Chrysler calls minivan's obit premature
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With apologies to Mark Twain, reports of the death of the Dodge Grand Caravan minivan may be greatly exaggerated.
Citing a source, Bloomberg recently reported that 2012 would be the last model year for the venerable Dodge people mover. But Chrysler says it "hasn't wavered from its five-year cycle plan for two minivans. It doesn't call for a change until 2014 and includes both Grand Caravan and Town & Country."
Still, something seems to be going on within Chrysler's product planning department involving people movers. At the Detroit auto show in January, Chrysler displayed a minivan concept that it called the 700C to gauge public reaction to the styling. Asked then about the minivan plan, Chrysler-Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne simply said: "We need a new one."
And one might be the operative number.
When Chrysler had lots of single-brand dealerships, twin minivans meant the company could put one of its signature products on almost every lot. But now that most Chrysler dealers carry all of its brands, developing two very similar minivans at different price points -- the Dodge sells for less than $30,000, the Chrysler for more than $30,000 -- and lining them up next to one another on the same dealer lot makes little sense.
According to R.L. Polk, about two-thirds of Grand Caravan registrations in the United States are fleet sales, while about two-thirds of registrations for the Town & Country are retail sales. So letting the two minivans live through 2014 until a single proper replacement is developed probably makes sense.
