The new Sharan made an appearance at the Geneva show and is larger than the old one in all dimensions but most striking is that it is nine inches longer, but manages to come in at 30kg lighter. All models have the seven seats with access to the second and third row being through a sliding door, in the higher specs this goes to an electronically operated one.
For storage and capacity all five rear seats can fold flat, with the middle three sliding back and forward and VW state that seven adults can be accommodated.
The engine range starts at 1.4 TSI, but the fact that it is a combination of a supercharger and turbocharger gives in an impressive 148bhp which makes it good for the job, the rest of the range come in at the 2 litre in 138bhp and 168bhp turbo diesel and a 198bhp turbo petrol which has been twined with the twin-clutch semi-automatic DSG gearbox.
Apart from the 198bhp petrol all the engines come with a stop/start system and regenerative braking. The most economical version is the 138bhp coming in at 52.3 mpg and 143g/km CO2.
Finally the option of adaptive chassis control system allows the driver three choices of normal, comfort and sport for the dampers and the park assist system allows it to steer itself into parking spaces at right-angles to the direction of traffic. In its original format the Sharan was more or less the same as the Ford Galaxy or SEAT Alhambra and though the Ford connection is no longer this is most definitely a replacement for the Alhambra.