I watched this last night and I gotta say, think their conclusions are antiquated and circumstantial.
Fashion? “uncool”? Maybe but hardly the big picture.
1. The need for family haulers its smaller now than it’s ever been.
We have smaller families and more people are staying single.
2. Options. If you needed a spacious car you bought a wagon or a full size SUV, that is until the crossover
So you’ve got a family of 2.5 instead of 3+, but you’ve got a lot of stuff. Do you buy
a. a sedan
b. a full size SUV
c. A van
D. a midsized crossover
You bought the one that fit the size and needs of your crew. 5 seats is all you need, but you have more stuff to cart around
Also, because of the growth in recreation and outdoor activity you want and need something more capable and versatile.
Oh, you also own a towable toy (camper, boat, trailer) of some kind.
3. Replicability - The minivan has been effectively replaced. The mileage penalty for a crossover is minimal, or nonexistent compared to a vans that have gotten much bigger and harder to park and pilot. Why drive a 7 seat van that gets 17 around town when you could get a hybrid RAV4 that seats 5 people in more comfort, and gets 40 mpg?
If you still need the space, there is hardly a penalty anymore for choosing a crossover.
And don’t tell me minivans drive better, because no one’s buying it. New crossovers are low, well tuned and drive every bit as good as a minivan of equal size.
Space utilization - There isn’t a better use of interior volume than vans, but as I said before...most people don’t actually need it anymore. Where 7 seats are mostly for occasional use (kids friends, carpools, etc). And given the size they’ve grown into to facilitate that space they are as wide as an F150 (79.9 for the F150, 80 inches for a Pacifica) their size is often less an asset than a liability.
Look, Im not saying there isn’t room in the decline of the minivan for the typical “because soccer mom!” trope, because there is something to that. I am saying that “I bought a crossover and not a van because I didn’t want to look like a soccer mom...” isn’t really working anymore because, well, you just bought a mommy mobile as everyone has uniformly moved to crossovers.
Don’t like that crossovers are taking over? I get it, completely. Want to unload your anger on the loss of wagons or coupes on them? Fine by me. Want to tell me that it’s a fad for insecure people to feel macho and unlike a suburbanite?
Not going to fly. There is a reason for their market dominance and its tie in to the death of the minivan:
It’s the right package for the market.
I will also say that I see nothing wrong with the van, so save your van defense speech. Im not trying to undermine the van. My beef is with the lame, trodden out excuses of so-called industry experts. give me some numbers and data, not “because lame!”