Fiat Chrysler Automobiles plans to dramatically redefine the minivan category with its new Chrysler Pacifica and a plug-in hybrid version — two models with enough fresh styling and performance to potentially re-energize a segment that has lost more than half its sales the past 15 years.
The minivan was formally unveiled Monday at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The automaker is surprising the industry by dropping Town & Country — a name that has helped it retain its position as the king of minivans for the better part of 25 years — and reviving the Pacifica name. The automaker eventually plans to phase out the Dodge Grand Caravan, too.
“Sure, it is absolutely risky to change the name, but that’s how confident we are,” said Tim Kuniskis, head of Chrysler, Dodge and Fiat. “We wanted to change the name so that you think, ‘this is new, this is fresh, I need to check this out and forget the perception that I had about the previous minivan.’ ”
The Pacifica ushers in a completely new look that hides its sliding doors and doesn’t even appear to be a minivan at first glance.
“This is a fairly monumental leap. This is no evolutionary change,” said Dave Sullivan, an auto analyst for Auto Pacific who also is a minivan owner. “Inside, the materials … and buttons, switches all feel very nice and very high quality, and they really have gone all-in on rear-seat entertainment.”
Sullivan said it’s clear that the automaker poured every ounce of energy it could into developing a new design and packing the new minivan with innovations that will allow Chrysler to leapfrog the competition for several years.
The Pacifica is equipped with a redesigned 3.6-liter, V-6 Pentastar engine that produces 287 horsepower and 262 pound-feet of torque. The new engine is lighter and increases the gas compression, leading better fuel economy when combined with a nine-speed transmission, Kuniskis said.
The hybrid version will get up to 80 miles per gallon equivalent (MPGe) in city driving. It will be the only plug-in hybrid on the market when it goes on sale later this year. The minivan will go up to 30 miles on electric power when fully charged. When the battery’s energy is depleted, the Pacifica Hybrid becomes a part-time electric vehicle, like a conventional hybrid.
Analysts say the decision to develop a hybrid minivan makes a lot of sense because of the driving habits of minivan owners, and the size of the vehicle offers a lot of space to store the batteries.
