Oldsmobile’s Silhouette Is First Van for Sedan Maker

DETROIT —  Enticed by the potential for huge profits in the booming mini-van market, Oldsmobile, perhaps known best for its big family sedans, on Wednesday introduced its first van, the Silhouette.

Its effort to capitalize on the shift in consumer tastes from passenger cars to car-like trucks comes late. But Oldsmobile hopes that the new mid-size van--which will join the division’s car lineup in 1990--can still catch hold in the rapidly expanding light-truck market, which is now roughly half as large as the total market for passenger cars.

In explaining the traditional car maker’s plunge into the light-truck market, Oldsmobile general manager William W. Lane noted that about 1.1 million car buyers switched to light trucks in 1988.

“Among those buyers who crossed over to the light-truck market, 34% purchased a mid-size van,” said Lane. Unless they have had some other dealership to fall back on, he added, Oldsmobile dealers have “missed this crossover opportunity.”

Yet the Silhouette will face a flood of new vans from both Japan and the United States. Mazda has just introduced a sleek new mini-van, called the MPV, and other Japanese models soon will follow. Ford and Nissan have formed a joint venture to develop a new van in the United States to complement Ford’s Aerostar, and Chrysler’s original mini-van remains a huge success. In addition, two other GM divisions, Chevrolet and GMC, already sell successful mini-vans.

But Oldsmobile believes the sleek aerodynamic design of its vehicle will make it a hit.

“I guess I would view it as the next generation of vans,” said Larry Lyons, the general engineering and planning manager at Oldsmobile. “If you look at some of today’s vans, you’ll see a lot more leaning this way.”

In fact, the Olds van will be only a slightly more upscale version of a new model that will also be introduced in 1990 by Chevrolet and Pontiac. Both divisions had previously announced their plans to sell the new vans, the Pontiac Trans Sport SE and the Chevrolet Lumina APV. The Lumina van will be part of the new Lumina line of passenger cars that Chevy is bringing out this year.