The Sharan was the Volkswagen-badged product from a joint venture between Volkswagen and Ford Motor Company to produce vehicles in the increasingly important MPV market, which was filled at the time by Renault's Espace and Chrysler's Voyager.
The resulting Volkswagen Sharan concept (and Ford Galaxy) was shown at the 1994 Paris Auto Show, and production started in May 1995.
The name Sharan is derived from a Persian word meaning "Carrier of Kings".
In the United Kingdom, the name was often mocked for sounding similar to a popular Essex girl's name "Sharon".

The Volkswagen Group subsequently rebadged the Sharan and sold it as the SEAT Alhambra alongside the Sharan.
All variants were produced at the joint venture's plant AutoEuropa in Portugal, alongside the closely related Ford Galaxy.
The Sharan was on sale from 1995 to 2010, accompanied with facelifts in 2000 and 2004.

As of 2007, the annual production for the Sharan is in the 50,000 unit range; it is sold in Europe, South Africa and some Asia Pacific and Latin American countries.
In Mexico, it was available with the 1.8L Turbo 4 cil 150 hp (112 kW) with five speed Tiptronic automatic gearbox in Comfortline trim only, while in Argentina it is available with the 1.8L Turbo and the 1.9L TDI 115 hp four cylinder engines, in both five speed manual and five speed Tiptronic transmissions in Trendline trim only.

The cooperation between Volkswagen and Ford ended in 2006, with the latter going alone in building the second generation Galaxy.

The Sharan was not sold in the United States and Canada.
Originally, this was due to an agreement between Ford and Volkswagen, leaving the market free from competition for Ford's Aerostar minivan.
Volkswagen later decided not to introduce the Sharan in North America, ceased developing the Microbus concept, and instead introduced a badge-engineered variant of the Chrysler minivans as the Routan.
This was launched in 2009, and replaced the Sharan in Mexico which was the only North American country where the Sharan was sold.

Scoring 200 points on the United Kingdom Reliability Index, the Sharan is considered very unreliable when compared to the average vehicle score of 100, while a very reliable vehicle scores 60 or below.
The average age and repair cost of the tested Sharan was 5,3 years and covered 63,546 miles.
It has been noted that, despite enjoying high popularity, the Sharan has consistently performed poorly in UK customer satisfaction surveys, including a last place 138th in a 2003 survey.
Although quality problems existed in the original version, the Sharan quickly became the best selling MPV in Germany.
It also sold better there than the technically identical SEAT Alhambra and Ford Galaxy despite costing up to 2500 euros more.

The first generation Volkswagen Sharan was on sale for over 15 years having been built almost unchanged during the time.
By the time it was replaced in 2011 it was one of the longest running car models in Europe.
Despite its age, nearly 24,000 Sharans were still being sold annually as of 2008.
In total, Volkswagen sold almost 670,000 units of its Sharan.
The Sharan was the Volkswagen-badged product from a joint venture between Volkswagen and Ford Motor Company to produce vehicles in the increasingly important MPV market, which was filled at the time by Renault's Espace and Chrysler's Voyager. The resulting Volkswagen Sharan concept (and Ford Galaxy) was shown at the 1994 Paris Auto Show, and production started in May 1995. The name Sharan is derived from a Persian word meaning "Carrier of Kings". In the United Kingdom, the name was often mocked for sounding similar to a popular Essex girl's name "Sharon".
The Volkswagen Group subsequently rebadged the Sharan and sold it as the SEAT Alhambra alongside the Sharan. All variants were produced at the joint venture's plant AutoEuropa in Portugal, alongside the closely related Ford Galaxy. The Sharan was on sale from 1995 to 2010, accompanied with facelifts in 2000 and 2004.
As of 2007, the annual production for the Sharan is in the 50,000 unit range; it is sold in Europe, South Africa and some Asia Pacific and Latin American countries. In Mexico, it was available with the 1.8L Turbo 4 cil 150 hp (112 kW) with five speed Tiptronic automatic gearbox in Comfortline trim only, while in Argentina it is available with the 1.8L Turbo and the 1.9L TDI 115 hp four cylinder engines, in both five speed manual and five speed Tiptronic transmissions in Trendline trim only.
The cooperation between Volkswagen and Ford ended in 2006, with the latter going alone in building the second generation Galaxy.
The Sharan was not sold in the United States and Canada. Originally, this was due to an agreement between Ford and Volkswagen, leaving the market free from competition for Ford's Aerostar minivan. Volkswagen later decided not to introduce the Sharan in North America, ceased developing the Microbus concept, and instead introduced a badge-engineered variant of the Chrysler minivans as the Routan. This was launched in 2009, and replaced the Sharan in Mexico which was the only North American country where the Sharan was sold.
Scoring 200 points on the United Kingdom Reliability Index, the Sharan is considered very unreliable when compared to the average vehicle score of 100, while a very reliable vehicle scores 60 or below. The average age and repair cost of the tested Sharan was 5,3 years and covered 63,546 miles. It has been noted that, despite enjoying high popularity, the Sharan has consistently performed poorly in UK customer satisfaction surveys, including a last place 138th in a 2003 survey. Although quality problems existed in the original version, the Sharan quickly became the best selling MPV in Germany. It also sold better there than the technically identical SEAT Alhambra and Ford Galaxy despite costing up to 2500 euros more.
The first generation Volkswagen Sharan was on sale for over 15 years having been built almost unchanged during the time. By the time it was replaced in 2011 it was one of the longest running car models in Europe. Despite its age, nearly 24,000 Sharans were still being sold annually as of 2008. In total, Volkswagen sold almost 670,000 units of its Sharan.
Volkswagen Sharan