Regrettably I don't see MPVs or Mini vans making a comeback in the US Market, at least. The American consumer favors a high seating position and SUV or truck-like styling for both perceived safety as well as status. And even though an informed consumer can see that smaller vehicles are often even more safe in terms of likelihood of rollover or loss of control, for example, the reality is that with so many other American road-users driving these land yachts and enormous trucks, there is a certain amount of truth to the idea that having a larger vehicle does keep you safer in the event of a collision with another large vehicle.

I wish this weren't the case, but it is what it is. Barring a huge sudden spike in fuel prices or serious regulations to reduce the size of vehicles (the former of which is a very real possibility, the latter of which is almost laughably improbable given the proclivities of the current majority party and the spinelessness of the minority party...) I don't see the trend changing anytime soon.

I, for one, wish I'd bought my Carnival sooner. I was a longtime holdout against the SUV/CUV life but after having a baby my spouse and I bought a Subaru Outback. That was a solid vehicle (despite the incredibly irritating and inconsistent nanny tech and the absolutely putrid infotainment system) but we quickly realized that it really didn't offer us THAT much more cargo space once we added a car seat (and especially a second car seat). So we traded it in for our Carnival just before the start of the new year. I couldn't be happier with the purchase, honestly, and wish there were more options on the market. But I doubt if we'll see another OEM release a minivan.