The previous Grand Voyager performed poorly in official European crash tests, scoring a woeful two stars for adult occupant safety and none for pedestrian protection. Chrysler insists this car will fare much better, and points to other products within Chrysler Group – the Dodge Caliber and the 2001 Jeep Cherokee – that have scored a decent four-out-of-five stars for occupant protection.

Front, side and curtain airbags are fitted as standard. Chrysler claims much of the extra length in this Grand Voyager over the previous car has gone into the front ‘crumple zone’ – an area designed to deform in a crash an absorb much of the impact. Electronic stability control, which can help the driver regain control during a skid, is also standard.

The Grand Voyager also has Isofix child seat mounting points for three child seats.

The Grand Voyager has exceptional luggage space for a seven seater. Even with all the seats in use, there is still 756 litres of luggage space – that’s more than executive estates like the Mercedes E-Class. But the best thing is the Stow ‘n Go seating system. This allows you to fold all five chairs into the floor to create a flat 3,296-litre load space – plus folding them flat and lifting them back into place is easy.

All the seats can be slid forward and back and legroom is superb too, making the Grand Voyager one of the most flexible people carriers around. And when the seats are in place, the compartments they stow into double as additional underfloor storage areas. Electrically-sliding wide rear doors come as standard on all models and make getting in and out easy, especially in tight spaces.