2017 has been a big year for the Windsor built Pacifica.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has received 70 different motor vehicle awards for the top minivan.
FCA Canada CEO Reid Bigland tells CTV Windsor they are very proud of Pacifica.
Bigland is also optimistic about 2018, especially for the new hybrid-electric Pacifica.
“In California, it’s absolutely red-hot because not only do you get a California incentive, you get a federal incentive, and then it opens up for all the HOV lanes,” says Bigland. “So we're pedaling as fast as we can to get as many of those hybrids out there to California.”
Bigland would not comment on a report from Auto Forecast Solutions in Pennsylvania that predicts the Dodge Grand Caravan will be replaced by 2020 with a crossover vehicle.
“The minivan market has been shrinking but the crossover has been growing by leaps and bounds,” says Sam Fiorani, VP of global manufacturing for Auto Forecast Solutions.
It’s a fact supported by Desrosiers Automotive Consultants. Analyst Dennis Desrosiers says in 2000, more than 244,000 vans were sold in Canada. Last year, only 90,000 minivans were sold.
By comparison, more than 194,000 crossover vehicles were sold in 2000, but by 2016 the number jumps to more than 779,000.
Bigland was in Windsor on Friday for the FCA Canada’s donation of $1,258,107.18 to the United Way Centraide Windsor-Essex County.
