Chrysler Shutting Windsor Plant For 12 Weeks To Re-Tool For "Stunning" Minivan
In preparation for a “stunning” new minivan, Chrysler will shut their Windsor, Ontario assembly plant for three months to re-tool for the all new vehicle, expected to be sold exclusively as a Chrysler Town & Country.
According to the Windsor Star, Chrysler is investigating how to run the plant flat out so that there is enough minivan inventory to tide over dealers and consumers until the introduction of the new vehicle.
The shutdown is expected to bring major upgrades to the plant, which is alreading building 1,400 vans a day on three shifts. Although the nature of the upgrades has not been disclosed, it will likely be able to build more than just the minivan, since the new van will ride on a flexible architecture shared with other FCA products. However, no other products have been allocated to the plant, and Unifor, the labor union representing the plant’s workers, is reported to be hard at work to secure a future crossover for Windsor.
More by Derek Kreindler
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The Dodge Caravan is quite a comfortable utility vehicle that handles well and goes pretty good with nearly 300 Hp on tap. I have spent some time in a 2014 and quite like it. As for the new '2016' Chrysler 'Town & Country' mini-van and no Dodge sibling, I say good luck with that. I see a lot of the Dodges, but rarely see the Chrysler. As for Town & Country's, I will take this '300' based one. http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/2015-chrysler-town-country-1510503526
Surely, all this has been discussed months, even years ago on allpar.com, right down to new Chrysler patents on sliding doors and a revamped stow 'n go seat.
I might be the only person in North America who absolutely loved the T&C design concept from a few years ago, and I hope it looks just like it. It won't, because the design was beyond polarizing, but a man can hope, even though my minivan days are over. Except I still kinda want a commercialish Safari/Astro for Home Depot runs.
So they're going to turn the minivan into the full size SUV the Chrysler line lacks. They dominate the minivan market, but it's shrinking, while the SUV market is growing, and commands higher prices. If that's the plan, they may find that the higher prices for the SUV won't cover the loss of sales to traditional minivan buyers.