Minivans Are Back, Baby!

You know what’s great? A minivan. You know what all my friends are buying? Highlanders. That’s the safe choice. Or maybe a Honda Pilot. The fun choice? A Mazda CX-90. I like those. You know what the best choice is in almost any situation? A Honda Odyssey, or a Kia Carnival, or maybe a Pacifica. If you’re at the Toyota dealer already, then it’s the Sienna, for sure.

Most people do not make this choice. The prime three-row buying group is a Millennial with their second kid either here or imminently on the way. My friends know what I do for a living and thus always ask for my advice before buying a car. They almost never take it, sometimes to their great detriment. Consumers must be overhearing my wisdom, because minivans are selling like Bomb Pops in Hades.

Here’s some interesting news. Lucid sales are way up, bucking the norm of startups. Some of this is probably due to the fact that they have a new SUV that is… a minivan. Let’s face it, it’s a minivan. It’s a great car for kids, and if you love kids, you’re going to love the new book from Kristen Lee. And while we’re talking about books, Larry Chen has one, too.

One might think The Morning Dump today would be dominated by the politics of the moment, but an extra long “magic minute” speech in the house is delaying the signing of the mega tax/budget bill, so I’m going to give myself a break here and leave the politics out of TMD as much as possible today. It’ll be there on Monday, and the temperature is quite high now. I’m going to let the mercury fall a bit and then, next week, when more of this is resolved, we can talk about “Large Engine Vehicles” and whatever other nonsense happens in the coming days.

Minivans Had A Huge Quarter

I don’t know who needs to hear this, but minivans are rad. MPVs are rad, too, and I’d have probably bought one if anyone sold an MPV in America. Instead, I bought the standard-issue two-row hybrid crossover, so my criticism of people who pass over a minivan and buy a crossover-SUV is going to be slightly hypocritical. If the Mazda5 were still in production, I might be in a different situation.

Minivans were once the hottest thing for families since Captain Crunch, and my theory on why people became minivan averse goes something like this:

• Recognizing that American families needed space, automakers created a huge number of wagon variants of sedans. This became such a cliché that National Lampoon’s Family Vacation effectively killed the station wagon with its Family Truckster. Not coincidentally, the premiere of that movie in 1983 nicely dovetails with the introduction of the Dodge Caravan the same year.
• The minivan itself became so common and so associated with a certain kind of maternal existence that it was replaced in the 1990s by the SUV in the form of the Ford Explorer and all the vehicles that followed it.
• SUVs became associated with gas-guzzling and endless wars in the Middle East, so they transitioned into giant three-row crossovers. [Ed Note: It helps that crossovers are just better on gas (fuel prices were rough around 2008-ish), plus they’re more comfortable and cheaper than beefy body-on-frame SUVs, while still giving off a similar SUV vibe. -DT]. 

Because my fellow Millennial parents grew up in the backs of Previas and Quests and the like, buying one can represent a certain sort of failure. A sense that you’ve fallen into the same trap as your parents. As my caretakers had a string of Escorts, Impulses, and B.R.A.T.s, it doesn’t hit the same for me, which means I can recognize that the modern minivan is a marvel of packaging and efficiency.

Thomas already made this point well in his Sienna review, but you can’t get more capabilities, space, ease of use, or even luxury in any other vehicle sold in the United States. If you want something efficient, there’s the Sienna or Carnival Hybrid. If you want a PHEV, there’s the Pacifica. If you want something surprisingly quick, there’s the Odyssey. You can hardly go wrong.

People agree! This year, let’s look at the field so far:

• Toyota Sienna: Up 61% y-o-y with 52,672 sales
• Honda Odyssey: Up 28% with 50,033 sales
• Kia Carnival: Up 57% with 35,152 sales
• Chrysler Pacifica/Voyager: Down 22% with 22,938 sales

The Pacifica is older and less competitive, so that’s a bit of an outlier here. As Car And Driver points out, the ID.Buzz is also showing weak sales, which has nothing to do with the collective lust for minivans and more to do with the van’s unavoidable flaws.

