--- title: Why the Lamest Car on the Road Has Become a Hot Seller description: The much-mocked minivan segment is enjoying sharp sales growth in 2016, thanks largely to the Chrysler Pacifica. authors: - name: Brad Tuttle role: Senior Editor url: https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/ bio: Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals. education: Columbia University School of Journalism, MS at_money_since: 2014 articles: 366 covers: - Business - Banking - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle - https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225 former_staff: true published: '2016-09-06T17:48:01.000Z' modified: '2024-05-16T11:38:47.000Z' section: Business tags: - Autos - minivans - pubdesk - SUV word_count: 466 canonical: https://money.com/minivan-sales-rise-suv-chrysler-pacifica/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![160906_EM_Minivans](https://img.money.com/2016/09/160906_em_minivans.jpg) *A lot full of 2017 Chrysler Pacificas.* Chrysler is credited with creating the minivan. So when the automaker decided a few years ago to kill off the upscale Town & Country minivan due to plummeting sales, the move summed up what many auto insiders already knew to be true: The entire [minivan category was in trouble](http://business.time.com/2012/06/01/death-of-a-minivan-sign-of-the-impending-doom-of-all-minivans/). American families had increasingly been turning to SUVs rather than minivans as their go-to people haulers even before gas prices decreased significantly. As [prices at the pump cratered](https://money.com/cheap-gas-price-factoids/) further, and virtually all new vehicles have improved gas mileage, consumers desiring bigger cars have been choosing SUVs and trucks by a wide margin. It may come as a big surprise, then, that sales of the minivan—often derided as the soccer mom vehicle that was uncool even in its '90s heyday—are growing at a faster pace than almost every other auto category. [*Bloomberg* reports](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-06/the-minivan-is-back-and-it-s-kind-of-cool) that minivan sales are up 21% thus far in 2016. The only vehicle category experiencing faster growth is the mid-size pickup truck, while large crossover SUVs and mid-size traditional SUVs have actually seen a sales decline. What explains the turnaround? Well, for one thing, we must note that it's easy for a car category's sales to increase when they were weak to begin with. The minivan may be on the upswing, but it's hardly hotter than the SUV. According to data cited by the [*Wall Street Journal*](http://online.wsj.com/mdc/public/page/2_3022-autosales.html), just under 400,000 minivans have been sold during the first eight months of 2016. Meanwhile, roughly 650,000 mid-size SUV purchases have been made, and well over *one million SUVs* of all sizes have been sold thus far in 2016. Still, the minivan is regaining some of its mojo thanks to the emergence of the highly drivable new [Chrysler Pacifica](https://money.com/chrysler-pacifica-electric-minivan/), which has resonated with young families and is helping to kill the old stigma that minivans are lame. “I don't think the segment will ever be what it used to be, but this certainly breathed new life into it," AutoTrader analyst Michelle Krebs said to *Bloomberg*, discussing the Pacifica and minivans in general. ***Read Next:* Why This Might Be the Beginning of the End for the Toyota Prius** While one family car category appears to be coming back from the dead, another one—the family sedan—is "dying," industry publication [*Automotive News*](http://www.autonews.com/article/20160905/RETAIL01/309059951/the-family-car-is-in-free-fall#) reports. "Demand for midsize cars is at a five-year low. The segment is fading faster with each passing month." Compared to 2015, mid-size sedan sales fell 3.4% in the first quarter of 2016, then 13% and 21% respectively during the next two quarters. Again, the blame for declining sales in this category is cast upon the SUV—specifically, crossover SUVs, which car buyers largely deem as providing more space, comfort, and overall value. 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