I saw an article in the paper today about the downfall of minivans. It said that sales of minivans in this country peaked in 1995 and have gradually fallen ever since, and that automotive companies are scrambling to keep them selling, leading to ads like this: (if you have not watched this Swagger Wagon video, it's really worth two and a half minutes of your time),
But the article leaves me a little confused. We have had a minivan for our entire marriage (Brian uses it more like a covered truck in addition to hauling children). And in just the past 12 months among my good friends: Kate and Wendy bought the same make and model, Stephanie gave in after saying she'd never get one, Sarah finally convinced her husband, Pam bought one and wishes she had done it sooner, and now Abigail is in the market. And you should see the parking lot at the preschool.
Brian also accuses me of having minivan envy. Everytime one of my friends gets a new van, I'm telling him, "So and so's van has this, and such and such's van does that." But I love our old van, and I hope it holds on for a few more years.
So I guess my corner of the world is very small, because where I come from, the minivan isn't going anywhere.
7 comments:
Love my minivan! :)
Minivans rule!
I read the article and said the same thing to Dave. I must live in a mini-van bubble, but they are everywhere. They're back, baby! MINI-VANS ARE THE NEW COOL!
Kate E
We don't have one yet (only one kid here). But we already know our next vehicle will most definitely be a mini-van.
Every generation has their version of the "station wagon." I think your problem is with semantics. They just made minivans "sporty" by calling them SUV's so the men feel better driving them. Besides, like Brian, they are combination moving van, school bus, home improvement materials hauler, Craig's list retriever, etc. The utility part makes sense.
We debated over a minivan vs. 3-row SUV when Chloe was in process. I wanted convenience above all & minivans tend to be at a lower price point. I honestly don't know how we would manage with an SUV unless it was a Suburban or something like that. Vacation packing is still a tight squeeze! And I agree with you- there are PLENTY of minivans in our corner of the world as well :) But Oma is right about the whole SUV thing- I think minivan sales are down because SUV's have so many styles to choose from-and have a higher cool factor. I love our minivan, cool or not!!
I would NOT want to trade our minivan for an SUV. We already had a small one and it did not do the trick! LOVED that video. Hee!
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