DETROIT — Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV is shaking up the decidedly uncool minivan segment with a makeover and a name change, a move it hopes will revive slumping sales of the vehicle it invented 32 years ago.

FCA unveiled its reimagined minivan Monday at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, and it’s a far cry from the wood-panelled Dodge Grand Caravans the newest generation of car buyers grew up with.

Built in Windsor, Ont., the van looks more like a modern crossover than a traditional minivan, but will actually carry more passengers — eight, instead of a maximum of seven in existing Chrysler minivans. It will also be available in a plug-in hybrid version.

FCA also rebranded the vehicle, scrapping the stodgy Town & Country nameplate in favour of Pacifica, the name of a crossover Chrysler sold from 2004 to 2008 with limited success.

“Everybody who mattered on the North American team expressed a view on this, and I think we came away with a very firm view that … we had to de-link this new vehicle from the history of the Town & Country, which is known as the car that soccer moms used to drive,” FCA chief executive Sergio Marchionne said in a press conference following the vehicle’s unveiling.

“This is not to discourage soccer moms from buying it, but it’s got a wider audience in terms of a potential market and I think we wanted to be sure that it has a name that at least allowed it to have the interface with that market.”

FCA invested US$2 billion in its Windsor plant to develop the next-generation minivan and is hiring 600 new workers to build it, according to the Windsor Star.

Marchionne said he will meet with representatives from the Ontario and federal governments on Tuesday and will tell them “they should be proud of what we’ve been able to do in Windsor.”

In order to prepare for the Pacifica, the Windsor plant was shut down for 12 weeks earlier this year for retooling, a move that may have weighed on sales in the already depressed minivan segment.

In 2015, U.S. sales of the Chrysler Town & Country fell 32 per cent and sales of the Dodge Caravan fell 27 per cent. In Canada, where the Town & Country is more popular, sales of that vehicle rose 0.6 per cent while sales of the Dodge Caravan fell 9.3 per cent. Chrysler plans to eventually phase out the Caravan.

Chrysler has been a leader in the minivan segment since it came out with the first Caravan in 1984, but it’s a shrinking market. Minivan sales accounted for less than three per cent of new vehicles bought in the U.S. last year, compared to 8.5 per cent at their peak in 1995, according to data from Ward’s Auto.

Following the minivan’s reveal, Marchionne also weighed in on his favourite topic, industry consolidation.



He said FCA has “abandoned” the notion of an automotive merger for now to focus on its plan to be debt-free by 2018, but that doesn’t mean he’s walking away from the idea entirely.

“The (consolidation) pitch was not intended as a substitute for the plan or as an excuse for not achieving the plan,” Marchionne said.

But he reiterated his view that industry consolidation is “inevitable,” and said a debt-free FCA will be in a much better position to find a partner, even if Marchionne himself, who plans to retire at the end of 2018, isn’t around to see it happen.

“Achieving the 2018 plan puts this house in a completely different position to have the inevitable discussion about consolidation, which must happen whether we like it or not,” he said.

For 2017, the Chrysler Pacifica name returns on an all-new minivan platform, replacing the Town & Country and, eventually, Dodge Grand Caravan. "All-new" also means an all-new price; here's what you can expect to see on Pacifica window stickers at your local Chrysler dealer, all including destination:

- 2017 Chrysler Pacifica LX: $29,590
Includes cloth bucket seats, Stow 'n Go, 5-inch touchscreen infotainment system, rear parking camera and more standard.

- 2017 Chrysler Pacifica Touring: $31,490
Adds satellite radio, power sliding doors and more.

- 2017 Chrysler Pacifica Touring-L: $35,490
Adds leather seating surfaces, power liftgate and Safety Tec system with blind spot monitoring, rear park assist and more.

- 2017 Chrysler Pacifica Touring-L Plus: $38,890
Adds Uconnect Theater rear seat entertainment, heated second-row seats, 8.4-inch touchscreen infotainment and more.

- 2017 Chrysler Pacifica Limited: $43,490
Adds panoramic sunroof, memory power seating, power third-row seats, navigation, stow 'n vac vacuum system and more

Alphabet, Fiat Chrysler In Self-Driving Cars Deal

Google parent to purchase 100 minivans from auto maker for testing driverless-automobile technology

May 3, 2016

Google parent Alphabet Inc. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV agreed to incorporate Alphabet’s self-driving technology into 100 Chrysler minivans, significantly expanding the tech giant’s test fleet of driverless vehicles and marking its first partnership with a major auto maker.

