According to Automotive News, the Chrysler Group will kill off one of its bread-and-butter minivans – theDodge Grand Caravan – sometime during the 2013 calendar year. This will leave only the Chrysler Town & Country to do minivan battle for the Pentastar automaker. Curiously, through September of 2011, the Grand Caravan has actually outsold the more expensive Town & Country by almost 14,000 units.

Getting rid of the Grand Caravan is apparently part of Chrysler’s move to eliminate dealership duplication, a plan that was started under the company’s previous owners, Cerberus Capital Management. In addition to theDodge van, the Avenger sedan will also be killed off when the Chrysler 200 replacement arrives in 2013. (Like the Grand Caravan and Town & Country, the Avenger and 200 are nearly identical underneath the skin.)

Automotive News suggests that the Grand Caravan and Avenger will be replaced by a single future Dodge crossover that will be based on a Fiat platform. The next-generation Town & Country is expected to arrive sometime in 2014.

Chrysler already a high-performance SUV in its arsenal, namely the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8that comes fitted with a 6.4-liter Hemi V8 pushing out 465 HP and 630 Nm (465 lb-ft) of torque and which can complete the quarter mile sprint in the mid-13 seconds range.

But now, the Detroit carmaker it also considering giving the Durango the SRT8 treatment in 2013. This would be an easy task, since both models are based on the same platform.

Therefore Dodge should have no problem shoehorning the 6.4-liter Hemi V8 under the Durango’s bonnet, as well as use the Jeep’s lowered active suspension and proceed to some bodywork and interior upgrades befitting the SRT badge.

The only obstacle is that the most powerful model in the Durango line-up, the370HP R/T, has sold only 2,418 units since it launched in March – a meager 7% of the model’s total sales.

As a result, Chrysler’s executives are still understandably cagey about producing a model that would sell in even smaller numbers and wouldn’t justify its development costs.

South African Chrysler fans has a new special edition vehicle coming their way. Described by Chrysler as a way to “satisfy the boy racer in all of us,” the Dodge Caliber Mopar Edition is a blacked-out hatchback rolling on 18-inch powdercoated alloy wheels.

Under the hood sits a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine that’s been juiced up courtesy of a cold-air induction kit and an upgraded manifold and exhaust system, and the mill is paired with a manual transmission. The Caliber Mopar Edition is dropped two inches, wears Mopar decals and gets a unique hood as well.

Priced at 259,990.00 Rand, the Dodge Caliber Mopar Edition will set you back a bit over $37,000 at current exchange rates. We understand that car cost is a hard thing to directly translate, and if you ditch the stripes it’s not half bad looking, but that’s still a ton of money for a tarted up Caliber… and it’s a far cry from the long-lost turbocharged SRT4. Check out the South African press release after the break.

If you’re looking for an Avenger with a little more bite, Dodge may have just the car for you. The company will unveil its new Avenger R/T at the 2011 New York Auto Show this week, and though the drivetrain has been left largely untouched, the mid-sized fighter now packs a tighter suspension.

Dodge engineers managed to increase the vehicle’s roll stiffness by 18 percent thanks to upping the front spring rates by 17 percent and damper rates by 15 percent. Out back, the rear springs see an increase in stiffness of 12 percent while the back damper rates jump by 20 percent. The Avenger R/T also benefits from a larger rear stabilizer bar – 21 mm (up from 19 mm).

Dodge says it’s shooting for a more spirited, performance sedan driving experience, though there’s no indication that the vehicle’s brakes have been upgraded in kind.

Power still comes from the same torque-steer happy 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 engine with 283 horsepower mated to a six-speed automatic transmission, so hopefully the firmer suspension has quelled the powertrain’s wayward tendencies somewhat. Either way, Dodge says that the combo is good for 19 mpg city and 29 mpg highway.

Outside, the Avenger R/T is differentiated from its lower-trim siblings with aesthetic tweaks like a body-color grille and R/T graphics on the front fenders. Large, 19-inch alloy wheels are also standard and the interior gets a special gauge cluster with the tachometer taking center stage, along with a special perforated leather steering wheel and “SRT-inspired” pedals. Rounding off the changes are special fabric seats with embroidered logos. Hit the jump for the full press release.

The 2010 Mopar Challenger arrived last summer to a hero’s welcome. Chrysler only offered 500 copies of the special edition Mopar model, which carried a base sticker price of $38,000. With the all-new 2011 Chargernow trolling Dodge dealer parking lots all around the country, you can probably guess which vehicle is next to feature a Mopar makeover.

Fortunately, Chrysler doesn’t plan to disappoint, as the automaker has released the first sketch of its forthcoming special edition model. The rendering reveals a black and blue color scheme similar to that of the Challenger, though the side stripes have been replaced with a stripe that stretches across the hood, roof and trunk. As an added bonus, the Mopar team appears to have gotten rid of the bulbous and unnecessary hood scoop for the 2011 Charger; a move we support 1,000 percent.