Chrysler Caravan / Grand Caravan

"GreenN_Gold" (GreenN_Gold) 03/10/2015 at 17:13 • Filed to: None

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There are rumors over at Allpar that instead of killing the Caravan name, they may just move it from the Dodge brand to the Chrysler brand. Town & Country would then become the top trim level of the Chrysler Caravan. I actually like this idea a lot better than axing the Caravan name. Also, I realize that the renderings at Allpar are usually pretty bad and often useless, but this rendering does show a pretty successful adaptation of the 200's design language onto a minivan. I think this looks way nicer than the current Town & Country.

HammerheadFistpunch > GreenN_Gold 03/10/2015 at 17:18

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I do think it would be strange to kill the Caravan name, on many levels.

Moves-Like-Senna > GreenN_Gold 03/10/2015 at 17:19

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The rendering reminds me of this

GreenN_Gold > HammerheadFistpunch 03/10/2015 at 17:22

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Strange, and more importantly foolish, at least in my opinion.

GreenN_Gold > Moves-Like-Senna 03/10/2015 at 17:26

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It does a bit, yet even that prior generation looks better than the current Caravan, IMO. This rendering is a little less jelly bean I think, and I really like the fenders/shoulder lines.

HammerheadFistpunch > GreenN_Gold 03/10/2015 at 17:28

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I agree. because I had this handy (don't ask why) I give you the sales numbers for minivans

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Left to right (cause kinja ate my headers) Sienna, Odyssey, T&C, Caravan. Sales year and US numbers. The Caravan alone beats out the sienna AND odyssey in recent years.

GreenN_Gold > HammerheadFistpunch 03/10/2015 at 17:35

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Yes, I've seen the figures. So the real question for me is if they combine the Caravan and T&C into 1 model, how close can that one model get to their current combined sales total of ~270k minivans. It will be interesting to see. Obviously they will enjoy some minor savings in purchasing, advertising, tooling, logistics, etc by eliminating one of the models.

HammerheadFistpunch > GreenN_Gold 03/10/2015 at 17:39

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Yeah, I can't see it. Too many people (more than I want to admit exist) don't even know that a Chrysler is a Dodge.

ranwhenparked > GreenN_Gold 03/10/2015 at 17:39

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Kind of like what they did when they killed Plymouth and moved the Voyager to Chrysler. For a time, Chrysler-Jeep dealerships marketed themselves as having "America's Most Affordable Minivan" (Voyager) and "America's Most Luxurious Minivan" (Town & Country).

Not that they're killing Dodge or anything though.

Brian, The Life of > GreenN_Gold 03/10/2015 at 17:43

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As I recall, the T&C name was originally a trim level as opposed to a model name so this makes perfect sense!

GreenN_Gold > HammerheadFistpunch 03/10/2015 at 17:48

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Even people that do know might draw a distinction in their minds between the brands. Dodge seems like a younger brand than Chrysler to me, and actual buyer demographics bear that out. You could feasibly have a customer for example who says/thinks, "Well I might be forced to buy a minivan, but I'm not buying a Chrysler. That's what my dad used to drive."

GreenN_Gold > ranwhenparked 03/10/2015 at 17:52

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Yes, I don't think they're killing Dodge. (Others have speculated they are.) They are certainly focusing Dodge though by getting rid of all the trucks and vans. Looks like Dodge will get to keep SUV's (too profitable to give that up, I'm sure). Chrysler brand desperately needs an SUV/CUV of some sort. I'm been saying this for years. The Aspen was a sad and short lived effort. My parents love their Pacifica (except the gas mileage, the Pacifica is quite huge, and theirs is AWD).

GreenN_Gold > Brian, The Life of 03/10/2015 at 18:01

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I think you're right, but I can't recall for sure. What would it have been a trim level on? Let's not forget the name existed as early as 1948 that I'm aware of. I turned to Wiki for anything slightly more definitive, but the Wiki page for Chrysler Town & Country seems to think that the world began in 1990.

Brian, The Life of > GreenN_Gold 03/10/2015 at 18:08

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I think it started off as the top trim level for their wagons. I'm not 100%, tho.

ranwhenparked > GreenN_Gold 03/10/2015 at 19:14

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I tend to think Dodge is sticking around too, as Fiat Chrysler is still investing a lot of money in the brand, but moving one of it's best-known and longest established nameplates over to another brand does provide more fuel for those who support the Dodge phase-out idea.

I really think they could use a mainstream subcompact model of some sort to slot between the Dart and 500, if for nothing else, than to balance the extreme CAFE weight toward trucks/SUVs and large/performance cars.

GreenN_Gold > ranwhenparked 03/10/2015 at 19:40

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I still wish they made this.

AMC/Renauledge > GreenN_Gold 03/10/2015 at 21:40

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It is a better idea to keep the Caravan name. But it ought to be a Dodge, or at least a Ram. They're giving away way too many sales. Especially since not all Chrysler dealers sell Dodge/Ram and vice versa.

If Chrysler wants to make a downmarket version of the T&C, they can call it the Voyager, like they do in Europe, and like they did for a few years in America after Plymouth got the axe.

GreenN_Gold > AMC/Renauledge 03/11/2015 at 11:20

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"Especially since not all Chrysler dealers sell Dodge/Ram and vice versa."

It's close though, right? There was a huge push to get rid of stand alone dealers. I'm not sure how many got an exemption from that. We had a stand alone Dodge dealer, and a stand alone Chrysler/Jeep dealer in my area, but they're both long gone now. All the stores around here carry every brand.

I don't think Chrysler brand wants a downmarket T&C, I just think corporate is (smartly) unwilling to abandon the lower end of the market that the Caravan fills.