Twenty years ago Chrysler single-handedly invented the front-drive car-based minivan market in the U.S. For a while Ford and GM relied on rear-drive minivans before they too introduced front-drive models. For a decade, growth in sales of mid-size SUVs and minivans ran neck and neck. But in the mid-1990s sales of SUVs took off like a rocket leaving minivans in their dust. Sales of minivans remained around the 1.2-million-unit level, although their best year in sales volume was 2000, before sales then dropped off reaching a low of just over one million units last year. Still not a bad number for a segment many people probably think has all but disappeared.

So far this year minivan sales have increased by seven percent compared to last year. The growth has been driven largely by the newest vans on the market from Nissan and Toyota . With sales again approaching 1.2 million units annually this is still a viable and important segment that looks set to witness a revival in the coming years. Are the domestic manufacturers giving up and handing it over to the imports?

Judging by the all-new 2005 Honda Odyssey the answer is yes.

It's sad to realize that both Ford and Chrysler have brand new minivans on the market but neither are doing as well as their old models. Not surprising perhaps when the Freestar looks like an old Windstar and the Chrysler models look similar to their predecessors. Yes, they've all adopted fold-down rear seats and Chrysler spent $400 million to be able to offer fold away "stow 'n go" center seats. Beside these improvements one would be hard pressed to see much change.

Perhaps that's why it's not surprising to find the Asians (Kia, Mazda, Toyota , Nissan, and Honda) between them now have a 40-percent share of the minivan market compared to nine percent in 1995 even though all of them, except for the Kia Sedona, were already on the market. During the same period Chrysler's share has fallen from 40 percent to 34 percent, Ford Motor from 31 percent to 11 percent, and GM from 20 percent to 15 percent. Remarkably the Ford Aerostar is the only minivan that's disappeared in the past decade although others have received name changes.

Odyssey - Still best in class?

In a recent minivan comparison test in Car and Driver the old 2004 Odyssey was rated as the best minivan, defeating brand new offerings from four other manufacturers. Certainly when it was first introduced in 1995 the Odyssey did not fare well. But the entirely new model launched in 1999 shot to the top of the class as the best minivan on the market. For it to still be regarded as the best four years later when all its competitors have introduced supposedly new and improved models is almost unheard of.

One could forgive Honda if it too introduced a lightly revised Odyssey with just a handful of changes and called it new. Instead it has totally revamped the 2005 model making a myriad of changes to "maintain its leadership as the benchmark minivan."

2005 Honda Odyssey  |  

Like other minivans the rear seat now splits 60/40 and is much easier to fold down into the rear well as it is much lighter and the mechanism has been improved. While the second row of seats cannot be folded into the floor the backs do fold fairly flat. Honda offers an optional small center seat that fits between the two captain's chairs to provide eight seats. This seat is called the PlusOne seat and it can be folded and stored in the Lazy Susan compartment when not needed.

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