A Maxirush to Chrysler's Minivans

Suburbia piles into the latest hot ticket from Detroit Visitors to the annual auto show at New York City's Coliseum last week gazed with longing at expensive sports cars and custom-stretched limousines. But a real hit of the extravaganza was the new minivans that are now rushing onto American highways. At the Chrysler display, people bounced up and down in the driver's seat and clambered around the interior. Said Edward Thomas from Matawan, N.J., a prospective purchaser: "It's a very practical vehicle and more fashionable than a regular-size van." Car buyers around the U.S. agree. Introduced barely six weeks ago, the mini-vans are now sold out at most dealers.

Chrysler has orders for 100,000 of them, which is enough to keep an assembly plant in Windsor, Ont., across the river from Detroit, operating on two shifts with overtime until mid-July. The front-wheel-drive minivans combine efficient use of interior space, with room for as many as seven passengers, and easy handling. Chrysler's models, named Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager, are 16.7 in. lower and 21 in. shorter than standard vans like the Dodge Ram Wagon. The smaller size and improved aerodynamics created by the minivan's lower profile pay off in fuel economy. The new models get 37 m.p.g. on the highway, compared with 18 m.p.g. for the larger vans. But the new vans can carry only 1,700 lbs., vs. 2,600 lbs. for the bigger versions. Acceleration is also somewhat sluggish, since the minivans use the same 2.2-liter engine as Chrysler's small K-cars.

Minivans do not go for a miniprice. Chrysler's models start at $8,700 and run as high as $14,000. A Toyota Van Wagon equipped with an icemaker, front-and rear-seat air conditioner and twin sunroofs can cost $16,000. The average price of a new car sold in the U.S. today is close to $11,000. All the major automakers are going after this fast-growing market. Toyota will ship 40,000 of its Van Wagons to the U.S. this year, and Volkswagen expects to sell 25,000 Vanagons in America during 1984. General Motors and Ford will not launch vans until early in 1985. Both firms chose to put out a line of small trucks before the minivans. To catch up, Ford has even taken the unusual step of displaying a mock-up of its slope-fronted Aerostar minivan at auto shows a full year before the official introduction. Says Sales Vice President Philip Benton: "We think there is a market for 600,000 minivans eventually, and we think ours is a winner." Chrysler Chairman Lee lacocca and President Harold Sperlich first discussed building minivans in the mid-1970s, when both men were at Ford. It was not until 1978, after they had moved to Chrysler, that they got a chance to produce one. The $600 million project was risky, since Chrysler at the time was on the brink of bankruptcy.

Yet lacocca insisted that the vehicle was a sure hit, and no one was ready to argue with him. Now he claims that Chrysler's minivans "will make automotive history." Their current popularity is something of a second coming for vans. While the boxy vehicles had long been used by small businesses for deliveries, in the mid-'70s young buyers turned them into a Pop art form. They tarted them up with fanciful decor and shag-rug interiors.

In the peak year of 1978, 900,000 vans were sold. But rising gasoline prices and the recession eroded the demand for these customized, fantasies-on-wheels wagons. By 1981, sales of vans had dropped to 342,000. Early customer surveys indicate that a whole new class of car buyers is now dis covering vans. Most are former owners of sedans or station wagons, and only 3% previously had vans. Says Maryann Kel ler, a portfolio manager and auto-industry analyst with Vilas-Fischer Associates in New York City: "This is a whole new concept to foist on suburbia."