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Dodge Grand Caravan – The Value Leader:

redriderbob

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Dodge Grand Caravan – The Value Leader:
The Budget Minivan Continues To Be A Sales Success....


The Dodge Grand Caravan is a legend. When Chrysler first introduced the Caravan in the 1984 model year, it revolutionized the entire industry. The front-wheel-drive box provided amazing interior volume and functionality that previous station wagons couldn’t keep up with. Pretty soon, competitors General Motors (GM) and Ford were coming to market with their truck-based minivan alternatives that couldn’t stop the Caravan (and its stablemates the Plymouth Voyager and Dodge Mini Ram Van work vans).

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1989 Dodge Grand Caravan. (Dodge).

In 1990, Chrysler added the Chrysler Town & Country minivan to the lineup. The Town & Country, using a name Chrysler put on some of its luxury sedans and wagons of the past brought new luxury standards to the minivan segment. While GM and Ford continued developing all different types of minivans during the 1990s, no one could touch Chryslers offerings. It wasn’t until the introduction of the second generation Honda Odyssey that Chrysler had a competitor worthy enough to compete with their minivan lineup. It forced Chrysler Group to back to drawing board and come up with more innovative features like Stow & Go seating to allow the Chrysler Group to lead the minivan segment again.

Today, the minivan segment is very different than it was in the 1980s. Minivans aren’t like they used to be, and other automotive companies have gotten out of the segment altogether. Dodge and Chrysler now compete with Japanese and Korean automakers in the minivan space. The segment has also shrunk drastically as buyers have moved over to crossovers and SUVs. However, the company now known as Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) still invest heavily in the segment they created, some 35 years ago.

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Chrysler Pacifica and Dodge Grand Caravan on the Windsor Assembly Line. (FCA).

In 2015, Dodge announced that the Grand Caravan nameplate would end production and that the next generation of minivans would be badged as Chryslers only. This decision sparked a massive backlash against the brand for saying it was going to end one of it’s best-known nameplates. FCA decided to extend production of the Dodge Grand Caravan into the 2017 model year, to help dealer inventories during the launch of its 6th generation minivan replacement the all-new 2017 Chrysler Pacifica.

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Dodge Grand Caravan - The Value Leader: - Mopar Insiders
 

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