With the 300 gone, the Chrysler Pacifica is the brand’s last remaining model, at least for now.
While the age of big V8-powered muscle cars may be over, Chrysler still has the popular Pacifica to tide it over. However, we’re coming up on the model’s seventh year on sale without a ground-up redesign. The closest we’ve gotten to a second-generation Pacifica is the fleet-only Voyager and a mid-cycle refresh for the 2021 model year. Within the next few years, though, we’re due to see a brand-new version, according to what brand CEO Chris Feuell told Automotive News Canada.
She recently told the outlet the Pacifica is set to get “more than just a moderate refresh”, though exactly what that entails remains a mystery. We do knnow it will probably happen in a couple years, meaning the current Pacifica should run through at least 2025 — by which time the brand will have a second model and its first EV as part of the lineup. The EV will draw at least some inspiration from the 2022 Airflow concept, though we don’t know many details about that car at this point, either.
We can speculate on some details…
On its face, it sounds like the overhauled Pacifica minivan will still use some version of Stellantis’ “Compact Wide” platform, which underpins the current model and the now-defunct Chrysler 200 and Jeep Cherokee, among a few others. According to a white paper outlining the now-finalized deal between the UAW and Stellantis, the automaker plans to keep its exceptionally long-lived 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 through 2028 or so. If that holds out, we could see the same V6 and plug-in hybrid options we have now, or the company could go in a different direction, perhaps downsizing to its 2.0-liter turbo engine before Chrysler phases out its last gasoline-powered car near the end of the decade.
Then, the real question is whether the Chrysler Pacifica will live on into the purely electric era. Some automakers are coming out of left field with electric minivans: Take the Volvo EM90 for example. It makes sense that the company that established the minivan segment in the U.S. market follows up this more-than-a-refresh overhaul with a full EV Pacifica/Town & Country/Voyager/etc. Then again, only some folks at Chrysler know exactly what’s coming down the pike, and they aren’t sharing too many details…for the time being.
