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Home » Japan Used Cars Blog » What is a Minivan?
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What is a Minivan?

By JCT TeamMay 26, 2022Updated:October 31, 2022No Comments8 Mins Read
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What is a Minivan

Minivan:

Minivan is an American car classification for vehicles designed to move passengers within the rear seating row(s), with reconfigurable seats in two or three rows. The equivalent terms in British English are multi-purpose vehicles (MPV), people carriers, and other people’s mover. Minivans often have a ‘one-box’ or ‘two-box’ body configuration, a better roof, a flat floor, a door for rear passengers, and high H-point seating.

Compared with a full-size van, minivans are now supported by a railroad car platform and have a lower body (to fit inside a typical garage door opening). Some early versions, like the Ford Aerostar and Chevrolet Astro, utilized a compact pickup platform.

The largest size of minivans is additionally said as ‘Large MPV’ and have become popular following the introduction of the 1984 Renault Espace and Dodge Caravan. Typically, these have platforms derived from D-segment passenger cars or compact pickups. Since the 1990s, the smaller Compact MPV and Mini MPV sizes of minivans have also become popular. If the term ‘minivan’ is employed without specifying a size, it always refers to the biggest size (i.e. Large MPV).

Minivan
Minivan

Mazda:

In 1989, the Mazda MPV has introduced because of the first full-size minivan (derived from the Mazda 929 sedan). Developed primarily for American sales, the MPV exceeded Japanese compact size regulations; it was also sold in Japan and other markets. In line with American minivans, a passenger-side door was used; a hinged door was used (a driver-side door was introduced for 1996).

mazda car
Mazda

Toyota:

In 1990, the Toyota Previa mid-engine minivan was introduced (sold because of the Estima in Japan). While largely retaining the configuration of its TownAce predecessor, the Previa was designed solely as a passenger vehicle, with nearly panoramic pane (excluding the B and D-pillars). Replaced in North America by the locally produced Sienna, Previa remains in production for Japanese and Australian markets; the larger Alphard is produced as a luxury vehicle.

Toyota
Toyota

Nissan:

Following the introduction of the Nissan Quest (co-developed with Ford for North America), Nissan introduced the Nissan Elgrand in 1997 for worldwide markets; the Nissan Serena has grown into the big MPV segment moreover.

Nissan
Nissan

Honda:

Honda has produced its Honda Odyssey line of minivans since 1994; since 1999, a separate (larger) version has been produced for u. s. and Canada. Until 2013, the Japan-produced version of the Odyssey was designed with front-hinged doors. in an exceeding design feature that was adopted by other manufacturers, the primary generation of the Odyssey featured a rear seat that folded flat into the ground.

Honda
Honda

Mitsubishi:

Expanding beyond compact MPVs, Mitsubishi entered the minivan segment in 2003 with the Mitsubishi Grandis, using front-hinged doors. Sold outside of North America, the Grandis was marketed through 2011.

Kia:

Adapting an analogous layout to the Chrysler minivans, the Kia Carnival (also sold the Kia Sedona) was introduced in 1998 with dual sliding doors. Sharing its configuration with the Honda Odyssey, the Hyundai Trajet was sold from 1999 to 2008 in markets outside of North America; the Hyundai Entourage was a rebadged Kia Sedona.

Kia
Kia

What is considered a minivan?

“A minivan is a vehicle built atop a platform of a small car with a low body, sliding or hinged rear doors, and 3 rows of seats that fit 8-9 passengers in total.”

What is the difference between a van and a minivan?

Minivan – A vehicle built on a unibody small-car platform with a maximum capacity of up to 8 passengers. Typically used for personal use. Passenger van – A larger box-shaped van built on a body-on-frame platform with a maximum capacity of 12 to 15 passengers. Typically used for business purposes.

What is the difference between a van and a minivan?
Difference between a van and a minivan

What is Microvan?

Microvan:

A microvan is a van or minivan that matches the Japanese Kei car classification or similar and is smaller than a mini MPV.
Japanese, micro vans are notably common in a geographical area, South Asia, Africa, Latin America, and also the Near East.

