After more than 30 years after the model’s debut, Dodge is now saying goodbye to the Dodge Grand Caravan. It will be joined by the Journey crossover, which also happens to be another well-loved model from the brand.
Earlier this year, Dodge said it will only be accepting orders for the last generation of the Grand Caravan until March. However,due to the sudden closure of assembly plants due to the coronavirus pandemic, order books for the model were kept open until May.
But at a recent event where Dodge introduced the entry of the Dodge Challenger SRT Super Stock, Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye, and Durango Hellcat to its lineup, the automaker finally confirmed the exit.
The automaker announced that production of the Grand Caravan as well as the Journey this will end this year. This means no new units of the said vehicles will be produced after 2020.
For a while now, the Grand Caravan has been pulled out of the market in select cities due to recent changes in emissions regulations, which the minivan failed to meet. But aside from this, the decision to let go of the model, along with the Journey, was because of the company’s plan to focus on “core performance” cars.
The Grand Caravan has long been a subject of discontinuation, especially considering it hasn’t been given any significant upgrade in the past few years. The current version of the minivan sold in the market is the model’s fifth generation dating back to 2008.
According to Tim Kuniskis, head of FCA’s passenger car division, the company had to postpone the discontinuation of both the Grand Caravan and Journey for years because of their strong sales.
In 2019 alone, the Grand Caravan and Journey comprised about 50% of Dodge’s 422,886 total sales. From this total, the Grand Caravan accounts for 122,648 of all the units sold.
With the exit of the two models, Dodge will channel its focus on its performance cars, the Challenger and Charger, as well as the Durango SUV. But it remains to be seen how this will affect the brand’s sales performance.
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