Keeping the game alive
Carlsbad, Calif. — The next battleground in the auto game will take place in the oft-overlooked arena of the minivan.
While a few companies have pulled out of the game altogether, leaving the field open for some very good entries from Japanese and Korean manufacturers, Chrysler is not willing to concede this important segment.
With minivans making up something like 11% of total North American automobile purchases (and they're the third-highest selling segment in Canada), the numbers are nothing to sneer at, and neither is the vehicle itself. Minivans make more sense than the current trend toward seven-seater crossover utes, and can come in at a substantially lower sticker price as well.
So it makes sense that Chrysler (now known as The New Chrysler, apparently) is stepping up to the plate with significant new offerings in the segment. The company has done well with minivans in the past, and aims to keep the game alive in the future.
Thus it was that last week, The New Chrysler (now with 80% more Cerberus) debuted its next advance in a segment that you will recall — if you’re old like me — they practically invented.
The products on view were the Grand Caravan (the Dodge edition of said mini-vees), and the Town and Country (when gussied up and badged a Chrysler). With minivans' having been the bread and butter of Chrysler in the past (particularly north of the border), you can expect that the company would do them right in the latest issue, and they did.
Under either brand, the new-for-’08 vans bring a refined redesign of a venerable platform, with updated choices and focus on the intended purpose of the vehicle. Their intention to bring back the “style” aspect to North American-built minivans (the vehicles will be built in Windsor, Ont.) and put it on the road in a package that will attract buyers in the target demographic (folks with a second child on the way and, going by the numbers, a median age of 28 to 49).
Naturally, the Town & Country is at the higher end of the two offerings, while the Dodge-badged Grand Cee is the workaday family hauler for people more concerned with value (and residual value) than turning heads.
The common factors between the marques include a newly redesigned body (a labour of love by the company’s Jeep and truck vice-president, Ralph Gilles) that sees the body widened by two inches, making for better curb appeal in addition to creating better stability in an inherently high-centred vehicle.
The B-pillar has been narrowed and strengthened, and the unibody construction is 18% stronger than previous generations of the company’s mainstay minis. A new front suspension and rear twist-beam suspension with a load-leveling capability has improved the ride and handling of the vans, and thicker glass and reshaped side mirrors reduce road noise.
Side airbags are now standard for all three rows of seating, along with load limiting seatbelts, HID headlamps and available options are highlighted by a couple of my personal favorites for larger vehicles: a rear backup camera (displayed through the centrally located LCD screen) and rear backup alarm (only on the Town & Country).
GRAND CARAVAN
Bread and butter vehicle of the Dodge brand, the GC will be released in Canada in three trim levels: the SE, the SXT and something called the “Canada Value Package.”
The SE and SXT both offer Chrysler’s innovative Stow ’n Go seating, allowing maximum flexibility for cargo/passenger combinations; and the option exists for the latest gimmick in minivan seating, the Swivel ’n Go rig, which allows the second row to rotate 180 degrees to face the third row, conference-style.
Four-wheel-disc ABS is standard on all models.
Grand Caravans start at an MSRP of $26,495 (Value Package), $28,795 for the SE with Stow ’n Go, and the SXT begins at $30,495
TOWN & COUNTRY
All right, I am tired of typing the "’n” thing, so I will just say that the same seating options exist for the T & C as on the Grand Caravan, but the Town & Country ups the ante with a more refined interior and a higher-horsed base engine (a 3.8 litre V6 with 197 horses, as opposed to the GC’s base engine- a 3.3 litre with 175). The Town & Country is offered as basically two models in Canada, the Touring and the Limited; major differences between the two are the leather seating of the Limited and its larger-yet engine, the top-line 4.0 litre SOHC V6, bringing 251 hp to the platform, along with all the premium features of the Dodge model. The Town & Country starts with a sticker of $35,95 and coasts to $42,895 for the Limited.
I had a chance to drive both models and all three engines at the debut in California, and I will say here that even at the lowest displacement (3.3 litres), all powerplants move the van very well (just, y’know, a bit less oomph on the straightaway, though still adequate for normal use).
Let me recommend a test drive of the new minivans from the people who know minivans – a decent list of standard equipment and a litany of available options will satisfy anyone looking to option up the vehicles to living-room-on-wheels levels and beyond.
Find a dealer that sells the Chrysler Town & Country
or the Dodge Grand Caravan
Find used Chrysler Town & Countrys
or Dodge Grand Caravans
Other vehicle reviews for Chrysler and Dodge
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