Chrysler: Minivan Sales Are Great! Uh, Good! Well, O.K. Ish.

Frank Williams
by Frank Williams

Chrysler flackmeister Stuart Schorr didn't take kindly to Ford analyst George Pipa's comments about the decline and fall of the U.S. minivan market. On Chrysler's Firehouse.biz media blog, Schorr took on "the myth that shoppers are moving away from minivans." The numbers show last year's overall minivan sales (800k units industry-wide) were 18 percent lower than the previous year's. Yet Schorr still boasts that Chrysler's "retail [emphasis added] minivan sales are flat through the first quarter this year." Wait a minute. Isn't the goal supposed to be increased retail sales? Anyway, Schorr explains that the flatlined sales are part of "the overall 9 percent drop in industry sales" and "the reduction of our lineup to two models." Besides, "we cut our minivan fleet sales by 46 percent" (which has nothing to do with retail sales). The fact remains: minivan sales are down. Way down. And, if current trends continue, staying down. In fact, they're falling, both in absolute terms and as a percentage of vehicles sold. In case you were wondering.

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  • Sammy B Sammy B on Apr 25, 2008

    @starlightmica: From your lips to God's ears my friend. As far as costs, if they could do it for $27-35K, I think it would draw some people in. I wonder what this thing costs elsewhere. Time to fire up the interweb when the boss isn't looking

  • Joeaverage Joeaverage on Apr 25, 2008

    Is the current Mazda minivan the same as the S-Max? I know alot of folks complain about the little minivans but done right it is a very useful vehicle. Sort of like my CR-V with a 3rd bench. In other words, just right for my family.

  • Starlightmica Starlightmica on Apr 25, 2008

    @Busbodger: the Ford S-Max is bigger than the Mazda5. The 3rd generation Mazda MPV sold in Japan and HK is about the size of an S-Max. Ford sells the the Mazda5 badged the i-Max in Taiwan.

  • CB1000R CB1000R on Apr 25, 2008

    Karesh didn't chime in yet to shill for True Delta, but let me state what I saw there regarding the new T&C: The launch/repair rates seem to me pretty unimpressive as well. People who want minivans are going for the Toyota Sienna.

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