Minivans Popularity Continues to Drop

The US car industry is filled with different kinds of cars but the hottest cars this season are fuel-efficient cars of hybrid and small cars. But what happens to the minivans, do they still sell? Theautochannel.com released news about the popularity of minivans.

According to the First Snide, The many reasons for the success of the minivan have not changed... Those of us with large families and those of us who like the convenience of a cavern-like interior should NOT out of hand reject the purchase of a new minivan.

Crossovers replaced station wagons which were replaced by minivans which had to compete with not so large a space SUV's and now SUV's have to compete with CUV's which are really station wagons...before you buy TRY...when you test drive a CUV bring the luggage and stuff you normally bring on a vacation and see if it fits...have fun.

Some car makers have given up on making minivans. Just like the Ford Motor Company which gave up on manufacturing small vans, focusing more on making crossover utility vehicles or CUVs which have become hot commodities lately, next to hybrids.

In fact, the only US car maker holding on to making minivans is DaimlerChrysler which just recently have offered a new line of minivans featuring their Swivel 'N Go seating where the second row seats are positioned in the third row. General Motor Corporation, the worlds biggest car maker and the known quality parts maker of AM General Catalytic Converter, has focused on building other car types instead of minivans.

The popularity of minivans was at its peak in 2004 where a noted increase reached 21%. But this 2007, it sank to a very low 15% and production of six minivan models has already been discontinued since. The sales of minivan this year continue to drop while sales of the CUV in contrast, are continuously increasing.

Other automakers unable to just give up producing minivans offer different promotions to sell, mostly offering incentives to customers. A large amount of $3,900 was allotted for June in terms of incentives, according to another leader in car information, the Wall Street Journal.

Even Japanese car makers Honda and Toyota have offered incentive programs for their Odyssey and Sienna minivans. They also have their dealerships offering rebates amounting to thousands of dollars.