With four design concepts in the mix, Chrysler continues to whipsaw on which brand will be the sole source of the next generation of minivan -- a vehicle that has come to define the automaker and feed the bottom line.
The four concepts: a Dodge and a Chrysler minivan and a Dodge and a Chrysler crossover, are being shown to consumer clinics now as the company figures out how to badge them for sale in 2014 as 2015 models.
Minivans are personal at Chrysler -- they rescued the automaker from the brink of financial collapse in 1983 and continued to generate millions in profits by leading the market for decades in a segment that exceeded 1 million units for 12 years.
Currently the automaker sells two brands of minivan: the Chrysler Town & Country and the Dodge Grand Caravan. But when the next-generation redesign goes on sale, only one brand will sell a traditional minivan with sliding doors. The other will get a crossover that rides on the same underpinnings but with conventional doors.
Which storied minivan nameplate survives?
CEO Sergio Marchionne keeps fanning the speculative flames. Initial comments had Chrysler retaining the Town & Country, which for years outsold the Dodge in the U.S. But the CEO's most recent remarks on the topic suggested Dodge will keep the minivan, creating room for a premium crossover for the Chrysler brand.
Marchionne can vacillate because design chief Ralph Gilles and his team have designed four scenarios, creating markedly different minivans for each brand, as well as distinctive crossovers.
"That's why he (Marchionne) can say what he's saying because he knows we have several projects cooking," Gilles told the Free Press.
"We know not all of them will see the light of day, but we spend a lot of time studying scenarios, trying out designs that could work in each scenario so we're ready whichever way it goes," Gilles said. "Luckily the designs, even though they look completely different, they are very transferable. It makes for more work for us but we don't mind because there are great nuggets we can use in future programs."
Chrysler remains committed to the minivan segment that was more than 1 million strong annually from 1993 to 2005 but fell to 424,000 in 2009. This year, sales are already back to more than 532,000 with one more month to report.
"They are my bread and butter," said Saad Chehab, head of the Chrysler brand, and he has no intention of relinquishing leadership.
"Look at the competition: Honda and Toyota are investing in refreshes and renewals in minivans," Chehab said.
Families drove station wagons in 1980 when Chrysler decided to proceed with a funny-looking vehicle it called the "garageable van."
It was a huge gamble on a nameless vehicle by a company on the brink of financial collapse and assembled by a nervous workforce staking their livelihoods on its success.
Chrysler staked its claim when the first minivan, a blue Plymouth Voyager with wood trim, rolled off the line in Windsor on Oct. 3, 1983.
Within a month, there was a four-month backlog of orders, and the minivan became Chrysler's first signature vehicle.
Chrysler profits went from $925 million in 1983 to $2.4 billion in 1984, and the minivan was credited with saving the company. Chrysler had no serious competition until the 1994 Ford Windstar. The Town & Country held the sales crown until the Honda Odyssey toppled it in 2007. By 2010, the Chrysler luxury van was back on top and this year, the Dodge is ahead of the field.
Bob Shuman, owner of Shuman Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram in Walled Lake, said minivans account for about 15% of his sales and have been as high as 40% over the years. He leases a lot of Chrysler Town & Country minivans because they have the higher residual value.
If the decision is to give Dodge the next minivan, he is not concerned. "I'm sure there will be a top Dodge trim level with a high residual that will work well as a lease vehicle," he said.
"My store has always been a minivan store," Shuman said. "It's the most efficient and practical vehicle we sell." And it's not just families. Many buyers are empty-nesters and those who want space and functionality.
"Somehow it got a stigma attached. But we still sell a lot of them," Shuman said.
Gilles won't say which concepts are resonating in the clinics and recognizes that consumer tastes are always changing.
Chehab agrees. "Every week or two there is something new or a situation or trend that we look at and it kind of tweaks our thinking," he said, in the constant pursuit of products relevant to the marketplace that will be a sales home run.
Gilles sees new products changing the nature of both Chrysler and Dodge.
"The beauty of this is I think the brands are evolving real-time right now," Gilles said. "The Dart has brought a new dimension to Dodge while the S (performance) models are bringing in younger Chrysler buyers.
"When you see the median age of a brand ebb downwards you see the potential," he said.
Visit the Happy Car Salesman, Ed Dancel at Southfield Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram.
Southfield Chrysler, 28100 Telegraph Rd, Southfield, MI 48034, 248-354-2950
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