Minivan, known as MPV (Multi Purpose Vehicle) in European and Indian markets, was inspired from Stout Scarab, originally designed as a luxury passenger vehicle that was inspired form airplane designs. However, minivans became a successful concept when European manufacturers and the popular American automobile manufacturer Chrysler foreseen the potential of promoting the design as a people mover.

It was only in the 1950s, after two decades of Scarab, that minivans became popular among customers. Volkswagen Microbus concepts came with rear mounted 4 cylinder engines that were amazingly fuel-efficient and reliable for long drives. Though General Motors tried to monetize from the popularity of Volkswagen Microbuses with Chevrolet Corvair Greenbrier, the attempt is not something to write about.

Volkswagen's Contribution to the Minivan Industry

There are literally 100s of luxury cars in the market, both custom made and factory produced, and Rolls Royces are not an exclusive one in the market. However, many use Rolls Royce as the standard to define luxury and the same can be said about Volkswagen for minivans. The reason is simple; Volkswagen came up with many innovative features that would later define a minivan.

A good example is the sliding door introduced in 1968! Later, Volkswagen vans had 3 rows of front facing seats, top hinged tailgate, passenger car base and sliding doors and bus like body shell to hide engines. Minivans didn't have additional lengths to accommodate the engine and the only exceptions were the American manufactured minivans.

Japanese Competition To Europeans

Although Volkswagen dominated the minivan market, other European manufacturers such as Fiat enjoyed reasonable factors and the Japanese couldn't resist their temptation to tap in this market. Subaru, Toyota and Suzuki are some of the notable early players in this industry.

If their timely entrance wasn't something worth mentioning in the European and American markets, the Japanese could successfully resist the Europeans dominating the Asian market where minivans sell like hotcakes.

American Responses and Final Success

The early response of the American manufacturing giants such as Chrysler and General Motors weren't well received in the country and it took them two more decades to come up with minivan designs that would finally amaze the customers.

Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager, both introduced by Chrysler in 1984, made notable changes in the American perspective. They had many differences from the European minivans, the most notable one being the front design. Instead of trying to save space by hiding the engine in a bus like frame, the American minivans usually had a projected front to accommodate the engine.

The design was, however, very successful in the United States and Chrysler closely followed up with many new releases in the segment. The American minivans were usually covered with bigger engines that had more power.

Minivans are known for their practicality and no-nonsense design. Although their popularity was diminished for a while, they are coming back stronger than ever. A very popular trait of minivans, fuel efficiency, is making them popular once again. With incredible interior customization potential, you can customize your minivan for almost any purpose and this is how they gained popularity in the caravan industry.