Dodge in danger of losing #1 minivan title
The moral of a certain African tale is: no matter whether you're the lion or the gazelle, when you get up every morning you better be ready to run. That counts for rams, as well. One of Chrysler LLC's most profitable divisions is getting run down in a historically dominant specialty: minivans. The Dodge Caravan (and Grand Caravan), specifically, is in danger of losing its best selling minivan title to the Honda Odyssey.The Detroit Free Press reports that year-to-date, Dodge has sold 154,824 Caravans, which is a 21.4-percent decline from last year. Part of that has been explained with the arrival of a new model and the elimination of the cheaper, short wheelbase version. Honda meanwhile has sold 158,139 Odysseys so far this year, which is only a 2.3-percent decline from last year. Honda also has a new version of the Odyseey this year, introduced in August, and has outsold Dodge for the past six months -- which means the new model picked up where the old one left its marker.
Follow the jump for more.
[Source: Detroit Free Press]
Gallery: 2008 Dodge Caravan
Gallery: 2008 Honda Odyssey
They have both used incentives to get metal moving: Honda more than $1,500 per vehicle, Dodge more than $2,700. One should also note that if you added sales of the Chrysler Town & Country to Dodge's total, the combined sales of the two sister vehicles would easily beat out the Odyssey's numbers. Dodge and its dealers, however, aren't worried. A J.D. Power analyst said that the Caravan is still gathering sales steam, and hasn't had the necessary availability to keep up with demand. Dealers expect the Dodge Journey to replace the lost sales of the short wheelbase Caravan -- although we don't know how that would count toward minivan sales... With 21 days left in the year, 24 years of market leadership is on the line for Dodge. If you have a big red Boost Sales button in there somewhere, Dodge, now is the time to press it.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Dan 6:24PM (1/05/2009)
Not to worry about the big 3 outselling anyone again. They are now partially or mostly owned by the government which if it had to play by normal rules of the business sector, it would be bankrupt in 2 femptoseconds.
Remember the Yugo? You will soon be driving the Pelosivan if you stay with the domestic crowd.
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Arod 10:20PM (8/24/2009)
Dodge is a goverment owned concern, maybe I should contact my congressman and inform him / her of Chrysler's refusal to correct rear air conditioner failures. in their Mini Vans. Even worse is their gall to charge ( $ 800.00+) for the same defective parts they will install to repair it. History of failure is common fodder at every A/C repair shop. In fact most recomend after one or two failures to install a rear line capoff to stop your $$$ bleeding. 06and07 models especially. In fact rilght now my dealer told me 850 units are on backorder and I could wait a month for the parts. Combinding two dissimilar metals rilght behind rear wheel well to catch salt and water spray on lines and transsision block , plus not bracing the evaparator from vibration. Great engineering, after all the failures no recall? It's not a safety issue they say? No defroster is a saftey issue!!! Oh, my wife has a Hyundai and the air works fine and if it didn't they would fix it. They make mistakes too, but they correct them thats why they can offer a better warranty.
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Todd 1:26PM (12/10/2007)
The dollar is in danger of becoming second to the euro, too.
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Pauls45 2:29PM (12/10/2007)
Some of you may remember Dan Neil's LA Times) rather glowing review of the new Chrysler Town & Country Limited.
http://www.latimes.com/classified/automotive/la-hy-neil17oct17,0,6309000.story?coll=la-home-middleright
Plus WSJ called Town&Country in their review the best $35k vehicle you can buy
Pauls45 2:35PM (12/10/2007)
WSJ revies
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118911195022019743.html
"Perhaps this analysis is a bit harsh, but it's not for nothing that this segment is called "near luxury." Truly, the vehicles are nearer to common, ordinary transportation. This makes it fitting -- and deliciously ironic -- that the best $35,000 vehicle on the market would be a minivan. Surely no one who plunks down that same amount on something like the laughable Jaguar X-Type sedan (a low-budget Ford in disguise) would agree, but it's likely he or she has never driven the 2008 Chrysler Town & Country Limited either.
Calling it the "Cadillac of minivans" would be true to the spirit of the phrase"
Russell 12:23AM (12/11/2007)
More like the World is in danger of loosing Chrysler.
