Some of the industry’s largest automakers have abandoned the minivan segment — such as General Motors and Ford — to find greener pastures in the ever-growing crossover segment, but Chrysler continues to hang on to its minivan heritage — which dates back all the way to 1984. Despite the claim that the minivan segment is dying, Chrysler is adamant about proving the critics wrong about minivan market.
Stuart Schorr, Senior Manager, Sales, Mopar and Dealer Communications, says that “minivans are a strong and profitable part of the market, serving the needs of hundreds of thousands of families.” Moreover, Schorr says that minivans are still doing quite well in the market. Despite a 9 percent dip in the overall market and Chrysler’s model reduction to just two minivan models — the Chrysler Town & Country and the Dodge Grand Caravan — Chrysler’s minivan sales have remained flat.
“The minivan segment is not a niche segment,” Steven Landry, Chrysler Executive Vice President – North American Sales, told Bloomberg in an interview. “It is a very profitable and volume-oriented segment for Chrysler.”
For 2008, Chrysler dropped the short-wheelbase version of its minivans and will only offer the more profitable long-wheelbase versions from here on out. The recently launched Dodge Journey is intended to pick up some of that slack, but it remains to be seen how Journey sales will impact Chrysler’s minivan sales.
But if the minivan segment is as alive and well as Chrysler says it is, it leads us to wonder why other automakers have abandoned the segment all together. However, fewer competitors doesn’t appear to be a good thing for Chrysler as Honda ’s Odyssey nearly dethroned Chrysler’s offerings as the most popular minivan in the U.S.
