Taking Heat for “Uncool” Minivans
August 13, 2007

My comment printed in the Wall Street Journal, and later picked up by other publications including the Detroit News, about minivans being considered uncool drew a lot of heat –- mostly from colleagues and friends who love their sliding-doored vehicles.

"Frankly, sliding doors are what give minivans open access, but that's what makes them uncool. Practical, yes, but uncool," I told the Journal reporter, a story on the introduction of Chrysler’s new minivans and the segment entitled  “The minivan is dead; long live the minivan?” The 2008 Chrysler Town & Country and the 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan go on sale soon.

Practical and Cool, Even Sexy

“I have a bone to pick with you,” said one minivan-loving colleague as he wagged his finger at me. The father of two and owner of three Labs loves his minivan and thinks it is cool not only for its easy-access sliding doors but also for its low step-in height. The height, lower than on SUVs, makes it easy for kids and dogs to board. As the mother of two teens and owner of a “grossly obese” (my vet’s words not mine) golden Lab, I totally agree.

“I'm bummed,” wrote one of my minivan-driving friends after reading my quote. She now wants me to help her with an automotive image makeover as she turns 50. I assured her the minivan is her best bet for now with two active kids, including an avid athlete, and her trips from Florida back home to Michigan.

Ralph Gilles, the ultra-cool Chrysler designer who headed the styling team for the automaker's new minivans, calls himself a closet minivan lover. He went so far as to tune his minivan for racing and to call Chrysler’s new minivans sexy  -- “not like a woman with curves but like a man with confidence,” he told the Detroit Free Press.

Cool Profits

Cool or not, minivans mean cool profits for automakers, especially Chrysler which has 38 percent of the market.

"Despite the relative recent decline in sales, minivans are still generating more than 70,000 sales on average every month so far this year," says Jesse Toprak, Edmunds.com's executive director of industry analysis. To put this in perspective, Toprak points out that large SUVs have averaged about 56,000.

"Minivans may not be as cool in terms of their image, but they are still a good source of cool cash for the automakers," notes Toprak. "There is still stable and significant demand for minivans. It is difficult to find a perfect substitute for minivans, especially for families with children."

And by the way, Toprak’s two young sons (he has a third child on the way), thought the new Chrysler minivans were pretty darned cool, especially the power sliding doors that they opened and closed dozens of times with the push of a button.

The Princessmobile

To set the record straight, I was minivan owner; I’m a recovered one.

When our daughter arrived in 1988, we somehow got it into our heads that we absolutely had to have a minivan -– a long wheelbase one, at that –- for our trips to Upstate New York and Indiana to share our firstborn with her grandparents. We needed the minivan, so we thought, to cart her paraphernalia -– playpen, stroller and whatnot.

My mother dubbed the burgundy Dodge Grand Caravan the “Princessmobile.”

Millions of baby boomers like us thought the same thing. Since Chrysler introduced the modern-day minivan in 1983, it has sold more than 12 million copies. Chrysler marketing folks suggest picturing those 12 million buyers by imagining four lanes of bumper-to-bumper traffic from San Diego to New York City –- or a minivan for every man, woman and child in New York City.

Anyone who has deviated from Chrysler’s formula –- like General Motors with its dustbuster shape, Toyota with its Jetson-style Previa or Nissan with its oddly shaped Quest -– has not done well.

Our Grand Caravan proved convenient for long trips to visit family, but actually, we discovered it was far more vehicle than we needed day-to-day even when our Prince came along. Plus I confess, I was the one relegated to drive the minivan every day, and I hated its “soccer mom” stigma.

We ultimately downsized to a sedan with a roomy trunk. Had we added a third child to the tribe, the minivan would have been essential.

Today, “the Princess” is a sophomore in college; the Prince is a sophomore in high school chomping at the bit to drive something cooler than a minivan; and the Princessmobile is ancient history.

Interestingly, Chrysler is counting on the older members of my daughter’s Echo Boomer generation -– children of baby boomers -– to give the minivan market a second life as they start bearing children. Chrysler marketers say the Echo Boomers will be at the peak childbearing age of 27 during the lifecycle of this newest generation of minivan.

I have a hard time imaging my Princess piloting a minivan, much less thinking it’s cool.

Of course, I refuse to imagine the Princess, at the tender age of 19, being married, a mom, or even a full-fledged grown-up, for that matter. So I could be wrong. I am often. Just ask the Princess.

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