Microvans share similar characteristics with other sized MPVs by either seldomly or commonly consisting of sliding doors and carry 6/7/8 passengers. Since this category of a vehicle has fixed 3rd-row seats and it implies that there’s one vehicle for under passengers and another vehicle just for cargo and it doesn’t have the 3rd row dedicated for both passengers and cargo purposes these vehicles aren’t Multi-Purpose Vehicles.

Design:

The first vehicle to adopt the fashion of a van, with the engine installed before the motive force was the 1970s Honda Life “StepVan”. Some microvans utilize a drivetrain with the engine installed transversely, using front or all-wheel drive, while others use a cab over approach where the engine is installed beneath the driving force, while still utilizing all-wheel drive or rear-drive powertrains. Cab over variants usually shares their chassis with Kei truck derivatives from the identical manufacturer.

Most microvans have two swinging front doors, two sliding rear doors, and an outsized tailgate. Seating can vary from two to nine; these seats are usually very thin and vertical to optimize room. The side windows in commercial-only versions of micro vans are replaced by metallic panels and sometimes call also as “blind van”. Some models also feature pick-up variants with one or two-seat rows. Engines usually have displacements under 1.0 liter; for instance, Japanese microvans have a limit of 660 ccs. Outside the Japanese market, there are microvans available with 850 ccs to 1.6-liter engines.

The Kei car regulation is employed only in Japan, though other Asian automakers also design microvans with similar characteristics. The microvans are commonly called “key one box” in Japan alongside their pick-up version twins called Kei truck.

What is Microvan
Microvan

What is a Panel Van?

Panel Van:

A panel van — also called a blind van, car-derived van, or sedan delivery — is a cargo vehicle based upon railroad car chassis, and typically has one row of seats with no side windows at the rear. Panel vans are smaller than panel trucks and cargo vans, both of which are built on a truck chassis.

As it springs from their car chassis, its evolution of the planning is additionally intermingled with it still, with much of its evolution depends upon the assorted international locations where a specific model’s found. North American panel vans were initially based upon the 2-door beach wagon models. In Europe, where many cities have histories (and roads) many years’-long, necessitated that panel van were (and still are) typically smaller than those elsewhere, and are built on either a bespoke chassis or the chassis of a motorcar. In Australia, panel vans were a development of the ute (a small pickup supported a coach chassis, e.g. Chevrolet El Camino), often using the longer wheelbase of the car chassis.

What is a Panel Van
Panel Van

What is a VAN?

VAN:

Van is the name given to cars with the most perspective of flexibility in utilizing the inside space. It’s options of a varying number of seats and hence luggage space.

There are roughly four kinds of vans:

Two-Box Van:

The one called a “Bonnet van (Bon van)” or an “Estate van” includes a low vehicle height and a luggage space within the back. It’s mainly the motorcar type (a type traditionally called a light-weight van). The most loading capacity of this sort is 200kg for Kei car and 350 – 500kg for the registered car (standard size car). While the utmost loading capacity is that the smallest among the cargo vans, relatively low fatigue level of passengers and lower vehicle height are its distinctive features.

Fourgonette Van:

It’s a van with a configuration of a well-liked car within the front and an oversized cargo confine the rear, which has been seen in small European cars for an extended time. Fourgonnette indicates a boxcar among the fourgonnette, which is that the general name for little cargo vehicles (small trucks) in French, and it’s substantially a reputation for the little bonnet van derived from a well-liked car.

Monospace Van:

A monospace commercial vehicle that encompasses a common design with MPV and minivan or their derivative is seen among the ECU cars the foremost. It’s a tall cabin and a cargo compartment, and therefore the bonnet is shorter compared to the total length, so it’s sometimes called the one and a half-box in Japan. most of them have a line of passenger and passenger/cargo combination versions.

Monocorps Van :

The Monocorps type includes a high vehicle height and there’s no independent bonnet, so outsized floor space is allocated to the cargo compartment. It’s the mainstream in some parts of Asia including Japan because of its superior space efficiency and vehicle operability. On the opposite hand, it’s unfavorable in driving position and front collision safety compared to the fashion with a bonnet, so Japanese vans of the 2000s or later have a minimum crushable zone and also the deformation prevention structure of the cabin.

What is a VAN
VAN

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