Finally, the minivan has returned.

Lucid Sales Are Up As The Gravity Begins Deliveries

Here’s a fun one! For all the sales slumping that’s occurring at Tesla and Rivian, that isn’t happening at Lucid Motors. The there-but-for-the-grace-of-the-PIF electric automaker is doing quite well, thank you. Will that change once the IRA tax credit for leasing goes away? I don’t know, and I’m not going to talk about it right now.

Let’s let the kids have their day. Q2 deliveries were up 38% year-over-year to 3,309 vehicles, as production and delivery of the admittedly exceptional Lucid Gravity started. I know David has been sort of critical of this thing being a big jelly-bean minivan in the past, saying:

[W]ith the Lucid Gravity, I have a suspicion that engineers won most of the arguments with designers, and I have always been firmly in the camp that thinks designers should tell engineers what to do, thereby compelling them to come up with interesting technical solutions. I don’t think it should be the other way around, because design is simply too important, especially in this price class.

Perhaps, given the news above, people actually want minivans. The Carnival is a minivan that looks like an SUV, the Gravity is an SUV that looks like a minivan. Both might work. I’m going to have to wait for registration data in a few months to find out how well the Gravity is doing, as Lucid doesn’t break out individual sales. I did get a Lucid spokesperson to confirm that at least one Gravity was delivered, which is backed up by social media posts.

Pre-Order Kristen Lee’s Kids’ Book About Cars

The great automotive journalist and equally great pal-of-this-site Kristen Lee has a new book for kids coming that’ll explore things that go. It’s literally called “The 50 States: Things That Go” and includes some awesome stock cars on the cover, I assume, for New Hampshire. From the publisher:

Buckle up and get ready to hit the road on an adventure through all 50 states to discover the fastest, wackiest, and most rip-roaring vehicles across the United States—from race cars and roller coasters to submarines and trains. From the roaring racing cars of Indiana to the soaring space shuttles of Florida, travel through 50 states with vehicle expert and enthusiast Kristen Lee, and uncover more than 500 facts that showcase the vehicles, history, and spirit of the USA.

The California page includes both Sally Ride and the Corkscrew, so I already love it. Pre-order it wherever you pre-order books.

Also, Get Larry’s Book While You’re At It

Did I just do all of your holiday shopping for you? You’re welcome. Larry Chen, the most influential photographer of his/my generation, has a book coming out called “Life At Shutter Speed” and it’s going to be big and beautiful (maybe a bad word choice, sorry). It’s also being published by our friends at Carrara Books, so you know it’ll look great.

Known for his complete and total immersion into the automotive scene, Chen has earned a reputation for capturing photos that could only be achieved with unlimited access. As a result, the images in Life At Shutter Speed have defined the modern era in cars, in events, in people and in an entire generation of enthusiasts.

“This book helped me relive so many pivotal moments throughout my career. It perfectly encapsulates my mission to capture and celebrate car culture.”

There are two versions, and while neither is cheap, they are art pieces (I got a preview of the book, so I’m giving you my word here). You can pre-order this book here.

What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD

My daughter has been learning to drum, and we use a drumming program that allows her to practice with simplified versions of various songs. The best so far has been “There She Goes” by the La’s. Last night I excitedly played “Bombtrack” by Rage Against The Machine. She was a little slow to pick it up because she did not listen to this song 19,000 times as a youth. I tried to rectify this by playing it on the car this morning, assuming Apple Music would pick the album version, which, unlike a lot of RATM’s songs, doesn’t have any obscenities. Instead, Apple Music played the live version, and boy does that Zack de la Rocha character love to drop F-bombs. Thanks, Apple Music.

The Big Question(s)

What are your holiday weekend road trip plans? Also, would you ever buy a minivan?

Top photo: Fesley Music/Toyota