TSXfan23

I've been pondering the question why doesn't Acura, Infiniti, Lexus, or for the fact any luxury carmaker make luxury brand minivans??

I mean they've all made luxury SUVs, why not minivans?

Oh, oops, ok I guess you can count Chrysler Town and Country as one luxury minivan.

elduderino

And why aren't there any fat supermodels? I've always wondered that too...

TSXfan23

what correlation are you trying to point out between fat supermodels and minivans?

elduderino

...Wait for it... no, too subtle.


(from dictionary.com)


min·i·van
n.
A small passenger van having a boxlike shape, side and rear windows, and typically removable rear seats for cargo.

Yeah, I can see why BMW and Mercedes are chafing at the bit to get into this market.

Look, any niche invented by Chrysler and based on the K-car platform is not something the automotive elite of the world are gonna rush to embrace.

SPUDMTN

Check this out...

One posh luxury minivan

They also make a model called the Vaneo. Check it out.

elduderino

This would fall into that category of vehicles that Mercedes sells in Europe but not in the US, due to their luxury position in the US. In Europe they are seen as a mainstream supplier.

TSXfan23

gosh, that vaneo looks weird, but it is a mercedes. i think that would definately flop if it was sold in the usa.

sleeper

yeah, i don't see a bunch of people running out to buy the coolest minivan on the block. sure there might be some people who would get it because it's different or because it's "luxurious." but let's face it, when people spend that kind of money, they also want something sexy or popular. minivans aren't sexy. except for the kia sedona. that's one hot minivan.

SPUDMTN

Mainstream? HARDLY. The Viano base model starts @ 22,885 pounds...the top model starts @ 33,000 pounds. That's $41,657 and $60,000 respectively. How can you call that mainstream?

Mainstream products are Vauxhall, Peugeot, Citroen, Rover, etc... The German marks are prestige models--no matter which version they are. A Mercedes is a Mercedes, no matter where it is, or what kind it is.

jcg878

That thing always looks like a minivan to me.

xizor

Didn't Cadillac have the Town and Country? That was a pretty good looking minivan IMO. But SUVs rule all in America.

Minivans are incredibly popular in Asia though, its really just the US that keeps the nicer Minivans away.

TSXfan23

nope, that was chrysler, i put town and country in my original thread. no luxury equivalent honda odyssey ever in the acura division? j/k.

my parents bought one of the first Mercedes MLs and the ride felt more like I was riding in a truck than in a minivan. oh well.

cmf

Minivans already cost 30K+ in the US for a good one with many options. That is enough as it is. I can't see someone forking out 40 and 50K for a minvan. You'll never see a luxury minivan. Also, since when is Chrysler luxury. It's domestic crap!

elduderino

HARDLY (LOL)

First off, comparing prices is tricker than you make it sound. I met a guy from London in the LAX bar a couple of years ago who owned the exact same 1999 Honda CR-V as me. He paid $38k for it (we did the calc on the back of an envelope over a beer). Real nice guy.

Here is the link for the Vaneo. look at the interior and the radio. This is NOT a luxury vehicle.

Here is the flatbed truck version of the Vario for carpenters. Rich carpenters I guess.

The Sprinter is sold here by Freightliner due to Mercedes not wanting it to affect their brand in the US.

We get no Gelundevagen. We get no Unimog. We get no A-class.

About 20-25 years ago, Car and Driver started an article about a Mercedes sport coupe with the line, "You know it's a sports car when the three-pointed star is flat in the grille instead of standing straight up." Numerous letter writers pointed out that the phrase equally describes a Mercedes heavy truck, like this:

I'm not saying Mercedes is Hyundai, fer crying out loud. But they position themselves differently in the US than in Europe. BMW does it too.

SPUDMTN

Pictures of the Mercedes Viano...

dabuda

because large luxury suvs are the rich soccer mom's minivan

SPUDMTN

Technicalities...I know...but...

We get the Gelandunwagen in the US--it's called the G-class


We get the Unimog (under it's own brand), however--it's proudly marked, however, with "Powered by Mercedes-Benz". They're quite fun to ride in. A neighbor brought one home one day This is Unimog

Now that I'm off-topic...I'd at least like to say that Mercedes is still a luxury brand...period. They have heritage...and a great one at that.

elduderino

You Camas guys take everything personal - jeez. I'm not knocking Benz, K?

But how do you have a luxury heavy truck? A luxury flatbed?

Examining the trim lelev of the Vanio, it's apparent that it does not meet the description at the beginning of the thread.

I personally think more of Mercedes for being diverse and having to be aware of how real work gets done - by truck drivers and construction workers and delivery drivers, too.

Peace, out.

iamhomin

The Nissan Quest is somewhat luxurious.

