For the Volkswagen Santana (also sold as the Ford Galaxy) built in Argentina in the 1990s, see Ford Versailles.

The first Galaxy was designed as a joint venture

Joint venture

A joint venture is a business agreement in which parties agree to develop, for a finite time, a new entity and new assets by contributing equity. They exercise control over the enterprise and consequently share revenues, expenses and assets...

 product between Ford

Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...

 and the Volkswagen Group

Volkswagen Group

Volkswagen Group is a German multinational automobile manufacturing group. , Volkswagen was ranked as the world’s third largest motor vehicle manufacturer and Europe's largest....

. Produced at the joint-venture AutoEuropa

AutoEuropa

AutoEuropa - Automóveis Lda. is a motor vehicle assembly plant, located in the city of Palmela, Portugal.-Foundation:After signature of a joint venture agreement between Volkswagen Group and Ford in July 1991, the 2million sqm plant was built in four years, including a surrounding industrial park...

 plant in Palmela

Palmela

Palmela is a town and a municipality in Portugal with a total area of and a total population of 58,222 inhabitants.The municipality is composed of 5 parishes, and is located in Setúbal District, about south of Lisbon.The municipal holiday is June 1....

, Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

, the vehicle was badge-engineered to create three vehicles: the Ford Galaxy; by Volkswagen Passenger Cars

Volkswagen

Volkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...

 as the Volkswagen Sharan

Volkswagen Sharan

The Volkswagen Sharan is a large MPV produced by the German automaker Volkswagen since 1995.-First generation :The name Sharan is derived from a Persian word meaning "Carrier of Kings"....

; and by SEAT

SEAT

SEAT, S.A. is a Spanish automobile manufacturer founded on May 9, 1950 by the Instituto Nacional de Industria , a state-owned industrial holding company....

 as the Alhambra

SEAT Alhambra

The SEAT Alhambra is a large 7-seat MPV by the Volkswagen Group, sold under the SEAT brand.The Alhambra already spans two generations since 1996, and both of them are built at the AutoEuropa plant in Palmela, Portugal...

.

The Galaxy used predominantly Volkswagen Group mechanicals, most notably the 2.8 litre VR6

VR6 engine

The VR6 engine is an internal combustion engine configuration, consisting of six cylinders. It was developed by the Volkswagen Group in the late 1980s, and evolutions of the original variant are still produced by them....

 petrol engine from the top versions of the Volkswagen Golf

Volkswagen Golf

The Volkswagen Golf is a small family car manufactured by Volkswagen since 1974 and marketed worldwide across six generations, in various body configurations and under various nameplates – as the Volkswagen Rabbit in the United States and Canada , and as the Volkswagen Caribe in Mexico .The...

, as well as Volkswagen Group's 1.9 litre Turbocharged Direct Injection

Turbocharged Direct Injection

TDI or Turbocharged Direct Injection is a design of turbodiesel engines, which feature turbocharging and cylinder-direct fuel injection, developed and produced by Volkswagen Group. These TDI engines are widely used in all mainstream Volkswagen Group marques of passenger cars and light commercial...

 (TDI) turbodiesel

Turbodiesel

Turbodiesel refers to any diesel engine with a turbocharger. Turbocharging is the norm rather than the exception in modern car and truck diesel engines...

 unit.