appeared. Meanwhile, Ford had a new Galaxy of its own, so the MPV triplets were now twins. The new Sharan/Alhambra was not only bigger than the first model, but also a lot more luxurious. New were sliding rear doors, where the first generation still had conventional doors.

End (not) in sight

After a subtle interim facelift, this somewhat aging Alhambra is still in the showrooms, although the model disappeared from the Dutch market in 2019. The car market now looks very different and there is relatively little demand for such large MPVs. Still, there has not been a word about a possible production stop of the model. If it does come to that, then a successor is not obvious. Volkswagen now also offers enough alternatives for those who have to go out with a lot of people.

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