Chrysler Group has announced that it will kill of two more name plates after the 2012 run. The Dodge Avenger is on the cancel list. In my opinion not much of a loss. It is too bad because they could have hit a home run with that one. The Avenger was built on a new convertible chassis. I don't mean drop top. The chassis was engineered to accommodate front wheel drive which they chose (bad choice), it was also built to accept rear drive (would have been a hit) or all wheel drive. The styling was a hit but the car other than that was nothing special. Chrysler decided it didn't want to sell the Avenger and the Chrysler 200 which are twins out of the same showroom now that Chrysler has made there stores all Chrysler division shopping.
The next name plate to get the ax will be a disappointment to families all across the states. After 29 years the Dodge Caravan/Grand Caravan is going away. The management (FIAT) of Chrysler think that they can push Caravan buyers into the more expensive Town & Country. I happen to think this is a huge mistake. I bought an 06 Town & Country because I refuse to make a car payment bigger than my mortgage. There are many that feel the same way.
The next one to get the ax is the GMC Canyon which is if I am correct the twin to the Chevrolet Colorado. The Colorado is set for a restyle next year and will soldier on as the only small pickup from GM. It should sell well considering it will be the only domestic mini pickup available with the demise of the Dodge Dakota and Ford Ranger.

 

Signs of the times my friend. What a sad state of affairs.

 

Indeed, it is a sad state of affairs.

 

as bad as ill miss the Avenger, nothing hurts as bad as a whole nameplate getting axed. like Oldsmobile, Pontiac and Mercury. i mean, those have been around forEVER!

but, x2. sign of the times.

 

Can't forget to put Plymouth on that list. I'm not certain but I think Plymouth was older than Mercury.

 

Wow the dodge avenger was the car i almost got.
Had to pick between a brand new 0 miles dodge avenger(v6 of course), or the 2006 monte SS with 38k miles.

Well, you know what won that

 

One thing for sure Chrysler has the best desingers in the country. I love the 300. I came so close to buying one when I was looking for the Monte. If this Red beauty hadn't shown up when it did. I'd be in one right now. Very Nice cars

 

It is a sign of the times, people are not buying like they used to right now. People are stretching old cars to go further. I'm sure that when times get better, some of these names will re-appear.

Though I have never bought Mopar, as I have been a GM Fan-Boy for a long time, but it's not out of the question that I might (as I never thought I'd buy a Ford and dad and I co-own an F150 now).... The one thing that concerns me is axing the Caravan line in hopes to push buyers to a more expensive product (the Town and Country). With times being rough, I question would it have been better to let the Town & Country go and offer a fancier package for the Caravan.
On a side note, my sister-in-law and her husband bought I think an '06 Grand Caravan a year ago. I am not a fan of mini-vans as the do-it-yourself mechanic is highly limited to what can be serviced in their driveway. My brother-in-law popped the hood on there Caravan, brilliant! It's a v6 engine and I can reach all the spark plugs with ease it looks like. Point I'm drawing, it's a v6 mini-van average Joe can probably service with minimal issues!

 

They can kill off a few more Chrysler products and I wouldn't care

I'm going to assume this is just FIATs doing, they are just limiting the fluff of the brand.

 

The minivan has been on the market since the early 80's. When it first came out, it was a cool alternative to a station wagon, which was considered to be passe and out of date -- uncool at the time. Now in 2011, the minivan has reached the status of un-cool but a necessary vehicle for toting kids around.

Sales of minivans has decreased in recent years with the availability of more family friendly alternatives. Ford gave up on the minivan market completely years ago. Chrysler is simply reducing the minivan line-up to one model. And adding a Fiat-based crossover vehicle to eliminate the redundancy.