Are these the new Chrysler minivans?**Updated again with real-life pics**

[gasoline]

http://www.foro.mopar-extreme.org/showthread.php?t=5912





Not liking them at all. Surely they didn't think these were winners outside in terms of looks?
I hope they're winners inside!

Here are some larger pictures and some of the interior:
Click here and scroll down--
http://www.carspin.net/forums/the-mainstream-room/are-these-the-new-chrysler-minivans.30.html


Looks nice from this angle:




Or go here-- http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2008-chrysler-town-and-country-1/

[southdiver1]

Minivans are the last baston for a plain family vehicle.
I am thinking that the average Minivan  buyer cares more about what is INSIDE the van then how it looks on the OUTSIDE.

[The Pirate]

They look a bit like a mini Durango/Aspen, which I assume was the point.  I prefer the current gen myself, but some folks will like the "truck like" styling.

[gasoline]

Yeah, but come on!
Nobody would dump an Odyssey for that!

[TheIntrepid]

Who would have thought that the new GM minivans would find homes? Somehow they're flying off the lots!

Honestly I think my generation DCX vans (2001-2007) look much better.

[gasoline]

They look a bit like a mini Durango/Aspen, which I assume was the point.  I prefer the current gen myself, but some folks will like the "truck like" styling.

Like that worked for GM's minivans...

[SVT666]

Well, that's not what I was expecting.  I'm glad we didn't wait and we bought a Freestyle instead.

[TheIntrepid]

Like that worked for GM's minivans...

Gas... read one post above you... Glad to see we agree.

[nickdrinkwater]

Who would have thought that the new GM minivans would find homes? Somehow they're flying off the lots!

Really?  I didn't think they were too popular...

[93JC]

They're actually very popular in Canada. Well, the Chevrolet and Pontiac are...

[TheIntrepid]

They are popular but it's only because of fleet sales... rental companies... corporate leases... etc. The Uplander/Montana SV6 are almost always on the Hertz/Avis lot...and for the last 2 years straight they both have been options on my parents' company car list.

[The Pirate]

Yeah, they are popular around here because with rebates etc. they are way cheaper than a Sienna or Odyssey and there aren't any Honda/Toyota dealerships nearby.?

[TheIntrepid]

Yeah, they are popular around here because with rebates etc. they are way cheaper than a Sienna or Odyssey and there aren't any Honda/Toyota dealerships nearby. 

Dealers around here are advertising a brand-new 2007 Caravan for $16,999. Of course this doesn't have A/C, power anything, tint windows, tilt steering, or roof rack.

[SVT666]

Who would have thought that the new GM minivans would find homes? Somehow they're flying off the lots!

Honestly I think my generation DCX vans (2001-2007) look much better.

GM is selling them at a loss though.

[ifcar]

I was expecting worse from Chrysler, but they still should have a lower beltline. Better looking than the Odyssey at least, which tries to look aggressive despite its bloated nature.

[SVT666]

I think Chrysler dropped the ball on this one.  They look like softer versions of the Aspen and Durango....which aren't exactly pretty either.  Chrysler's designs have peaked and are on the decline now.  The next generation Magnum and the new Avenger are the exceptions. 

[the Teuton]

I don't like it.  It looks like a step back to the boxy k-car derived minivans of my youth.  Ouch.

[Atomic]

Chrysler Bets Minivans Have Long Road Ahead

From: Reuters, January 3, 2007 

DETROIT (Reuters) -- Can the "parent mobile" ride to the rescue for the Chrysler group again?

The Chrysler group is betting that its minivans can reconnect with a new generation of families and help pull the No. 3 U.S. automaker out of a slump, just as its first-ever minivans in 1984 marked Chrysler's return from the brink of financial collapse.

The stakes are high for the Chrysler group as it prepares to unveil next-generation versions of its Chrysler Town and Country and Dodge Grand Caravan minivans at the Detroit auto show on Sunday, Jan. 7, launches seen as key once again to the company's turnaround, analysts say.

Even as rivals abandon slow-selling minivans, the Chrysler group is betting it can revive the segment it created and show critics have been wrong to write off a family-friendly class of vehicles that first took off with suburban "soccer moms" two decades ago.

"No one will ever take a minivan and make it anything more than a parent-mobile, but that doesn't mean they're not important -- especially for Chrysler which has dominated," said Eric Noble, president of The Carlab, a California-based consulting firm.

The Chrysler group, the U.S. unit of DaimlerChrysler AG, has forecast a 2006 loss of some $1.3 billion after failing to respond to the shift from high-margin pickups and SUVs in the face of higher gasoline prices.

