When Renault reimagined its Espace as a crossover after 5 mannequin generations as a minivan, it was an acknowledgement {that a} once-iconic section had actually run its course in Europe.
Minivans have been declining in recognition amongst European customers, a lot as they’ve with American consumers. For the reason that early 2010s, minivans have been changed by crossovers and SUVs, in addition to small passenger vans with an increasing number of options.
Dataforce, which tracks gross sales by mannequin and section, now not has a minivan class, as a substitute combining passenger van variations of light-commercial vans with the few remaining minivans in the marketplace.
Renault’s Espace was the primary minivan in Europe when it launched in 1984. Chrysler Corp.’s in style minivans, the Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager, launched within the U.S. practically concurrently.
The Espace featured plastic composite physique panels and 7 seats that could possibly be organized like a front room, with the entrance seats in a position to swivel, and it was simply 167.3 inches lengthy. The truth that it has been redrawn now as an SUV is a milestone for the European auto business.
Not way back, each mainstream automaker supplied not only one, however a number of minivans, a lot as they do with SUVs as we speak. For its half, Renault supplied the small Modus, the compact Scenic and Grand Scenic and the midsize Espace, whereas Ford offered the B-Max, C-Max, S-Max and Galaxy in Europe.
However over time, lots of the Espace’s opponents have been phased out, or their nameplates transferred to crossovers or SUVs.
Within the midsize class, the place the present Espace competes, there have been simply three true minivans within the prime 10 in 2022. The Ford S-Max was in seventh place with 7,804 gross sales, the Seat Alhambra was in eighth with 5,988 gross sales and the Ford Galaxy — driving on the identical platform because the S-Max — was in ninth place with 5,636 gross sales.
The compact class had solely three purpose-designed minivans as nicely. The Volkswagen Touran had 21,876 gross sales final yr, the Citroën C4 SpaceTourer was second with 11,081 gross sales and the Renault Scenic noticed 9,473 gross sales in 2022.
“Minivans are thought of old school,” mentioned Benjamin Kibies, senior automotive analyst at Dataforce. And automakers, dealing with elevated prices within the transition to electrification, are decreasing their mannequin range, he added.
“Patrons preferring extra purposeful facets can nonetheless go for passenger automobile fashions which can be derived from industrial automobiles, equivalent to a Citroën Berlingo or the bigger VW Transporter,” Kibies mentioned.
By the top of this yr, Dataforce expects practically all conventional minivan fashions to be off the market, aside from two premium compact fashions, the BMW 2-Sequence Energetic Tourer and the Mercedes-Benz B-Class.
Latest and upcoming casualties embody the Citroën C4 SpaceTourer that ended manufacturing within the third quarter of final yr, with the Seat Alhambra and VW Sharan coming to a halt on the finish of 2022.
The Ford Galaxy and S-Max exited this yr, whereas Fiat’s compact 500L will attain the top of its life cycle this yr as nicely.
The 2 passenger van segments in Europe are small. There have been 171,936 compact vans offered in 2022, in contrast with 1,613,126 compact crossovers/SUVs, in accordance with figures from Dataforce. The midsize/massive van section is greater, with 197,862 gross sales in contrast with 557,943 midsize/massive crossovers/SUVs.
However within the compact section, customers’ choices are restricted to principally full-electric vans from Stellantis manufacturers Citroën, Fiat, Opel/Vauxhall and Peugeot, in addition to combustion engine or full-electric vans from Renault and Volkswagen.
This doesn’t suggest the normal minivan is useless perpetually. Whereas tastes have modified and the automobiles’ weight and blunt profiles make it more and more onerous to fulfill emissions laws with a diesel or gasoline engine, electrification might provide minivans an emissions lifeline.
One new mannequin could provide a template for the rebirth of the long-lasting minivan: The VW ID Buzz, a full-electric homage to the traditional VW Kombi, generally known as the Bus within the U.S., comes full with sliding doorways.