Minivan

Chevy will get a version of small Nissan cargo van

12:01 am U.S. ET | May 20, 2013
General Motors will sell a restyled version of Nissan's four-cylinder NV200 commercial van as the 2015 Chevrolet City Express in the fall of 2014.... Read More »

 

GM to rebadge Nissan's small commercial vans for Chevy

10:42 am U.S. ET | May 14, 2013
General Motors has turned to Nissan to put Chevrolet dealers into the small cargo van market. GM, in a statement today, said it will rebadge Nissan's new four-cylinder NV200 commercial van as the Chevrolet City Express in the fall of 2014.... Read More »

 

LARRY P. VELLEQUETTE

Why the stakes are high for Chrysler's new minivan

2:48 pm U.S. ET | March 29, 2013
After way more than a year of debate back and forth, Chrysler Group has settled on a design for its next generation minivan. But in an interview with the Detroit Free Press at the New York auto show this week, Chrysler design head Ralph Gilles wouldn't disclose whether the single minivan would remain a Chrysler Town & Country or stay as a Dodge Grand Caravan.... Read More »

 

DIANA T. KURYLKO

What took so long to scrap the Routan?

1:24 pm U.S. ET | March 28, 2013
Volkswagen of America finally decided to do away with the slow-selling Routan minivan and will phase it out this year. What took so long?... Read More »

 

VW to drop Routan minivan from U.S. lineup

1:20 pm U.S. ET | March 27, 2013
Volkswagen plans to discontinue sales of the Routan, a rebadged Chrysler-built minivan VW has offered since 2008, the company's top U.S. executive said today. The Routan will be phased out this year, with most units destined for “internal purposes” such as VW's corporate fleet, said Jonathan Browning, CEO of Volkswagen Group of America.... Read More »

 

Nissan cab navigates New York politics

12:01 am U.S. ET | March 18, 2013
Just days before showing the latest version of its upcoming New York taxi at the city's international auto show, Nissan Motor Co. is still working its way through the political and legal thickets of the venture.... Read More »

 

Chrysler slows minivan production at Canada plant

3:01 pm U.S. ET | March 11, 2013
Chrysler Group has slowed production at its minivan plant in Windsor, Ontario, this week. The plant's three shifts will work four-hour shifts instead of eight-hour shifts for at least the next week making the Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan minivans.... Read More »

 

Ford recalls 230,000 minivans for corrosion issue

10:29 am U.S. ET | March 7, 2013
Ford is recalling about 230,000 older minivans globally to fix a corrosion problem that could prevent the fold-down third-row seats from locking in place.... Read More »

 

CHICAGO AUTO SHOW

Big fwd vans will fill gap in Chrysler lineup

12:01 am U.S. ET | Feb. 11, 2013
Chrysler Group will fill a gaping hole in its commercial vehicle lineup this year with the 2014 Ram ProMaster, a full-sized front-wheel drive van based on the Fiat Ducato.... Read More »

 

CHICAGO AUTO SHOW

Nissan has big hopes for small van

12:01 am U.S. ET | Feb. 11, 2013
Nissan Motor Co., tipping its hat to Ford Motor Co. for opening the U.S. market to small cargo vans, plans to pit its own small van against Ford's Transit Connect. Last week at the Chicago Auto Show, Nissan officials unveiled the production version of the front-wheel-drive NV200, which goes on sale on April 1.... Read More »

 

LARRY P. VELLEQUETTE

New van crop is ugly — but in a money-making way

1:10 pm U.S. ET | Feb. 8, 2013
Not to burst the ego of the automotive stylists who worked on them, but the new commercial vans that are about to flood the market are ugly. Beautifully, hideously ugly. The vans from Nissan North America, Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Group are to automotive design what a young Mike Tyson was to opposing boxers: unorthodox and confusing, but devastatingly effective.... Read More »

 

2013 CHICAGO AUTO SHOW

Chrysler back in commercial van market with Ram ProMaster

12:01 am U.S. ET | Feb. 7, 2013
Chrysler Group is driving back into the commercial van segment after a three-year absence with the introduction of the 2014 Ram ProMaster. The ProMaster is based on the Fiat Ducato van, which has been on sale in Europe for more than 30 years. It will be built in Saltillo, Mexico, for sale in North and South America, and is expected to arrive in dealerships this fall.... Read More »

