The Detroit News reports that while Chrysler is only expected to offer one minivan going forward, the vehicle will carry two different names depending on where it's sold. The Dodge Grand Caravan is expected to carry on in Canada while American buyers are likely to continue to be able to buy the Chrysler Town and Country. Reid Brigland, the head of the Dodge brand, said that the Town and Country resonates better with American buyers.
As you may recall, Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne has said that the automaker will only offer one minivan by 2013. In addition, the next-generation Chrysler minivan will offer optional all-wheel drive and have a nine-speed automatic transmission. Buyers will also be able to chose between standard sliding doors and a people-mover configuration with traditional hinged entrances. Chrysler also plans to take the compact-van fight to the Ford C-Max with a smaller platform as well.
The Detroit News says that the next-generation Chrysler minivan will continue to be built in the automaker's Windsor, Ontario facility.
We know minivans aren't all that exciting, but automakers take the sliding door segment very seriously. Chrysler takes special pride in its minivans, which makes sense because Team Pentastar all but invented the segment. Toyota takes just as much pride in the Sienna, which continues to sell well in the face of months of parts shortages due to the Japanese earthquake.
Right now, the two minivans are duking it out for sales supremacy, and Dodge is winning by a nose. Automotive News reports that Dodge has sold 92,930 Grand Caravan models so far in 2011, but the Sienna is down less than 1,000 units with 91,955 copies sold to date. And don't count out the Honda Odyssey. The Odyssey is a close third with 86,436 units sold, beating out the Chrysler Town & Country by 8,000 units. Chrysler can boast a combined 171,185 minivan sales so far in 2011, with 200,000 total 2011 sales within the realm of possibility.
With the Grand Caravan versus Sienna sales battle so close, we're guessing minivan buyers could turn out to be the biggest winners. It's a fair bet that one or both automakers will add incentives to the vans in an effort to secure the sales title, which will mean lower prices for buyers.
Chevy Colorado, rotary not dead, Caravan and Avenger dead, Nissan IQS, VW Golf R
Episode #251 of the Autoblog Podcast is here, with Chris, Zach and Dan making up this week's crew. Topics include the next-generation Chevrolet Colorado being confirmed for the U.S. market, Mazda confirming via Twitter that there will be a new generation of the Rotary engine, Nissan's troubles with the JD Power Initial Quality Study scores, Sergio Marchionne's plan to axe the Dodge Grand Caravan and Avenger and the Volkswagen Golf R pricing information. Your questions and comments power the last third of the podcast, and for those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. We've embedded our Q&A module after the jump for you to scroll through and follow along, too. Thanks for listening!
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Call it a Caravan, call it a Voyager, call it whatever you want - just don't call it a Dodge. Because while it may look exactly like a Dodge, it's actually a Ram. And as the suits in Auburn Hills will point out, the Ram truck brand is no longer under Dodge's purview.
What it's actually called is the Ram C/V, which doesn't stand for Commercial Vehicle but for Cargo Van. It's the panel-wagon version of the Dodge Grand Caravan, and it's just entered production in Windsor, Ontario.
The Class 1 commercial vehicle offers 1,800 pounds of cargo capacity and 3,600 pounds of towing capability for a Gross Combined Weight Rating of 8,750 pounds, all the while delivering up to 25 miles per gallon on the highway. It also gets a heavy-duty radiator and transmission oil cooler over the family-hauling version. It's ready to order now from your local Ram dealership.
Chrysler has announced that it is recalling 299,178 minivans for a potentially dangerous HVAC fault. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, certain 2008 Chrysler Grand Voyager, Town and Country and Dodge Grand Caravan models could have air conditioning systems that leak condensation onto the occupant restraint control module. This can cause the airbag light to illuminate and may eventually lead to the accidental deployment of the supplemental restraints. The vehicles in question were manufactured between June 24, 2007 and July 30, 2008, and NHTSA warns that an accidental airbag deployment could cause occupant injury or lead to a serious accident.
Chrysler dealers will replace the occupant restraint control module free of charge once the recall begins this month. At this point it's unclear whether any work will be done to the HVAC system to prevent condensation from causing the same issue in the future. Click past the jump for a look at the full recall notice. Owners may contact NHTSA or Chrysler for more information.
The testing format was also novel, in that Cars.com paired its own editors with reviewers from USA Today and the MotorWeek television show, plus the Weatherby family, an 'average' family of five - husband, wife and three kids.
After three days of testing and the tallying of numerous criteria, there was, of course, one 7-seater to rule them all. We won't tell you which one it is, but its reviews included both "It doesn't look like such a mommy car" and "Distressingly ugly in profile." The Cars.com video review is after the jump, or head over to the link for the long-form skinny.
