'Memories and nostalgia': U of T prof. says return to Voyager name could improve Chrysler sales

University of Toronto professor Dimitry Anastakissaid it makes perfect sense for Chrysler to resurrectthe Voyager nameplatefor the company's 2020 lines of minivans.

Anastakis, the newly-minted chair ofCanadian business history at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Business, said that the Voyager name taps into the nostalgia of a "very successful" vehicle for Chrysler, while simultaneously moving away from the Pacifica brand that didn't necessarily deliver on substantial earnings for the company.

"That was Chrysler's saving grace in the 1980s, even more so than the K-Car," said Anastakis. "The minivans really did save the company."

Anastakis also explained that the Voyager name likely resonates with the children of the Baby Boomer generation, who probably have children of their own and who no longer view cars as a status symbol but as a "practical aspect of family life."

"I think that there's probably some market research that Chrysler's done that said this is a feel good name for people who are looking for the first time to move into their own families after growing up in a minivan," said Anastaki, addingthat the Voyager name will likely trigger a sense of nostalgia and a buying impulse "for a whole new generation of minivan shoppers."

Chrysler first released the Plymouth Voyager as a full-size van in 1974. Ten years later, the company introduced the Voyager as a minivan, alongside the Dodge Caravan.

The company stopped producing the Voyager in 2003, and announced last week that it intended to resurrect the Voyager name for some Pacifica models.

Don't call it a comeback

Though the company is bringing backthe Voyager name in the United States, Anastakis pointed out that Chrysler is retaining the Pacifica brand in Canada.

He said that's probably because Canada's minivan market is larger than the market in the United States, where SUVs are the more popular vehicle.

"I think what they're probably thinking is that there isn't as much of a need to try to boost sales in that category in Canada as maybe there is in the United States," said Anastakis.

Anastakis said that it isn't rare for automobile manufacturers to bring back older brand names.

For example, Anastakis pointed to Ford's decision to bring back the Thunderbird vehicle and nameplate in "the 90s after the Thunderbird had gone away for a few decades."

"Of course, the other great exampleis the VW Bug," added Anastakis.

Volkswagen didn't just resurrect the brand name, the company also introduced a second-generation Bug the VW Beetle.

"I think it's the second-biggest selling vehicle of all time after the [Toyota] Corolla," said Anastakis.