Chrysler Still Mulling Minivan Strategy, Exec Says

CHICAGO – Chrysler brand CEO Al Gardner has a quick response when asked if the automaker has decided whether Chrysler or Dodge will get the next-generation minivan.

“No,” he says emphatically. “Until the boss tells me, I'm continuing to make a pitch for the van and keep coming up with a business case for it. But there is one thing I can tell you for sure, Chrysler Corp. will have a minivan."

As for the new Chrysler 200 coming soon, the totally redesigned and reengineered sedan that shares its platform with the Dodge Dart, Jeep Cherokee and Alfa Guilia, Gardner is most enthusiastic.

“If it's not a home run I'll be stunned,” he says in an interview at the Chicago Auto Show. “The Fiat relationship was the key to this thing.”

He says Chrysler’s Super Bowl ads last weekend “did what we expected. Two minutes of ads with the car shown 20 seconds, and in two days we had 4.5 million hits on YouTube. And while opinions on the car are good or bad, people are having discussions about our car.”