Chrysler Planning Ford C-Max Rival, Will Axe Either Grand Caravan or Town & Country

Colum Wood
by Colum Wood

Chrysler Corporation will look to introduce a new compact van for either Dodge or Chrysler, with the new model replacing that brand’s current minivan offering. Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Chrysler and Fiat, made the comments to reporters gathered at the North American International Auto Show.

The move will take place by 2013 says Marchionne, with the small MPV set to rival the Mazda5 and newly-released Ford C-Max. If Chrysler gets the small van, then the Town & Country will be cut, while the Grand Caravan will face a similar fate if Dodge gets the new model.

With the Town & Country the stronger seller in the U.S. and the fact that it commands higher prices, the Grand Caravan’s fate would appear numbered.

Like how the C-Max rides on the Focus platform and the Mazda5 on the Mazda3 architecture, the new Chrysler Group model will be based off of an upcoming compact car platform, that will not only be used for the Caliber replacement, but it also expected to be used to build Jeep crossovers, like the next-generation Compass and Patriot.

[Source: Autoblog]

Read AutoGuide’s Review of the 2011 Dodge Grand Caravan Here

Colum Wood
Colum Wood

With AutoGuide from its launch, Colum previously acted as Editor-in-Chief of Modified Luxury & Exotics magazine where he became a certifiable car snob driving supercars like the Koenigsegg CCX and racing down the autobahn in anything over 500 hp. He has won numerous automotive journalism awards including the Best Video Journalism Award in 2014 and 2015 from the Automotive Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC). Colum founded Geared Content Studios, VerticalScope's in-house branded content division and works to find ways to integrate brands organically into content.

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