It’s time for a real Caravan Cargo Van

Chrysler is again missing some important sales opportunities here. The cargo van page notes that “the rear hatch and dual sliding doors ease loading and unloading.” Dual sliding doors, yes, rear hatch, very definitely no.

For a commercial vehicle, hatches do not work. For most courier, messenger, and delivery work, hatches are slow, hard to use, and get in the way. Try to load a small skid with a fork lift, or use a courier loading dock without banging your head on the hatch.

I did this work for 10 years, much of that time as a supervisor of 25 messenger routes. Back in the 1980s and 1990s, side-opening rear doors were available on Caravans though they were advertised so poorly that many Dodge truck salesmen did not know they existed.

This could be a hot item. Vans are more versatile than pick-ups for this work. And, yes, there are full-size cargo vans available. But back when Chevrolet sold Astro vans, they were very popular in the delivery business, (while neither the Ford Aerostar nor the FWD vans could make any kind of inraod). They were cheaper to buy, much more maneuverable around town, saved on fuel, and had normal rear doors. All these items are even more important today, but there is no small van available for this use due to the lack of proper rear doors.

Whatever the new commercial Caravan sales will be, they could be increased probably 50 - 75% with a pair of side-hinged doors on the rear if they were properly advertised to the trades.

(Dave from Allpar added: What’s more, many tradesmen build shelves and other storage units inside their vans. If Chrysler provided accessible floor and roof mounting points and made optional interior-window-blocks, it would also greatly expand the usefulness of these vehicles.)