Why we don't have US minivans in Europe?
Their absence from European roads is surprising at first glance, but there might be a reason or two for it.
Honda Odyssey, Toyota Sienna, Chrysler Pacifica - a few car model names that are as unfamiliar to an average European as a gasoline-powered commercial vehicle and an unrestricted gun access. Even though minivan sales are dropping year by year due to strong competition from SUVs, they still represent a large chunk of US car market. So much so that the likes of Toyota, Kia and Honda still care enough to develop new models of their minivans.
On the surface, the concept seems simple enough - people often have children they need to transport, so let's build a car perfectly suited to this role. However, with the sole exception of Chrysler Voyager back in the 1990s and 2000s, none of the US minivans have really caught on in Europe. And with the ever growing SUV market, bringing them to the Old Continent seems even more unlikely. So why haven't they caught on?
Kia Carnival - the latest car to enter the minivan game. Looks very SUVish, but I'll give it a pass.
What's not to like?
Let me start by saying I absolutely adore US minivans. Whenever I see one on the street, usually imported from overseas, I feel good for the owner. When I looked at them for the first time (I can't tell you whether I read about them in a newspaper or watched a Doug DeMuro's video), I thought "Wow, this thing is marvellous, why don't we have them over in Europe?"
Whichever way you look at them, they are amazing. For the price of an average midsize sedan in Europe you get sitting for up to eight people or an incredible cargo space, outstanding comfort (something I honestly value more than anything) resulting from a soft suspension and loads of interior space, respectable performance and incredible technology (have you ever heard of a vacuum cleaner built into a car?)
And yet, despite all of these fantastic qualities, including a plethora of features designed to make parenting as easy as possible, manufacturers still refuse to officially sell US minivans in Europe. So why is that?
Who needs a Rolls-Royce, when you can have this for a price of a nice VW Passat?
Size matters
When you look at a modern US minivan, you quickly discover one thing - it isn't exactly mini. Their size is a double-edged sword. Yes, they can easily haul up to eight people in superior comfort, but their sheer length makes them impractical in Europe. Unlike cities in the USA, metropolises on the Old Continent weren't developed with car-based transportation in mind.
I was recently astonished to find out that Doug DeMuro dares to call Ford Maverick, an over 5 metres long pick-up truck, a city-friendly model. Comparing this to the European idea of a city-friendly car, a Smart Fortwo (2.69 metres) or a Renault Clio (4.05 metres), you can start to see the difference. In fact, passenger cars that approach the 5-metre mark are a rarity and are usually the most luxurious vehicles on sale. The most popular vehicle in America (Ford F-series) could probably drive over the best selling car in Europe (VW Golf). Thus, you can easily see that the size difference isn't negligible to say the least.
And the US minivans? Well, Honda Odyssey is over 5.15 metres long. Toyota Sienna - 5.17 metres. In Poland, where I live, the required parking space size is 5 meters in length. In other countries or on some parking spots created decades ago it is even smaller. And whilst a few years ago this might not have been that big of an issue (hence the success of Chrysler Voyager), cars continue to grow even though cities become more and more crowded, thus having a minivan in a city can be quite demanding. Especially considering the fact that minivans aren't usually driven by car enthusiast, so navigating around a city in such a tank would be frustrating for the driver to say the least.
Chrysler Voyager - probably the last US-like minivan that was truly popular in Europe. It was large, but still manageable.
Who would actually need them?
Making a car is one thing, selling it successfully is another. Who would actually want to buy US minivans if they were brought to the Old Continent (apart from the few maniacs that imported them themselves)? I think we can distinguish two possible groups - large families and business owners, ideally both.
Let's start with the first one. The proportion of large families is much smaller in Europe than in the USA to begin with. What is more, majority of these large families aren't usually very affluent and wouldn't be able to afford such a vehicle. What is more, Europeans tend to drive shorter distances, thus comfort and interior space don't play such a big role. And even if they would need a more spacious car, compact MPVs (multi-purpose vehicles), mini MPVs (not to confuse with a minivan) and LAVs (leasure activity vehicles) thrive in Europe and they are much better suited to the tightness of European roads.
Secondly, commercial clients. We can probably divide the category even further, by distinguishing people transporting other people for a profit and individuals who simply need to carry stuff from one place to the other. In both cases, they usually make do with light commercial vans (like Renault Trafic and Ford Transit). These vehicles aren't as comfortable as US minivans, but who needs comfort when you can fit more people (and these people are there for less than an hour at a time) or cargo inside in addition to saving quite a bit of money and having less things that could break. What is more, people who buy these cars usually aren't actually those who drive them, so why would they worry about the comfort in the first place?
Renault Trafic - If Europeans have a very large family or a need for a vehicle for work, they usually end up with one of these.
It's a cultural thing
There are also a few smaller contributing factors that might have sealed the fate of US minivans in Europe. First of all, such cars aren't usually kings of fuel economy. Majority of them come with a gasoline-powered V6. And yes, putting two different engines into one car model isn't a groundbreaking idea, but there's another issue. Europeans like diesel engines more than any other continent and majority of the manufacturers of US minivans aren't renowned diesel engine makers. It would be possible, but for a vehicle that is already on the back foot in a new market, it probably wouldn't be feasible.
What is more, unlike SUVs now and sedans back in the day, minivans aren't presentable and trendy. When you buy one, you don't do it because you like the image it creates or how it makes you feel, you do it because you need to. Or at least other people think so. And since majority of people don't want to keep different vehicles for different purposes and strive to be perceived as respectable and affluent at all times, they don't buy a minivan.
And lastly, Americans are simply bigger and like bigger things, so it isn't at all surprising that they drive bigger cars. After all, land yachts were created there (don't get me wrong, I love them). Compare this to the cramped Europe, where cars like Messerschmitts, Peels P50 and Reliant Robins were conceived and you start to see a vast cultural difference that might have been the final nail in the minivans' coffin.
Toyota addressed the fuel economy issue by implementing a hybrid powertrain in the newest generation of their Sienna minivan. But the gas mileage still isn't great.
So there's a reasoning behind it
As you can see, there are some reasons as to why the US minivans haven't made their way into Europe. The ideal clientele for such cars, a large, affluent family that likes to travel, preferably with a business on a side, doesn't exist or drives vehicles that are already offered in Europe. Even the amazing qualities of the US minivans are too little to compensate for their biggest disadvantage - extreme size, and a few smaller ones, like obnoxious fuel economy, "difficult" styling and lack of presence.
What's the main reason for the absence of US minivans the Old Continent? Maybe you have a completely different idea as to why they haven't caught on in Europe. Let me know in the comments below!
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