Chrysler news

FacebookDiggDel.icio.usMore Bill Pugliano, Getty Images U.S. sales of the Dodge Caravan fell 45% in the first two months of 2008 from a year earlier. Demand for Canadian-made minivans is tanking in the United States as competition from other vehicles grows and the economy slows down, putting pressure on Chrysler LLC to cut output at its Windsor, Ont., assembly plant if industry conditions worsen. U.S.

sales of Chrysler’s Dodge Caravan minivan fell 45% in the first two months of the year from year-earlier levels and 32% last month alone, according to figures released yesterday by the company. Sales of Chrysler’s higher-end Town & Country vans are down 9% year over year. Production of the vans is located in Windsor and St. Louis, Mo.

The slide, coming as Chrysler rolled out all-new versions of the two vans just six months ago, suggests the company may have bet wrong in believing there’s still a stable market for sliding-door family haulers at a time when so-called crossover vehicles are gaining popularity and gasoline is sticking above US$3-a-gallon.

Jim Press, Chrysler’s vice-president of sales, has said the company is weighing a cutback in the number of models it sells and that launching both the new Town & Country and Caravan cost the company US$100-million more than a single model would have. “The whole segment is in trouble,” said Tom Libby, senior director of industry analysis at J.D. Power & Associates, noting that such minivan manufacturers as Honda Motor Co. are also seeing weak van volumes.