I remember around the turn of the year there were dire reports of how Chrysler was temporarily halting the Pacifica production line because of poor sales, especially around the plug-in hybrid version, and that this was indicative of a lack of demand.

There haven’t been hybrid Pacificas available for sale within 300 miles of Raleigh any time I have checked over the past few months. This seemed weird because the Raleigh area seems to be a huge hot spot for electric cars (e.g. Leaf and Tesla) and plug-in hybrids (e.g. Volt, Ford C-max, Prius); I see them everywhere.

Finally, the truth breaks through: They simply haven’t started full production before and are cagey about what problems got in the way for the past half year or so. It does make it seem likely that the halt was about retooling for some production problem that they won’t admit.

I’m not sure I’m going to buy one, but it is not about the electric minivan idea, just bad decision-making on FCA’s part. For example, the lower trim line (we specifically want not to have video screens at every seat that are required in the higher trim line) is available only with black interior, which is really a terrible idea in the south. I’m sure they are trying to use this as a lever to push sales of the higher-margin high trim line, but that doesn’t make me want to buy their car.

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1109740_chrysler-pacifica-hybrid-full-production-to-start-today-for-plug-in-minivan

Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid: full production to start today for plug-in minivan

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