Ba-by Chrysler.
John R 1:33PM (12/10/2007)
I've seen 3 odysseys when i went out to lunch. I don't care for minivans, but it seems that the honda would be more fun to drive.
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Frank 1:35PM (12/10/2007)
I don't think this is such a big deal since Chrysler also sells the TC and VW will soon be selling a minivan based off of Chrysler's. Honda only has the Odyssey. When you add all of them up Chrylsler still sells way more than anyone else. By the way, for the same reason GM sells more full size pickups than Ford because the GMC is the same as Chevy and in most years they sell more combined than Ford.
Also, has anyone stopped to think that at least some of the sales (I say 50%) of the Pacifica CUV would have been a Chyrsler minivan if that vehicle had not been offered?
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icu812ru469 1:44PM (12/10/2007)
That's a bad assumption that Pacific buyers would jump to Chrysler minivan. I think the Pacifica buyer doesn't want a "minivan" which is why they opted for the Pacifica. Also, the Pacifica was pretty much a leftover Mercedes powertrain and underpinning, so that added to the "desire" for it. I would say if anything, most of the Pacifica would have gone foreign, if nothing else.
Die you POS Caravan. We had a Voyager back in '84, died after 75K. We were so dumb to then get a '90 Grand Voyager and that died 110K. Never went back and so so glad we did not... it seems the '99 are not much better, my brother-in-law was dumb enough to get one, died 95K. Hideous numbers when you consider most cars, even other domestics, run to 150K easily nowadays. Can't wait until Chryslter pays out the arse with their "lifetime" warranty and these pieces of junk start falling apart on them. Eat bolts Chrysler !!!!
PeakVT 2:23PM (12/10/2007)
"Also, the Pacifica was pretty much a leftover Mercedes powertrain and underpinning, so that added to the "desire" for it."
Completely wrong. The Pacifica is a chopped down RS-series minivan, and uses standard C engines.
Of course, if DCX conned idiots into thinking it was "German engineering" that's another thing.
Frank 2:28PM (12/10/2007)
It's not a bad assumption. That's I why I said 50% not 100%. That's still lost sales to the minvan.
Most people who bought a Pacifica never new it had any Mercedes components in it. They probably didn't know how many cylinders the engine had (and it's a Chrylser, not a Mercedes engine).
Tim 1:42PM (12/10/2007)
Apart from "#1" titles, does Dodge care if the Journey would "count toward minivan sales"? The biggest problem in this sector for Chrysler/Dodge with the T&C, Grand Caravan, and Journey isn't the sales crown or how AutoBlog divides it. It's the fact that companies like Honda and Toyota are able to sell their vehicles for so many more dollars. Customers see a lower MSRP at the Chrysler dealership while also demanding more cashback in incentives. Forget who #1 is. The Dodge Caravan is perceived to be cheaper and customers expect it to be so.
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Frank 1:53PM (12/10/2007)
That's why you should never buy new. Let someone else take the depreciation hit. For the used buyer there is no 12g loss. And the depreciation after that will be at a far less rate.
seoultrain 2:40PM (12/10/2007)
Frank, try building a justification for buying a used mini cooper or mazda3. there are cars out there that depreciate so slowly that it's worth the small additional cost to buy a car that has a full warranty and that you know has never been treated harshly or ill-maintained.
Rick 7:34PM (12/10/2007)
They are ugly and overpriced, it was only a matter of time until US buyers looked elsewhere.
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techline 3:23PM (12/10/2007)
Sign of the times unfortunately.
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Brent 1:49PM (12/10/2007)
They didn't even bother to clean that van. Look at the floors, nasty!
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Tired 1:49PM (12/10/2007)
With dealer discount and factory incentives, only the clueless are paying MSRP on these vehicles.
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jim 1:52PM (12/10/2007)
Put the Town and Country and the Caravan together and they still smoke the Honda. no big Deal.
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tanooki2003 2:35PM (12/10/2007)
It's more like they will belch light blue smoke out from the exhaust sooner than the Honda due th their trouble with manufacturing good quality piston rings like all of the other previous generations going back to 84.