Were they ever sexy?
I got a story idea from leasetrader.com suggesting that
“the minivan is bringing sexy back.” I don’t know what that means,
but the gist is they’re making a comeback.
Maybe they mean minivan owners are sexy? I own one. It’s a 2004
Odyssey. Really nice car. It took persuading to get my
wife to go for it, the van. She’s a businesswoman and didn’t like
the image of a soccer mom. She wanted an SUV instead. I know one
woman who did OK for herself after being a tenny-runnered soccer
mom.
Even though we’re just a 3-person, 1-dog family, space was the
top priority. The Odyssey was roomier than any SUV, so we bought
it. There have only been a few times when we filled up all seven
seats, or took them out to haul huge loads, but that’s OK. Though
we don’t take full advantage of it, at least it’s not a gas
guzzler. The only thing I hate is back windows don’t open and it
can get claustrophobic back there. And I still haven’t figured out
some of the gadgets, like putting it in park before opening a
sliding door, or opening the sliding door while the gas door is
open. It’ll start blaring out noises that keep going until my kid
turns them off. That’s not very sexy.
But back to the minivan comeback. The press release says SUV
sales continue to tail off, and that a crossover is really a
minivan without a sliding door. Minivan demand is up 22.6 percent
over the past 12 months, and crossovers are up 18.6 percent.
Lynn Thompson, author of SoccerMomBook.com, says compared to the
SUV and crossover, the minivan is still the best choice for moms
because “it offers all the space, functionality and features every
mom could ever want when transporting kids.
And minivans are less expensive. Fully loaded vans like the Kia
Sedona (28,600) and Toyota Sienna ($35,600) are cheaper than their
crossover counterparts like the Buick Enclave ($42,100) and the GMC
Acadia ($42,100). It’s all relative when even the Kia is way
of your price range.
So these guys are saying people are rediscovering the minivan
and getting over the stigma of driving one. They’re getting helped
by commercials like
this one. My wife, after driving the van for six years, is back
to wanting an SUV.