Have you looked at minivans? When my 3 were under 5 a couple years ago they all fit, with room for all the stuff. No, it's not sexy, but it's incredibly practical.
I'll hopefully keep it for at least a decade or two - it is designed for much more demanding tasks than the about monthly family outings, the holidays and standing idle the rest of the time while I commute with my bicycle and shop with my cargo bicycle.
I fail to see anything electric currently available that could replace that incredible efficiency. I hope that, by the time I'm ripe for replacing it, the technology and the market will have matured.
That's just not right. Minivans are typically as big, if not longer, and weigh more or less the same. As to cost, unless you're comparing the suburban, (relatively rare vehicle even in my corner of rich, suburbanite, 6 kids midwest) their cost is comparable.
Ive been looking to buy a Sienna for over a year and I cant find one without dropping almost $70 k out the door. For that money I can get an expedition and have more space.
If you mean 1800 kg, my full size 3.3 L V6 Sorrento weighs less at 1724 Kg. So unless you're comparing a Renault to a GMC Suburban, which I must insist are rare, you're just nowhere near the right mass.
But for internal capacity, so much better: one of the big things is that the much shorter hood makes it easier to maneuver and gives you more usable space from that extra length.
My theory is that it's about making the model line up more efficient: SUVs can sell with both families and with image-conscious individuals. So rather than selling mini-vans to families and trucks to individuals who just think they're cool, sell SUVs to both groups.
And they're not cheap by any stretch. A base model Sienna is almost $40k. That's more than a year's income for 25% of households[0]. The Platinum starts at $15k more than that.
[0] https://dqydj.com/average-median-top-household-income-percen...
A minivan would be too big for my family's daily needs, but I love renting them for road trips. Even the older dodge caravan has great space and is a comfy ride for everyone.
So much this. My minivan fits my five kids, myself, and all of their bikes (using the big trunk and front seat) with room to spare. It's amazing.
Nonetheless, my wife won't drive it and complains constantly that it would "make her look like a soccer mom." She hates it.
Instead she drives a Subaru Ascent, which only just barely fits the kids, feels cramped, and has maybe 30% of the cargo space—all while having a pretty similar footprint.
would be easiest to just move the marketing dollars from the Mustang to the Sienna, but those dollars come from the markup over BOM that Mustang owners are willing and able to afford
Sienna purchasers probably don't mind paying less for a stigma since their primary concern likely is carrying kids around, instead of advertising their ability to have them in the first place
Quiet, spacious, Great sound system, V6, 4 captains chairs, room for our drums and amps. Cruised great. No maintainence in the 3 years I owned it. Fuel economy around 20 on a good day. Very comfortable.
Seats popped out, tons of storage room. Low rear bumper / floor so you could easily load it.
Prior to the Ford flex they were used by a lot of installers for these favorable features
Great car. Its engine was a a notch or two above baseline which gave it plenty of power, plenty of room, drove well. Also if you needed to haul something large instead of kids just pop out as many seats as needed and suddenly you had van-like cargo space.
Could make a van work I suppose.