With sales down 8 percent as of end-November, Chrysler is readying a cost-cutting program for the first quarter with the goal of cutting $1,000 from the cost of each vehicle produced.

CEO Tom LaSorda told employees in a year-end message that the planned minivan launch this summer would be part of the turnaround. "We invented (the minivan), and we're going to wow the industry one more time," he said.

Expectations are high that the Chrysler group could look to close an assembly plant, a prospect the company has declined to discuss.

The automaker also is certain to go back to the United Auto Workers union to try to get health care concessions similar to deals the union granted to General Motors and Ford Motor Co. but rejected last year for the Chrysler group.

"They have some very important work to do as a matter of survival," said David Cole, director of the Center for Automotive Research. "They have a new minivan and some other new products coming, but everyone does. It's going to be a very competitive race."

BIG EXPECTATIONS ON BOARD

The Chrysler group has more riding on minivans than other automakers. Its Chrysler and Dodge models are the company's top-selling vehicles and account for almost 20 percent of its U.S. sales.

The Chrysler group also sells more than twice as many minivans as the combined total for Toyota Motor Corp.'s Sienna and Honda Motor Co.'s Odyssey, its closest competitors.

"The Chrysler minivan has really dominated its genre almost akin to what the Mustang has been to muscle cars and for Ford," said Noble. "These are remarkable exceptions in the history of these companies."

The Chrysler group will take the wraps off its new minivans on Sunday, and analysts expect the redesigned vehicles to offer bolder styling and refinements intended to be parent-pleasers, such as more flexible seating and lighting.

The Chrysler group, which has about 30 percent of the segment, expects a stable market for minivans as the children of Baby Boomers begin to buy for their own families. Minivan sales peaked at 1.37 million units in 2000 and are on track to be near 1 million units for 2006.

GM and Ford think buyers will shift to car-based crossover vehicles that offer the handling characteristics of a car but with the roomier interior and higher ride of a SUV.

GM's product chief Bob Lutz recently said minivans carried a "soccer mom stigma." Ford's North American design chief Peter Horbury said while Americans liked riding high in the saddle, minivan drivers are left feeling like they are astride a cow.

None of that sniping will matter, analysts say, if Chrysler group management gets costs under control and its new minivans extend the company's winning streak.

"Purely from a sales perspective you will see things start to improve," said IRN Inc. analyst Erich Merkle. "The new minivans are the big guns they have coming."

it amazes me how many minivan's (i.e. grand caravan, town & country) chrysler sells today, despite the age of the current models. i think the new offerings will sell in droves, while gm and ford carve out and test new (and hopefully successful) nitches. i hope the big three will each be known for a special segment unique to their respected companies.

for chrysler? i hope to see sky roofs/large sunroofs!

[mazda6er]

I like the view they show of the Chrysler one, but the Dodge looks hideous from that angle.

[ifcar]

They're the exact same vehicle.

[mazda6er]

They're the exact same vehicle.

I like the view they show of the Chrysler one, but the Dodge looks hideous from that angle.

[ifcar]

I like the view they show of the Chrysler one, but the Dodge it looks hideous from that angle.

I would have worded it that way. But whatever.

[mazda6er]

I would have worded it that way. But whatever.

You would have done a lot of things Koko, you would have done a lot of things.

[VetteZ06]

I would have worded it that way. But whatever.

Talk about ambiguous pronoun usage...

[Atomic]

Minivans are the last baston for a plain family vehicle.
I am thinking that the average Minivan? buyer cares more about what is INSIDE the van then how it looks on the OUTSIDE.

[Atomic]

Yeah, but come on!
Nobody would dump an Odyssey for that!

it's a matter of opinion. i think the new models look great! they will sell in droves imo.

[ifcar]

Talk about ambiguous pronoun usage...

You're right, I should have changed more to make it clearer. What I wanted was just to make it clear that the difference is in the angle, not the Chrysler vs. Dodge version.

[Atomic]

They're actually very popular in Canada. Well, the Chevrolet and Pontiac are...

they, along with the saturn version failed  !

[the Teuton]

Looking at it again, I still don't like it, but I do want to see it in person before I make final judgments.

[VetteZ06]

You're right, I should have changed more to make it clearer. What I wanted was just to make it clear that the difference is in the angle, not the Chrysler vs. Dodge version.

We all know they're basically the same vehicle, but I probably would've made a distinction between the Chrysler and the Dodge simply because one is a Chrysler and one is a Dodge.