ALT-2 Assessing the Future of Minivans
Minivans: "Station wagons-on-steroids
Striving to offer the best of both worlds in the fierce competition with Sport Utility Vehicles, makers developed ways to make the minivan more useful for transporting cargo. Drop down seating, hidden compartments and adding an extra door to the drivers side made the minivan move higher on the ranking of functional family vehicles.
Focusing on the family matter of their design, makers added built in DVD players, personal headphone plug ins and other comforts for family members.
Knowing that the van needed to be functional for that week end trip to Home Depot, developers made more space in the cargo end of the van. By installing fold down seating, the minivan became a mini-truck.
Losing the boxy looking style was one of the more appealing changes made by makers. The trend in minivans started about 20 years ago. Not too many fads stick around that long.
GMC, Ford and Mazda are coming out with what they deem a "cross over" vehicle. It's something between a SUV and a minivan. The sleek design has a sporty look.
Some minivan makers are dropping out of the race. 2007 was the last year for the Mercury Monterey. The base price of the 2007 model was $29,325. Standard features include front/side/side-curtain airbags, a third-row tailgate bench seat and a stout 4.2 liter V-6 that provides 263 ft-lbs. of torque.
Pontiac dropped out of the race in 2006; they discontinued production of their Montana SV6.
The Safety FactorsSafety is one of the drawing cards of the minivan.The National Highway Safety Commission reports indicated there are 11.2 deaths for every 100,000 vans. Full size vans were not included in the calculation which, since they are prone to roll overs, would have increased those numbers reported.
Compared with a 16.42 death rate for sport utility vehicles, a 15.17 death rate for pickups and a 14.85 death rate for passenger cars, minivans rank highest in safety, a major concern for buyers.
By design, minivans are less likely to be involved in fatal accidents. Built lower to the ground than sport utility vehicles on a wider base produces more stability.
Rankings by the government in relation to vehicles for the 2004 model year, minivans were assessed a rollover risk of 12 percent to 16 percent in single-vehicle accidents. Sport utility vehicles had a rollover risk of 20 percent or more.
With such tremendous safety rankings, the ultimate family vehicle is here to stay.
