Good Idea!-Chrysler Offers Two Fold-Flat Rows In Redesigned Minivans

DETROIT December 8, 2003; Sharon Silke Carty writing for Dow Jones reported that DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler unit unveiled a new lineup of minivans Monday with two rows of fold-flat seating, in an attempt to reposition the company as the industry leader in the minivan market.

In less than 18 months, the company spent $400 million to completely redesign the interior of the 2005 Dodge Caravan and the 2005 Chrysler Town & Country. Other minivan models, like the Honda Odyssey and the Ford Freestyle, only enable the last row to fold flat into the floor.

The 2005 Dodge Caravan "will be the lowest priced minivan on the market," said Ann Fandozzi, director of Chrysler family vehicle planning. The company is waiting for the North American International Auto Show in January to announce specific pricing on the vehicles, but promised both minivans will be a 15% better pricing proposition than the competition.

Robert Feldmaier, director of body engineering for family vehicles and chief engineer on the project, said during a press conference that management challenged his staff last summer to come up with something to help Chrysler maintain its market leadership in the segment.

Currently, Chrysler accounts for 38% of minivan sales, with Honda Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. among those quickly gaining ground. Toyota announced Monday it was boosting production of its Sienna minivan by 52% in 2004.

"All of our competition were doing some major new stuff," Feldmaier said. "We needed to do something to keep ahead of the competition."

Minivan makers have been feverishly redesigning their interiors, adding fold- flat seating for more versatility, ceiling-mounted DVD players to keep the kids happy, and all sorts of different airbag configurations to boost safety ratings. The market for minivans has been fairly stable over recent years, hovering around the 1 million mark.

The size of the market is "enough to go after again and again," and that the number of sales make it worth it "to come up with the clear dominant minivan," said Dieter Zetsche, president and chief executive of the Chrysler group.