Photo: Chrysler
Chrysler is questioning which badge they should put on the grille of their new minivan, which replaces both the Chrysler Town and Country and the Dodge Grand caravan, despite an initial announcement by Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne, that it would end up being a Chrysler-badged product.
However, now the Fiat boss has changed his mind, and says that the minivan will, in fact, be Dodge-branded. Whichever they choose, the other brand will gain a highly-desirable crossover. Currently, Chrysler’s head of design, Ralph Gilles has four different minivan projects already drawn up, yet not all of them will make it into production.
Gilles said: “We know not all of them will see the light of day, but we spend a lot of time studying scenarios, trying out designs that could work in each scenario so we’re ready whichever way it goes [ . . . ] Luckily the designs, even though they look completely different, they are very transferable.”
Whatever they choose to do, the bottom line is that one brand will get a minivan, while the other will get a roomy crossover, to cover a wider span of the market. Both vehicles will probably share some components, and, why not, one could even be a ‘crossover-ized’ version of the other, with a different badge and minor styling tweaks.
Gilles said: “We know not all of them will see the light of day, but we spend a lot of time studying scenarios, trying out designs that could work in each scenario so we’re ready whichever way it goes [ . . . ] Luckily the designs, even though they look completely different, they are very transferable.”
Whatever they choose to do, the bottom line is that one brand will get a minivan, while the other will get a roomy crossover, to cover a wider span of the market. Both vehicles will probably share some components, and, why not, one could even be a ‘crossover-ized’ version of the other, with a different badge and minor styling tweaks.
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