It’s no secret that the Chrysler lineup has been getting smaller and more stale by the minute. The last time the storied American brand added a new nameplate to its lineup was all the way back in 2017 when the Pacifica replaced the Town and Country, and with the retirement of the cushy Chrysler 300 after the 2023 model year, the brand was down to just a single option (the aforementioned Pacifica) in its entire lineup. There’s been plenty of talk about Chrysler reinventing itself, and the brand has shown off a slew of concept cars, from the Airflow SUV in 2022 to the Halcyon sports car earlier this year. However, Chrysler has come up short on actually putting anything new into production. Until now. Sort of.
We now know that the Chrysler lineup is gaining a new member for the 2025 model year…although it’s not actually that new, and it’s certainly not that exciting. Rather than launching a cutting-edge electric vehicle based on the new models for its sister brands under the Stellantis umbrella, like the Jeep Wagoneer S or the Dodge Charger Daytona, Chrysler has decided to instead resurrect the venerable Chrysler Voyager minivan. However, it might be more accurate to call it a reanimation rather than a resurrection, seeing as the 2025 Voyager is effectively the same vehicle that Chrysler discontinued after the 2021 model year. Perhaps they should have delayed the announcement another month until October 31st?
Back From the Grave to Haunt Us
While it might seem odd to restart production of a discontinued vehicle, the Voyager was never actually fully discontinued. Although it was no longer offered for sale to individual buyers after the 2021 model year, Chrysler continued producing a bare-bones version of its minivan for fleet customers. Combined with the fact that despite having a different name, the modern Voyager is really just a more economy-focused Pacifica (the 2020 Voyager was literally just a new name for the base L and LX trims of the 2019 Pacifica), returning the model to Chrysler dealership lots was a fairly simple process. The real question is, why?
Chrysler headlined its announcement of the 2025 Voyager by highlighting its “budget-friendly price point starting under $40,000,” but while that might sound great at first glance, it’s a statement that invites ridicule on closer examination. First off, that “under $40,000” starting price is $39,995, excluding a destination charge that is creeping close to $2,000. Second, the 2024 Chrysler Pacifica starts at $39,340, undercutting the “budget-friendly” Voyager by $655! In order to ensure its “new” budget option is cheaper than the Pacifica, Chrysler has helpfully axed the two base trims of its more premium model for 2025. It’s also worth remembering that the 2021 Voyager truly was budget-friendly, with a starting price of just $27,535! Inflation has been bad over the past four years, but was it really that bad?
Who Is the Market?
The biggest question about the 2025 Voyager is the intended buyer. The Pacifica has some merit with its class-exclusive plug-in hybrid powertrain and its status as the only minivan from a premium brand, but the Voyager really doesn’t have much going for it. While it’s positioned as the budget option in Chrysler’s marketing, it is more expensive than most of the other minivans on the market, including the hybrid Toyota Sienna and the ruggedly-styled Kia Carnival (which is also getting a hybrid option for 2025). Chrysler will likely have to offer some extremely steep discounts to make buyers see the Voyager as a true budget option because, without them, it simply doesn’t make sense to consider it over the other options available to minivan buyers, and customers will surely be wondering if it was really worth bringing back from the dead.
