Sales in the Minivan segment grew by 21 percent in the second quarter of the year – this continuation of the unexpected performance from the first quarter of the year made the segment the only mainstream segment to grow in the second quarter, and the second-faster growing segment over the time period (only the Subcompact SUV segment grew faster). Remarkably, almost every model in the segment contributed to this growth, though ultimately it’s the renewed market popularity of the outgoing FCA twins, Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan, that really drove this segments to such fast growth.
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Highlights for first half of 2016:
- Just like in the first quarter of the year sales of the Dodge Grand Caravan almost doubled, allowing the model to snatch the segment lead from Toyota Sienna. What would be interesting to see is how much of these extra sales are due to government and rental car purchases, before the model (much cheaper than the competition) is finally phased out of production
- Sales of Chrysler Town & Country also continued rising, albeit slower at 25 percent in the second quarter of the year, suggesting that the pick-up in sales for the FCA twins does have at least some retail component to it, as the Chrysler does not really go to rental companies / government fleets
- Relative to its older competition, the sales performance of the new Kia Sedona must be viewed as disappointing, with sales up only 7 percent in the second quarter of the year
- After going on sales in April, the new Chrysler Pacifica is quickly picking up steam – in July its sales were high enough for fourth spot, while its year-to-date sales already eclipsed those of the Nissan Quest
Note: clicking on the model name opens the sales data page for that model; clicking year in the legend turns the display for that year on/off