Respect for the Minivan Please

Posted by: David Kiley on May 25, 2007

There’s hardly been a vehicle more maligned in the new century than the minivan. It’s not justifiable. Ask anyone with a couple of kids, and they’ll tell you that a minivan is the most versatile machine to drive. That’s the case especially when the kinds are in car seats. The egress into the second row, the height of the seats…it all beats trying to contort a one year old into a center-latched car seat in most passenger cars.

Still, as Ford gets ready to launch the Flex “people mover” in 2009, and GM is out with its full-size crossovers, the disgust held for minivans at those two companies is palpable.

So, it was with great curiosity that I looked at a survey of consumers by Autobytel.com
The survey revealed that:

79% Say Minivans “Get a Bad Rap and Remain Appealing and Useful
51% of Family Utility Vehicle Intenders Say They’d Be Most Likely to Buy a Minivan.
Only 27% Say They’d Be Most Likely to Buy a Crossover SUV
73% Say Large SUVs are Less Appealing Than Minivans

The study makes you wonder if GM and Ford were polling mostly their own buyer base about minivans. If that was the case, then I can well imagine a plurality saying they hate minivans if the Ford Freestar and Chevy Venture was their benchmark. GM and Ford just didn’t try to be a leader, or even competitive, against Chrysler, and then Honda and Toyota, and now Hyundai and Kia.