T Mac
01-23-2008, 11:43 AM
Beg to drive a minivan? It's not as goofy a notion as you might think.
Get behind the wheel of the Honda Odyssey Touring, for example, and you'll find a satellite link navigation system that operates with voice recognition and can respond to 637 commands and understand street names, numbers and destinations. It also includes a high-tech, full-color rear view camera that shows activity and objects that may not appear in the outside rear view mirror.
Then there's the Toyota Sienna XLE. It's the only minivan to offer standard front-wheel drive and optional all-wheel drive. It includes a roof rack, a removable center console with storage, front and rear intuitive parking assist and rear privacy glass with power-operated rear quarter windows. Drivers also enjoy a telescoping steering wheel and adaptive cruise control.
Both are examples of ways in which automakers are looking to luxury features to retain current minivan owners who might drift to stylish sedans and SUV or cool crossover vehicles. According to Stephanie Brinley, senior manager of product analysis at AutoPacific, a market research firm covering the auto industry, while "the minivan market is not dead, sales have slowed, the market has matured and there's some shrinkage."
Click here (http://www.forbes.com/vehicles/2008/01/22/cars-minivan-luxury-forbeslife-cx_jm_0122cars.html) to read the entire story from Forbes.com
By Jacqueline Mitchell, Forbes
Get behind the wheel of the Honda Odyssey Touring, for example, and you'll find a satellite link navigation system that operates with voice recognition and can respond to 637 commands and understand street names, numbers and destinations. It also includes a high-tech, full-color rear view camera that shows activity and objects that may not appear in the outside rear view mirror.
Then there's the Toyota Sienna XLE. It's the only minivan to offer standard front-wheel drive and optional all-wheel drive. It includes a roof rack, a removable center console with storage, front and rear intuitive parking assist and rear privacy glass with power-operated rear quarter windows. Drivers also enjoy a telescoping steering wheel and adaptive cruise control.
Both are examples of ways in which automakers are looking to luxury features to retain current minivan owners who might drift to stylish sedans and SUV or cool crossover vehicles. According to Stephanie Brinley, senior manager of product analysis at AutoPacific, a market research firm covering the auto industry, while "the minivan market is not dead, sales have slowed, the market has matured and there's some shrinkage."
Click here (http://www.forbes.com/vehicles/2008/01/22/cars-minivan-luxury-forbeslife-cx_jm_0122cars.html) to read the entire story from Forbes.com
By Jacqueline Mitchell, Forbes