A fourth generation Dodge Caravan minivan, seen in Beijing in 2018. The Caravan was in a great shape for its years, painted in black with darkened windows and with the original factory wheels. This Caravan was manufactured in China by SouEast under a deal with Chrysler.
SouEast is the brand name of South East (Fujian) Motor Corporation (SEM). This is a joint venture between China’s Fujian Motor Industry Group Corporation, Taiwan’s China Motor Corporation (CMC), and Japan’s Mitsubishi Motors. The joint venture was founded in 1995, building cars under the SouEast and Mitsubishi brands.
The English name is a bit odd, SouEast instead of SouthEast. The Chinese name is Dongnan Qiche (东南汽车), literally east south auto. In China, compass directions are written in the opposite way compared to the Western way. So north west becomes west-north, and south east becomes east-south.
In the mid-2000’s SouEast and Chrysler started talking about a joint venture to make the Dodge Caravan in China, and a deal was agreed upon in 2006. It wasn’t a full-fledged joint venture deal, but more like a licensing deal, where SouEast was allowed to sell the Caravan under the Dodge-brand. So the manufacturer name was always SouEeast, not SouEast-Chrysler.
It was an interesting move. At the time, Chrysler still had the long-running Beijing-Jeep joint venture in China, and the previous generation Caravan had been produced by Sanxing Auto. So why did Chrysler look for yet another partner to build the Caravan? What I understand is that BAIC simply wasn’t interested, and Sanxing got in trouble because of its connections to the shady Guangdong car scheme.
The logo on the left is of Fuyao, China’s largest automotive glass maker.
Production of the Dodge Caravan in China started in 2007. The Caravan got an official Chinese name: Kailing (凯领). Chrysler also arranged a special 3.0 V6 engine for the Chinese-made Caravan. This engine was not available in the Caravan anywhere else.
The interior was luxurious, with real leather seats and ‘wood’ panels on the dashboard.
A Hello Kitty cup.
The 3.0 V6 ‘6G72’ engine was sourced from Mitsubishi. It should be remembered that Chrysler and Mitsubishi were then part of the DaimlerChrysler–Mitsubishi alliance, a deal between Daimler-Chrysler and Mitsubishi for platform sharing and joint development of cars, engines, and parts. In the 2000’s, Beijing Jeep also made several Mitsubishi’s.
Output was 167 hp and 240 Nm, good for a 170 km/h top speed and a 0-100 in 12.7 seconds. All horses went to the front wheels via a 4-speed automatic gearbox.
When the Caravan was launched, companies said it was aimed at “private enterprise owners”, so not specifically at families. During a media event for the launch, Philip Murtaugh, CEO of Chrysler’s Asia operations, said: “The first Dodge Caravan produced in China is a milestone and a sign of Chrysler’s ambitious global expansion.” Murtaugh had just been appointed to his new role in 2007. Before he joined Chrysler, he worked for General Motors China, overseeing the SAIC-GM joint venture and the ultimately failed Jinbei-GM joint venture.
Classical Chinese characters for the badge: 東南汽車, Dongnan Qiche, SouEast Auto.
Pricing in 2007 ranges from 239.000 to 339.000 yuan, which was not a bad deal for such a large car. There were three trim levels: Classic, Deluxe, and Supreme.
Production of the Dodge Caravan at SouEast continued until 2011. No other Dodge cars were made by SouEast in China. Nowadays the Caravan is quite rare. Its engine no longer complies with China’s new strict emission regulations so many of this fine minivans are simply scrapped. Happily, some survived, like this black one I met in Beijing.