Alphabet and Fiat Chrysler engineers will collaborate in Michigan to redesign the 2017 Pacifica Hybrid minivan to integrate Alphabet’s computers, sensors and software, the companies said. The minivans, like Alphabet’s other self-driving cars, will be solely for testing.

Alphabet aims to have the first driverless minivans on the road by year’s end but declined to provide a timeline for all 100 vehicles.

By expanding the test fleet, the agreement will help Alphabet’s quest to automate the world’s vehicles. Alphabet’s current fleet of 70 self-driving cars has driven more than 1.5 million miles in California, Washington, Texas and Arizona.

The deal is also a small but critical win for Fiat Chrysler, which has been viewed as lagging in rapidly advancing driverless technology. Other major auto makers, like Toyota Motor Corp. and General Motors Co., are investing in their own driverless-car technology, and generally have been hesitant to work with Alphabet. But Fiat Chrysler Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne has resisted developing autonomous technologies, preferring to team up or buy what he needs later.

The deal could allow Fiat Chrysler and Alphabet later to design a new vehicle from the wheels up, rather than retrofitting a current model. Alphabet has said it has no plans to build its own cars.

In a statement, the head of Alphabet’s driverless-car efforts, former auto executive John Krafcik, said Fiat Chrysler’s “nimble and experienced engineering team” will help Alphabet “accelerate our efforts to develop a fully self-driving car.”

Mr. Marchionne added in the release: “The experience both companies gain will be fundamental to delivering automotive technology solutions.”

Alphabet’s self-driving fleet now includes Lexus sport-utility vehicles that Alphabet modified and prototype podlike cars built by Roush Industries Inc.

Alphabet and Fiat Chrysler want to have at least one prototype operational around the time of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in January, according to two people briefed on the matter. For the first time next year, the show will include space and a test track area for autonomous vehicles.

The vehicles will be built at the Windsor, Ontario plant that manufacturers the Pacifica. Mr. Marchionne is scheduled to make an appearance at the Windsor plant on Friday to celebrate the launch of the 2017 minivan.

Fiat Chrysler will build Pacific minivans to enable easy integration of Alphabet’s technology, which includes computers, sensors and software, according to the person.

The cars will just be for testing, and Alphabet won’t sell any of the minivans, this person said.

Alphabet expects to begin taking the cars over the next several months, the person added.

Private motorists will not be able to buy a new Chrysler Voyager in the 2022 model year; the minivan is now a fleet-only model. The cheaper alternative to the Pacifica loses most of its trim levels, but it gains a longer list of standard features during the transition.

Fleet buyers take on many shapes and forms, but in minivan-speak the term usually denotes rental car companies. Chrysler simplified buying by paring down the lineup from three to one trim. Called LX, it gains a 7.0-inch touchscreen that runs the Uconnect 5 infotainment system, second-row Stow 'n Go seats, power-operated sliding doors, heated front seats, and a heated steering wheel; that's not bad for something you're picking up at the airport to spend a weekend in. There's also a new air filtration system shared with the Pacifica.

The list of options now includes a package called Safety and Premium Group that bundles a blind-spot monitoring system, rear parking sensors, rear cross-path detection, full-speed forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking, and a 10.1-inch touchscreen with navigation. However, upmarket features like leather upholstery and a 19-speaker Harman-Kardon surround-sound system are not offered.

Chrysler is not making mechanical changes, so power for the Voyager comes from a 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 rated at 287 horsepower and 262 pound-feet of torque. It spins the front wheels via a nine-speed automatic transmission. All-wheel drive is not available; only the Pacifica can get its power sent to four wheels. Similarly, there are no visual changes to report. The Voyager still looks like a pre-facelift Pacifica.

Pricing information for the 2022 Voyager will be announced closer to its on-sale date. At launch, buyers will have five colors called Silver Mist, Brilliant Black, Bright White, Granite Crystal, and Velvet Red, respectively. The former (shown in the gallery) is new for 2022.