"No," said VW, in so many words, "we're not late coming to the party. It's actually our party. Our new Touran, after all, is heir to the legendary VW microbus which started the whole MPV thing 50 years ago." Point taken, but it does underline the marque's long slide from courageous innovator to cautious matron. Hugh Lambert reports.
The Touran, due on the market here in late July, will not be reworking VW's image. It's inescapably Wolfsburg - built to last, engined with a responsible eye on economy and ecology, and looking sensible, restrained and unremarkable.
None of your sexy swells, chrome flourishes or bambi headlights, dankeschön! We'll leave all that to Renault, Opel and Citroën.
So, can the Touran hack it in the midi-MPV market which has already been pretty well carved up by the Scenic, the Zafira, the Picasso and the rest? Of course it can - it's a VW.
The Touran may be staid, but there's lots to talk about on board. It comes on an all-new platform with new multilink rear suspension which will feature in up to 10 other models through VW, Audi, Seat and Skoda.
The engine line-up promises frugal consumption and large service intervals; it ranges from 1.6 spark ignition and 1.6 FSI direct petrol injection to 2.0 TDI diesel.
Out and about in Andalucia last week our 1.6 FSI Touran moved efficiently and decisively as directed, exactly as you'd expect of a VW. Kilometres were devoured comfortably, always with plenty of power in reserve if a need arose for fancy foot-work. With our six-speed gearbox (in all FSI and TDI versions), we were discreet kings of the road - forget that Carrera which ate us for breakfast on the Marbella bypass.
The inside story? VW has pondered hard and long on the interior and upped the MPV game where it counts. This is an airy, roomy, very comfortable bus and it has plenty of windows in every direction.
It's a five-seater, with two more kiddie seats available as an option. Somebody in Wolfsburg did the calculations: 500 seating configurations are possible. Presumably the same person had to measure the space left when the back rows are stowed or removed - a very handy 1,913 litres.
He or she also counted 39 different storage hideaways to tuck away anything from your priceless set of miniature thimbles to the Oxford English Reference Dictionary (the 12 lb comprehensive edition).
The RNS system takes the pain, and some of the fun, out of navigating foreign parts. We settled down fairly quickly with it, although the display could have been a little closer to eye level. As a result we did more listening than looking.
The Touran comes with "intelligent" wipers which had the disconcerting opposed motion of a patient scoutmaster flapping his arms silently. Still, they clean more window and occasionally reverse the angle of the rubber blade to prolong life.
The Touran is a dyed-in-the-wool VW with all the Wolfsburg baggage. This, inevitably, points it in the direction of sensible drivers of a certain age. But it also means that it can certainly fly the marque's flag with confidence.
It comes in three trims - Comfortline, Trendline and, up there in the world of brushed aluminium, the Highline. Prices will range from €26,175 to €42,125.