Volkswagen Sharan II

While most of the European families readying themselves for their long summer getaway, it is not surprising that the brand behind the Beetles, Golfs, and Polos has just launched the second-generation Sharan just in time to prepare themselves for their long getaway.

Launched at the Geneva Motor Show since March and sales start this August, the new VW Sharan is mainly the target of small-sized minivans such as the second-generation Opel Meriva, Honda Freed, and the new Honda Freed Spike. With its trademark Volkswagen design, spacious seating arrangements, and good for seven people, especially the kids, this VW-made minivan is the main choice for the European families, even when the previous model made a milestone of having more than 600,000 Sharans sold worldwide.

Under the hood, the new Sharan covers 2 available engines such as the 1.4 TSI BlueMotion Technology engine, and the 2.0 TDI BlueMotion Engine. Both of these engines combine the aesthetics of being clean, powerful, and fuel-efficient engines, and henceforth the new Volkswagen Sharan dubbed as the perfect European eco-car for the masses. In addition, there are two available transmissions available for the new Sharan such as the 6-speed manual transmission and the 6-speed DSG.

The new Sharan's EasyFold seating system with EasyEntry function allows passengers to gain access to the third row seats without hassles. It can be folded for various seating arrangements available for multiple uses. These arrangements look perfect to bring more stuff around the average European family before beginning their big European summer break.

My thoughts about the Sharan:
While it may not seem to be a fun-to-drive minivan, this best-seller is now evolved to be a fuel-efficient eco-car targeted for European families readying themselves for summer break, from camping trips, wild adventures, tailgate parties, entrapment operations, or just for fun. Its downsize was the pricing because the Sharan's introductory price of 28,875 Euros is somewhat higher than the new Opel Meriva's introductory price of 15,900 Euros. However, the base 1.4L variant of the new Sharan's power output is 150PS, is higher than 100PS power output of the new Meriva's base 1.4L variant, which brings the new Sharan closer to its performance core. In my highest expectations, when Volkswagen returns to the Philippines, the new Sharan would be a hard-to-get among high-class Philippine people, especially the celebrities, because the pricing would reach to a Mercedes-Benz level.