What It Is: This is the same cobbled-together prototype for the next-generation Chrysler Town & Country minivan that our spies snagged photos of last year. This time, our spy photographers managed to get up close and personal with the T&C, illuminating previously dark details about Chrysler’s people mover.
Why It Matters: When the Town & Country debuts sometime next year as a 2017 model, it will do so as Chrysler’s only minivan—no longer will there be a Dodge-branded twin. The Dodge Grand Caravan will die about the same time that the new Town & Country hits the scene, to be replaced by a new, three-row crossover. That means the T&C will be left on its own to do battle against the Honda Odyssey, Kia Sedona, Nissan Quest, and Toyota Sienna.
As evidenced by the minivan paring at Fiat-Chrysler, the Town & Country is being developed for sale to a public rapidly losing interest in such vehicles. Chrysler needs to nail it to capture a greater share of that shrinking buyer pool, a task sure to be made more difficult by the showroom presence of a Chrysler-badged version of the three-row crossover replacing the Dodge Grand Caravan. And Chrysler also needs the Town & Country to be a win for reasons of pride: The company created the modern minivan segment, and the proverbial pie will be all over the proverbial face if its entry fizzles.
Platform: The Town & Country prototype seen here is pretty much a blank canvas onto which a lot of random Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, and Ram pieces have been scattered. As we noted when we last spotted this haggard test mule, the body appears to sit lower than the current Town & Country, and the roof has a crossover-like taper that indicates Chrysler is at least trying to make the van stylish. None of this is news, however. What is fresh is that for the first time, we’ve gotten a look at the prototype’s interior and its rear suspension. Predictably, the interior is a mishmash of Dodge Durango pieces—witness the center stack, digital gauge cluster, and steering wheel. Expect these items to become more “Chrysler-y” for production.
As for the rear suspension, it looks as though the T&C switches from a twist-beam rear axle to a multilink arrangement. Given how the exhaust and some underbody shielding pass beneath the axle, and that the suspension components we can see sit at an angle, it seems unlikely that there is a full-width stick axle down there. This might sound minor, but it bodes well for the van’s interior packaging. When we last spotted this test car, we speculated that the current-generation van’s clever Stow ’n Go folding rear seats may be binned, as there is no way the lower-looking floor could fit both the folding seats and, well, the rear suspension. An independent suspension, on the other hand, leaves more space for underbody components like the exhaust, the fuel tank, and optional all-wheel-drive bits, possibly leaving room above for disappearing seats even with the chopped roofline.
Powertrain: So far, we know only that the 2017 Town & Country will be offered with a plug-in-hybrid powertrain. In a segment not known for powertrain choices, a plug-in option will be bold and unique—the van’s competitors all offer just a single engine/transmission combo. As for the nonhybrid T&C, engine possibilities depend largely on how much weight Chrysler can strip out of its minivan. If it can yank a lot of tonnage out of the T&C, Chrysler could get away with a turbocharged four-cylinder engine and its ZF-designed nine-speed automatic. If the van turns out to be porky, don’t be surprised if Chrysler leans on its venerable 3.6-liter Pentastar V-6 engine, which also could be mated to the nine-speed. Front-wheel drive will be standard, but all-wheel drive may return as an option.
Competition: Honda Odyssey, Kia Sedona, Nissan Quest, Toyota Sienna.
Estimated Arrival and Price: Chrysler has told us via its widely publicized future product plans to expect the 2017 Town & Country to appear sometime next year. Chrysler also has furnished a vague base price, its brand chief recently saying that the new minivan will start at about $26,000. At that price, Chrysler will leave a few Grand Caravan buyers in the cold—the most basic 2015 Dodge van can be had for just under $23K—but will end up more closely aligned with the base prices of its competition. Fully loaded Town & Countrys will stretch all the way up to mid-$40,000 territory.
