Report: FCA to Drop 300 Sedan, Launch New Minivan

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV’s 2020 future product plans for its Chrysler brand include adding a production version of the concept Portal Minivan and discontinuing the aging 300 full-size sedan, Automotive News Canada reports.

FCA declines to comment. Both moves have been rumored in the past.

The 300, which was introduced in 2003, is built at the carmaker’s Canadian factory in Brampton, Ont. The vehicle shares a rear-wheel-drive platform with the Dodge Charger. If the latter model continues, it likely will move to FCA’s “Giorgio” platform that underpins the midsize Alfa Romeo Giulia sedan.

Chrysler hinted that a production version of the Portal was imminent after unveiling the quirky all-electric model at the CES show in Las Vegas early last year. The concept shares a platform with the Chrysler Pacifica minivan, which is built at Chrysler’s Windsor, Ont., plant.

Designed by and for millennials (people born between the early 1980s and early 2000s), the Portal featured sliding doors, carbon fiber parts, a reconfigurable interior, facial and voice recognition technology, advanced telematics and Level 3 autonomy with a retractable steering wheel.

ANC doesn’t say if the production model would use an electric powertrain. Nor is it clear where the Portal would be built. But a representative of the Canadian union Unifor at the Brampton plant says the 300 is expected to be replaced by a minivan.

The Pacifica and its hybrid variant are scheduled to get updates for the 2020 model year and be completely redesigned for 2024.