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.November 12, 2003
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This Week:

• Infiniti Introduces All-New QX56 Full-Size Luxury SUV

• The Minivan Formula

• Hyundai Names Newest SUV the Tucson

• BMW X3 Makes Official North American Auto Show Debut At South Florida International Auto Show

• Luxury Volkswagen Phaeton Arrives to Miami Auto Show - 'Represents Great Value in German Luxury Class'

• Toyota Announces $15 Million Expansion Of Facility In Erlanger, Kentucky

• Porsche sales up 85 percent in North America

• $400 Million Engine Plant Powers Holden's Global Drive

• Flagship Diesel Engine To Be Built At Dagenham

• Federal-Mogul Announces Joint Venture in Turkey

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The Minivan Formula

Best-seller Dodge Caravan and Grand Caravan are the world's best-selling minivans and have been for the past 20 years

Inventing the Formula

2004 Dodge Caravan SXT

The Formula: Garageable front-wheel drive; low, flat floor, easy ingress and engress; chair-height seating; walk through access from front- to second-row seats; and space for a 4' x 8' sheet of plywood.

Chrysler Group product planners set out to create a new segment by improving upon an earlier product success formula - its full-size Dodge Ram passenger van.

In the late 1970s, Chrysler Group dominated the full-size van segment by offering car-like conveniences such as power windows, power locks, power seats, rear window defrosters, and sophisticated audio systems. By simply offering more car-like amenities in a smaller version of its van, planners envisioned creating a segment that would compete with the station wagon without cannibalizing Dodge van sales.

"Full-size vans wouldn't fit into a standard garage, so we knew that we had to make our new van garageable," said Donoughe. "In addition to garageability, we knew we had to design the minivan from the inside out. A focus on clever interior packaging and thoughtful interior features was important in developing this new segment."

King of Cup Holders

Chrysler Group's Don Clark studied cup holder technology like it was a science. Today, there are more than 14 cup holders in Chrysler and Dodge minivans.

By making the vehicle front-wheel drive, designers could ensure a low, flat floor, which allowed for easy entry and exit, as well as space for chair-high seating.

To ensure a passenger-friendly minivan, Chrysler designed a side-sliding passenger door that opened 30 inches, the size of a standard home door opening. Other requirements included a flat floor and 48 inches between wheel wells to fit a standard 4' x 8' sheet of plywood and allow seating for three abreast.

Power Lift

Chrysler Group employee Ann Heiser told senior management that reaching up and closing a liftgate was a chore for short-statured minivan owners. The company authorized a power liftgate study and introduced the industry's first power liftgate on 2001 Chrysler and Dodge minivans.

Chrysler Group's first minivan program cost $700 million (U.S.) - a small price for a "magic wagon" that would forever change the mode of family transportation.

Twenty years later, Chrysler Group's "inside out" formula is still the standard by which other minivans are measured. But it's the entire package that has put Chrysler and Dodge minivans at the forefront of the market, with each new generation.

"Today, it's not only about garageability and interior space," said Donoughe. "You have to have outstanding design, innovation and excellent reliability in order to keep minivan fans coming back for more. Minivan after minivan, the Chrysler Group has done that. That's why, even 20 years after inventing the segment, we continue to attract approximately 38 percent of the people who buy minivans, the highest market share in the industry."

(Nov 07, 2003)