Dan Martin

Except for the 40gal oil drum in the center console...

jcg878

I'm sorry officer - I couldn't see the speedometer. It's too far away! Then the oil canister caught fire again, and....

Sturm

I sat in one of these at a Nissan dealership. They're just too weird for me.

Junkster

I think we talked about this before...

In the hayday of Chrylser/Dodge, the Grand Caravan offered by Chrysler was basically a luxury minivan... leather, entertainment system, AWD... and it sold decently at it's extremely high price. Other companies just never ventured into the lux minivan market since most of the market was Chrysler's to eat up.
Nowadays, I don't know if anyone would go for a lux minivan when they could just go buy a SUV.

Although, in the other thread, I did suggest that Acura could bring their JDM Odyssey (much smaller, much more lux in JDM spec) to the US as an Acura badge.

Junkster, who thinks a lux minivan is a long shot by a Japanese company

SPUDMTN

I know...I was just They do offer a very diverse range of products in Europe--and they offer equipment to make a luxury van. It would be interesting to see customization levels like that offered here. It's interesting to check out the other markets' websites. Sorry if I came across as difficult

Whaddya mean about "You Camas guys?"

louzer

Hate to bust anyone's bubble but MB is rushing to embrace the minivan



http://www.canadiandriver.com/previews/vision_gst.htm

Junkster

\

More like embracing the Pacifica...
Another wagon being called a crossover.

Junkster, who thinks the MB version will be a better effort

cmf

Didn't they discontinue the Pacifica already?

Junkster

they keep dropping the price and now they have offered a cheaper version of the full blown Pacifica... wonder how much DC lost on this investment...

Junkster, who thinks an average 30 year old could have told DC that the Pacifica was too expensive

SPUDMTN

I was with some friends in Colorado summer of 2001...we were driving down the road when some SUPER ugly minivan like things came up beside us--two of them. They all had ugly black tape and looked like Transformers action figures. I told the friends w/ their digital camera "HURRY! Take some pictures of those things! Take a bunch!"

They were GST test-mules. It was really exciting. I sent my friends' pictures in for them to a spy photographer. They're on the Car Connection's website. Just thought I'd share

Junkster

they do a fair bit of testing here... seen two A-series in the middle of denver all taped up, as well as the next gen MB C class.

Junkster, who thinks AZ is the best place for snapping prototypes

phile

I think right now the closest thing to a luxury minivan is the top of the line Toyota Sienna, that thing tops out at around 38K I think. Alls Toyota's gotta do is give that thing auto-leveling HID headlights, throw on a Lexus badge and you got yourself a luxury minivan.

Junkster

exactly, Phile...

There's really no difficult measure to change a regular minivan to a lux minivan... and this is the perfect time to exploit that change. High gass prices, anti-SUV movement... hey look here, a large occupancy vehicle that doesn't rollover everytime you turn and has better mileage...oh look, you can walk through to the back seats!!!

Acura could be first, I'm tellin' ya... JDM Odyssey, hook it up with a Acura badge, and charge 4 to 5 grand more than the Odyssey... you get similar profits to an SUV, plus it would add something unique into the lineup.

Junkster, who thinks Acura needs all the new models it can salvage

SPUDMTN

That's right...I totally forgot about it. Magazines do keep saying it should have a Lexus badge on it. If I were to get a minivan (being 17, I have no reason to, right now) I'd have a tough decision between that and the Odyssey. Choices choices...

phile

OK, I was close. MSRP for a Sienna XLE Limited with AWD is 37K. And I was wrong - it comes with Xenons, but doesn't swivel with steering. Also has rear view camera, fogs, leather, heated passenger seat, adaptive cruise control, 6-CD in dash system.

dnb

The upcoming 2005 Odyssey is supposed to have a "Touring" model to compete with luxed-out Siennas and Town & Countrys.

tsxer.ca

if you want drive a MB van. Start send resume to Fedex. Fedex got MB cargo van, but still is MB.

phile

It's going to be exciting for minivan shoppers.

sleeper

we should start a thread on natural-gas powered cars. nowadays that'll probably get more attention than minivans.

let's face it, in the US suvs have pretty much taken the minivan's spot in the garage. seriously, does anyone WANT a minivan anymore? i think people buy them more because of convenience and affordability (gas/maintenance/insurance), clearly not for appeal. that and maybe husbands don't want their wives coming home with speeding tickets. i'm sorry, no offense to women out there, but i've had too many flashes of my life before my eyes with women driving suvs.

ABP-CL9-TSX

that is one fugly center console!

NeoChaser

Soccer Moms drive mini van.... which it's purpose is to move ppl around, not for speed or lexury

that's why the SUV market is huge... ti's big and it's fast and of course the bling bling factor