 

2013 CHICAGO AUTO SHOW

Nissan guns for Ford with small cargo van

11:30 am U.S. ET | Feb. 7, 2013
Nissan, tipping its hat to Ford for opening the U.S. market to small cargo vans, plans to pit its own small van against Ford’s Transit Connect.... Read More »

 

NORTH AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL AUTO SHOW

Ford's van plan: More flexibility

12:01 am U.S. ET | Jan. 21, 2013
The Ford Transit, coming to dealerships in the first half of 2014, offers commercial customers three roof heights, three body lengths and two wheelbases. In addition, Ford is redesigning the smaller Transit Connect for 2014.... Read More »

 

Chrysler says startup van maker has won a U.S. monopoly

3:21 pm U.S. ET | Dec. 17, 2012
A startup van maker that has received U.S. government loans won a regulatory decision that Chrysler said will give its competitor a monopoly on selling wheelchair-accessible minivans to transit agencies.... Read More »

 

VW says it will resume Routan production in 2013

2:33 pm U.S. ET | Dec. 17, 2012
Volkswagen today wiped out rumors of the Routan's demise, saying that production of the Chrysler-built minivan should resume by summer 2013. Executives from Volkswagen and Chrysler Group spoke on Friday about the Routan, a redesigned version of the Chrysler Town & Country that Chrysler assembles in Windsor, Ontario.... Read More »

 

VW, Chrysler deciding future of minivan

12:01 am U.S. ET | Dec. 17, 2012
Volkswagen AG is negotiating with Chrysler Group about future production of its Routan minivan, Bloomberg reported. The slow-selling minivan is based on the Chrysler Town & Country... Read More »

 

VW negotiates with Chrysler on minivan future as output pauses

Dec. 13, 2012 09:19 CET
Volkswagen is negotiating with Chrysler about future production of its Routan minivan in Windsor, Canada, as output of the model stops for at least five months.... Read More »

 

A minivan's function, without the moniker

12:01 am U.S. ET | Dec. 10, 2012
In England, vehicles such as the Ford Transit Connect Wagon are called cheap and cheerful basic family transportation. By bringing the seven-passenger Transit Connect Wagon stateside next year, Ford Motor Co. is taking a calculated risk that this kind of people hauler will find buyers here.... Read More »

 

BRADFORD WERNLE

Ford bets Transit Connect Wagon, like a snowflake, is one of a kind

7:00 am U.S. ET | Dec. 1, 2012
In England, they call vehicles like the Ford Transit Connect Wagon “cheap and cheerful” basic family transportation. Over in Europe, where it was conceived and designed, the Transit Connect competes with the likes of the Renault Kangoo, Citroen Berlingo and Peugeot Partner as inexpensive and versatile haulers of people and goods.... Read More »

 

2012 LOS ANGELES AUTO SHOW

Chrysler's new minivan goes upscale

1:03 pm U.S. ET | Nov. 27, 2012
Chrysler Group, which popularized the minivan nearly 30 years ago, will showcase an upscale version of its Chrysler Town & Country family minivan at the Los Angeles Auto Show this week.... Read More »

 

NICK BUNKLEY

How to buy a minivan without really trying

6:36 pm U.S. ET | Nov. 15, 2012
The scene is a Ford dealership in the fall of 2013. And a customer is looking for anything but a minivan. But also very soccer friendly.... Read More »

 

L.A. AUTO SHOW

Ford aims anti-minivan at the under-30 crowd

6:10 pm U.S. ET | Nov. 13, 2012
Ford is planning a seven-passenger vehicle aimed at young families that features sliding doors and enough interior space to hold some 465 soccer balls. But don't call it a minivan.... Read More »

 

Marchionne favors Town & Country minivan

12:01 am U.S. ET | Nov. 5, 2012
CEO Sergio Marchionne wants the Chrysler Town & Country to survive as the Chrysler Group's traditional minivan with sliding doors, but he says a final decision is still in the works.... Read More »

 

2012 PARIS AUTO SHOW

Kia hopes fresh design will boost appeal of Carens minivan

Sept. 19, 2012 14:29 CET
Kia aims to attract a new group of consumers when it launches the new Carens medium minivan in Europe early next year. The company today released pictures of the third-generation Carens, which will debut at the Paris auto show on September 27.... Read More »