Whelp, they can kiss their minivan market segment domination goodbye. And they're throwing the entire Canadian minivan market out the window (Caravan outsells T&C by 10:1 here - not to mention being the #1 selling vehicle in Canada).

 

Yep over at GM they are in a full panic, Since they are not one or two in a couple of segments and there is brand confusion they are going to have to Kill GMC pickups and GMC and Buick SUV/CUV product lines. Look for it in a soon to be announced five year plan.

 

ASININE
as·i·nine

ˈasəˌnīn/

adjective
adjective: asinine

1. 
   
   
   
   extremely stupid or foolish.
   "Lydia ignored his asinine remark"
   
   
   synonyms:
   
   stupid, foolish, brainless, mindless, senseless, idiotic, imbecilic, ridiculous,ludicrous, absurd, nonsensical, fatuous, silly, inane, witless, empty-headed;
   
   
   informalhalfwitted, dimwitted, dumb, moronic
   "an asinine stunt"
   
   
   
   
   
   
   antonyms:
   
   intelligent, sensible
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

 

So, why does the Grand Caravan outsell the Town & Country "10:1" in Canada?

I've heard that statement many times, but never heard WHY that is the case.

 

ASININE
as·i·nine

ˈasəˌnīn/

adjective
adjective: asinine

1. 
   
   
   
   extremely stupid or foolish.
   "Lydia ignored his asinine remark"
   synonyms: stupid, foolish, brainless, mindless, senseless, idiotic, imbecilic, ridiculous,ludicrous, absurd, nonsensical, fatuous, silly, inane, witless, empty-headed;
   
   
   informalhalfwitted, dimwitted, dumb, moronic
   "an asinine stunt"
   
   
   
   antonyms:
   intelligent, sensible
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

only asinine thing around here is killing Caravan.

 

Whelp, they can kiss their minivan market segment domination goodbye. And they're throwing the entire Canadian minivan market out the window (Caravan outsells T&C by 10:1 here - not to mention being the #1 selling vehicle in Canada).

Wonder why those fellas in the other threads (Chrysler's 5 Year Plan and Dodge's 5 Year Plan) don't know this. As I stated in the other threads, my 5 year plan is to purchase another G Caravan before Sergio enacts his plan to cut the vehicle.

 

Luckily 3.3's seem to run forever so I should have my 02 GC for a good, long time.

 

So, why does the Grand Caravan outsell the Town & Country "10:1" in Canada?

I've heard that statement many times, but never heard WHY that is the case.

I had been thinking the same thing.

 

If discontinuing the Grand Caravan turns out to be a bad move all that would need be done is slap some Dodge badges and grill on a T&C. I wonder how many standalone Dodge or Chrysler dealerships there are in the US and Canada. If a dealership was Dodge only and a buyer not interested in keeping up with FCA Group plans was told by the sales staff that the Grand Caravan was discontinued I suppose there is a chance of losing the sale to an Asian brand.

 

Whelp, they can kiss their minivan market segment domination goodbye.

Dominating rental fleets isn't much of an accolade.

 

Luckily 3.3's seem to run forever so I should have my 02 GC for a good, long time.

I am still driving my 92 Grand Voyager with the 3.3 V6.......... 309,000 miles and still going. :thumbsup:

 

All that will happen is the rental markets will be filled with low trim Town & Country vans rather than Grand Caravans.
People that don't own minivans often rent them and there isn't a better one to rent out there.

 

Worth noting that Kia, Hyundai, Toyota, Honda, and Nissan have all upped their input into fleets - especially Hyundai/Kia and Nissan.

I am still driving my 92 Grand Voyager with the 3.3 V6.......... 309,000 miles and still going. :thumbsup:

2002 with 428,000 miles! :thumbsup:

 

Whelp, they can kiss their minivan market segment domination goodbye. And they're throwing the entire Canadian minivan market out the window (Caravan outsells T&C by 10:1 here - not to mention being the #1 selling vehicle in Canada).

I agree , the GC is much more prevalent than the T&C around here in upstate NY . The GC is much more affordable than a T&C at least on the lower end so if their intent is to throw away the lower end then they will succeed. There are many other places that consumers can spend their $20 - 25000.

 

1998, after getting such good performance and durability out of my 89 Caravan, I did not even consider going to a Toyota, Honda or even Chrysler dealership to get another minivan. I even went to the same dealership (Webb Dodge then in Glen Ellyn, IL) to purchase my 98 GC. Now, a person, like me, when faced with no Caravan at Dodge is as likely to consider the competitions' products. It's the same way with loyalists and their Toyota Corollas; they buy based in their current car's quality. And Toyota will not drop the Corolla name for anything.

 

This is really unfortunate. Does someone at Chrysler not have a memory? They failed this experiment in 2001 with the death of the Voyager and theoretically, they slowly phased the death over. (2 or 3 model years of Chrysler Voyager) and minivan sales still dropped. My boss was even shocked. He was like where will people go for a low cost minivan? I doubt the T&C will be low enough. I would have loved to see a sported up AWD Caravan

 

I think the way Chrysler packages the minivan will be the most important point. I started looking at the T&C'sand Caravans and, knowing what I wanted, was surprised what I had to buy just to get the 2nd row of windows to be opened like a regular window up front. It is me and my wife and the dog so we don't need infotainment, leather, and most of the doodads but what is most important are the things that make the van go like the motor, tranny, maybe HD suspension,...and not be paying an arm and leg.
I was able to buy the 89 and choose among the items pretty independently of packages such as the 3L and 3 speed auto, a heavier duty suspension. On the 98, I was able to get the 3.8L in the sport package without any of the leather ot other trims.
So, if Chrysler can package the van to where I can just get close to optimizing my van to what I want, then there is hope. If Chrysler thinks they can just jackup prices with a T&C label and packaging, the door opens to Toyota and Honda.

