Chrysler has some big changes planned for its next generation of minivans. What we know so far is that it's unlikely that both the Dodge Caravan and Chrysler Town & Country will return, meaning only one will make the cut - at least, that is, as a minivan. While there has been previous talk of the Town & Country being the sole minivan offering and the Caravan becoming a large crossover, the final outcome may ultimately depend on what consumers want.

According to news reports coming from The Detroit Bureau and the Detroit Free Press, Chrysler has so far come up with four concepts that are currently being shown to consumer marketing clinics. What's interesting is that just two of the concepts are minivans - the other two are crossovers. Part of the idea behind this is that Chrysler wants to "reconnect with buyers who have largely dismissed the minivan as an unloved mom-mobile, opting instead for less flexible but more stylish SUVs and crossovers." Still, minivan sales have been done better this past year after a drop in 2009.

The most recent reports are now indicating that Chrysler will receive the premium crossover while Dodge will keep the Caravan as a minivan, but the biggest challenge with the latter is to make it different. It needs to retain current owners will attracting new ones away from the likes of the Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna. A final decision has yet to be made but what's certain is that Chrysler won't abandon the segment it invented some 30 years ago. Both of Chrysler's new people carriers will go on sale in late 2014 as 2015 models.