Whats up with Speed Queen!

[brisnat81]

Hey John

Minivans have never been popular here. There was the Venerable Toyota Tarago from the mid 80s, plus the Honda Odessey from the mid 90s but neither have been seen as popular choices.

Australia is one of the worlds biggest consumers of the Toyota Landcruiser and we have been since they started importing them in the 50s. We definitely jumped from the big Sedan or Stationwagon with a trailer straight into the SUV. It all kicked off first with the Mitsubishi Pajero in the 80s and the Toyota Prado in the 90s. All of a sudden there was an off road capable vehicle that seated 7 and that Mum was happy to run the kids around in. Like sedans and sttionwagons, they kept getting smaller and by the 2000s when the Highlander launched it was the way of the future.

I’m over in NZ for work at the moment and had a Ford Escape as a rental. The high seating position plus the interior space makes it far more comfortable to drive than the Focus it’s based on. It’s the high driving position and the fact that it’s car based that wins Aussies over. All the first people movers here were van based and regardless of how good they are now, that’s the reputation they still have.

 

[rapunzel]

Mini vans are great for getting the junior soccer team to practice or bringing senior citizens to their crochet meets, but they are crap at toy or any other hauling. They serve a specific market niche, but have limited application and utility and they don't travel long distance with an acceptable level of comfort. Without a hood up front they are also not too great in a head-on collision.

By and large, most city dwellers and suburbanites don't drive big SUVs, because they are expensive to buy and cost a lot to run. Only yesterday Premium unleaded was $1.75 a liter and Diesel usually costs more than petrol as well. Our fuel prices do not reflect international oil prices or our exchange rate, otherwise petrol would have been well below $1 since the international oil price collapsed and that never happened. Here fuel costs go in cycles and mostly they are above $1.35 a liter. Our industry and governments do not support cheap fuel as is the case in the US.

Most suburbanites drive mid-size SUVs where they can still seat up to six people and go bush bashing if they want to without huge fuel bills, registration and insurance costs. More importantly, people should be able to buy the kinds of vehicles that best suit their needs and circumstances without the ideological input from completely irrelevant and unrelated sources. [this post was last edited: 5/2/2018-22:58]