Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) boss Sergio Marchionne says the Dodge Grand Caravan will likely go away, but will be replaced by another minivan.
That's according to the folks at Allpar.com, who were listening in when a journalist at the North American International Auto Show asked Marchionne a direct question about the 2018 Dodge Grand Caravan, a popular vehicle that has nonetheless gone without a significant update for about a decade.
While that minivan's same-old status had fomented rumours it would be discontinued in favour of the 2018 Chrysler Pacifica, Marchionne says the Dodge van will be replaced, only with something smaller and based on the Pacifica's architecture. Allpar suggests that smaller van will be a production version of the Chrysler Portal concept revealed last year.
While the Pacifica is a nicely designed van, its price puts it well out of the bargain-basement territory the Grand Caravan occupies in the current minivan market. A smaller variant of the Pacifica would allow the American automaker to continue catering to that budget-oriented crowd with a more stylish vehicle than the boxy Caravan. However, the new vehicle would come under the Chrysler banner, as minivans no longer fit Dodge's current image of a purveyor of performance-oriented vehicles.
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