Over 26 years, multiple corporate owners and increased competition, the one constant at Chrysler has been the minivan.
And while it and the Auburn Hills automaker have suffered through years of decline, Chrysler Group LLC and its new management team from partner Fiat SpA have put renewed stock in the family hauler. Chrysler needs the "magic wagon" to restore profits to the company and to buy time as it merges its products with Fiat.
"With more than 120,000 Chrysler Group minivans sold so far this year, the profitable and substantial minivan business plays a crucial role to our long-term success," said Peter Fong, head of sales and the Chrysler brand.
The company's new chief executive officer, Sergio Marchionne, also has thrown his support behind the minivan. He surprised the industry recently when he restored the third shift of minivan production at the Windsor plant, the sole global source of the Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan for North America and the Chrysler Grand Voyager for international markets.
With little new product from Chrysler and more than a year before the first Fiats are likely to be sold in the United States, Chrysler is relying on breadwinners like the minivan to generate cash.
Chrysler, like its crosstown rival General Motors Co., had to beg for federal aid to stay afloat. Chrysler got more than $15 billion in financing from the U.S. and Canadian governments to help it restructure and emerge from bankruptcy this summer. But the automaker went months without building vehicles and saw sales plummet, dropping almost 40 percent this year. The company's overall market share has fallen below 10 percent.
Chrysler, which maintains a 40 percent share of the minivan market, is looking to increase its lead. The segment may be down but it is not out, analysts said.
Minivans are forecast to maintain a 3 percent to 4 percent share of the market through 2016, said John Sousanis, director of information content for Ward's AutoInfoBank.
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