Chrysler exists because Lee Iacocca bet the company on the minivan. Now, thanks to the oil crisis, the minivan looks like it could be on its last legs. One of the company's two minivan assembly plants will be shut indefinitely on Oct. 31, Chrysler said today. The problem is that families -- the target market for minivans -- have been particularly affected by rising gas and food prices, falling home values and more difficulty in borrowing money. It's a humiliating development for Chrysler, which spent $1.4 billion on the redesign of its two industry-leading minivans, the Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan. And then saw sales go, well, nowhere. "Everything that a family needs is more expensive right now, and so the last thing they're looking at is, 'Do they need to replace their Honda Odyssey?'" said Rebecca Lindland, an auto analyst for Global Insight , the economic consulting firm. U.S. minivan sales peaked at 1.37 million in 2000, 17 years after Chrysler introduced them. They've been falling steadily since and are expected to fall below 650,000 this year for the first time since 1986. Sales of the Dodge Caravan were off 35% through May from a year ago and 13% for the Chrysler Town & Country, according to Autodata Corp., which tracks industry sales. The minivan has been Chrysler's top product for years, and Chrysler has 30% of the minivan market. (The minivan came after Chrysler nearly collapsed in the 1970s and required a ...
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Chrysler exists because Lee Iacocca bet the company on the minivan. Now, thanks to the oil crisis, the minivan looks like it could be on its last legs. One of the company's two minivan assembly plants will be shut indefinitely on Oct. 31, Chrysler said today. The problem is that families -- the target market for minivans -- have been particularly affected by rising gas and food prices, falling home values and more difficulty in borrowing money. It's a humiliating development for Chrysler, which spent $1.4 billion on the redesign of its two industry-leading minivans, the Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan. And then saw sales go, well, nowhere. "Everything that a family needs is more expensive right now, and so the last thing they're looking at is, 'Do they need to replace their Honda Odyssey?'" said Rebecca Lindland, an auto analyst for Global Insight , the economic consulting firm. U.S. minivan sales peaked at 1.37 million in 2000, 17 years after Chrysler introduced them. They've been falling steadily since and are expected to fall below 650,000 this year for the first time since 1986. Sales of the Dodge Caravan were off 35% through May from a year ago and 13% for the Chrysler Town & Country, according to Autodata Corp., which tracks industry sales. The minivan has been Chrysler's top product for years, and Chrysler has 30% of the minivan market. (The minivan came after Chrysler nearly collapsed in the 1970s and required a ...