The minivan had a hard time in the last 15 years. More exactly, the rise of the crossover SUV grabbed a ginormous slice of the sales pie that was formerly taken by the minivan. Despite losing sales momentum, North America is still in love with the people carrier, the reason the Dodge Grand Caravan will live to see the 2017 model year. On a side note, the current-gen Town & Country will be soon replaced by the all-new 2017 Chrysler Town & Country.
Numerous reports claimed that the Grand Caravan is set to kick the bucket in the nearest of futures. According to a selection of planning documents acquired by AutomotiveNews, that isn’t the case - the 2016 Dodge Grand Caravan will start production this August, and then go down in the history books in August next year. The 2017 Dodge Caravan, boasting the same internal model code as the 2015 model year, is scheduled to begin assembly on August 23rd of 2016.
A spokesperson declared to the publication: "While we've announced the Grand Caravan will eventually be the minivan that goes away, we're not going into more detail at this time." We believe that the 2017 model year will be a short run, or it will fill fleet customers’ needs. Think of what Chevrolet is doing with the Malibu - while the 2016 Malibu Limited is a fleet-only car based on the former-gen, the 2016 Malibu without Limited in its name is the all-new generation.
Speaking of all-new, the 2017 Chrysler Town & Country will be brand spanking new form the ground up. Internally classified with the two-letter code RU, the all-new Town & Country is set to debut in January 2016 at the Detroit Auto Show. None other than Sergio Marchionne said so. Production is slated to begin on February 29th, 2016, at the FCA Windsor plant in Ontario, Canada. From the adjacent spy video and photo gallery, we’re able to see a bigger minivan than the current model, enhanced with LED-accented taillamps.
Comparing this test mule’s size with the vehicles it passes, it’s easy to see that it’s substantially more voluminous than the outgoing model or other minivans. During an investor meeting on the subject of key product launches from up to 2016, FCA disclosed that an all-new minivan is on the way. “Renewal of minivan with segment first PHEV,” is the name of the game.
The plug-in hybrid tech is a certainty, but the Pentastar V6 motor isn’t. More or less official reports hint towards a thorough overhaul of the Pentastar family of engines. For the 2017 Chrysler Town & Country, we’re expecting a 3.2-liter V6 with turbocharging and direct injection technology, mated to a ZF nine-speed automatic as seen on the Chrysler 200 sedan.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?
Google News