 

Minivan sales have been dropping overall - it wasn't just Chrysler's products because of Plymouth being discontinued.

Market peaked in 2005, and for the most part has been dropping on an annual basis. There was a slight pop in 2010 and 2012, but the market went from over 700000 units is 2005 to just over 400000 units in 2012.

We had the "sporty minivan" in the Grand Caravan R/T. Didn't do much, did it?

So, if Chrysler can package the van to where I can just get close to optimizing my van to what I want, then there is hope. If Chrysler thinks they can just jackup prices with a T&C label and packaging, the door opens to Toyota and Honda.

I'd be interested to see your results in using the online "build your own" features to build a Grand Caravan, a T&C, a Honda Odyssey, and a Toyota Sienna - all to as close to your requirements as you can get them.

 

This is really unfortunate. Does someone at Chrysler not have a memory? They failed this experiment in 2001 with the death of the Voyager and theoretically, they slowly phased the death over. (2 or 3 model years of Chrysler Voyager) and minivan sales still dropped. My boss was even shocked. He was like where will people go for a low cost minivan? I doubt the T&C will be low enough. I would have loved to see a sported up AWD Caravan

Even father back then this. Look at the history of Chrysler. Look at what Chrysler and Dodge did to get rid of Desoto, then look at how Dodge moved into Plymouth territory. Plymouth had the muscle cars until Dodge showed up. And Chrysler is moving into the low end into Dodge territory.

They have a history or a culture of doing this.

 

Then again, there's always the alternative - that of Chrysler not existing at all.

 

And they're throwing the entire Canadian minivan market out the window

Saskatchewan, anyway. SGI sees the Chrysler name as an excuse to charge more for insurance. The people in this province who bought the Caravan are not going to like paying extra for a T&C and then paying even more when they go to put plates on it.

 

Minivan sales have been dropping overall - it wasn't just Chrysler's products because of Plymouth being discontinued.

Market peaked in 2005, and for the most part has been dropping on an annual basis. There was a slight pop in 2010 and 2012, but the market went from over 700000 units is 2005 to just over 400000 units in 2012.

We had the "sporty minivan" in the Grand Caravan R/T. Didn't do much, did it?
I'd be interested to see your results in using the online "build your own" features to build a Grand Caravan, a T&C, a Honda Odyssey, and a Toyota Sienna - all to as close to your requirements as you can get them.

Market peaked and those people who bought them will be buying again. Did the minivan market decrease due to an exodus to another vehicle type (i.e. the minivan's introduction in the 80's must have really dropped numbers for other vehicles like the hand held calculator did to the slide rule)? The minivan was made as a family mover and the mom taking her kids to soccer practice will be taking off to college. So, the first vehicle will sell the second. "Soccer Mom"-I do not know of any other vehicle which produced a term for this part of society.

 

Everclear's song was entitled "Volvo-Driving Soccer Moms" - not "Minivan-Driving Soccer Moms."

Someone that owns a minivan now may indeed buy another one, if in fact, they decided that a minivan is what they need. Everyone's situation is different, and events change over time. When you have newer consumers that have rejected out-of-hand owning a minivan due to whatever reason they decide was valid (it's not sporty, I can't be seen as a parent even though I am one, I would gladly trade convenience for style, my parents drove one and I hated it, and so on), and older minivan owners that have opted to down size into something smaller because they no longer need the space or the size - the market will shrink.

Would I buy another minivan? Sure. It's the one vehicle that can hold my entire family comfortable, it's easy to get in and out of, and it can easily haul things when I need to. I'd really like some better fuel mileage, but that comes with the territory. I don't care what people think about me when I drive it, and more often then not people I know that would benefit the most from having one often tell me they wish they had one, but for whatever reason they don't - and usually that reason is that the significant other has some silly reason against it.

Some equate it with "losing at life" - you've gotten old, you have kids, your in the family routine - as if that's actually a BAD thing.

Enough of my anti-minivan ranting.

A lot of folks are wondering why CGLLC would just walk away from all the fame and accolades and sales and marketing and consumer mindset that's wrapped around the Grand Caravan. I'm of the thought that "if you are going to go out - go out on top."

 

All I know is that when I dropped my kids at their colleges during the start of the terms, all I could see were minivans in the parking lots. Everybody would rather be seen driving a vette or a viper but home many bean bags or fishing rods or couches can you put in them? As a vehicle mfr, I would rather be selling a million minivans than a few thousand vettes. Toyota and Honda have a better grasp. Both quickly noted Chrysler's intro of the Caravan and got to work. Ford and GM had their heads stuck in the sand.

 

According to the History Channels program on the minivans, the vans stole sales sway from traditional station wagons. They pointed out Iacoccoa had to love that since Ford, thoug smaller than GM, was the biggest seller of wagons.

I'm sure now the minivan is shunned for a CUV or SUV. But I see a much higher percentage of minivans on I75 heading to Florida or Ohio than I do during my commutes.