Europe's consumers lose interest in family haulers, just like Americans did

When Renault reimagined its Espace as a crossover after five model generations as a minivan, it was an acknowledgement that a once-iconic segment had truly run its course in Europe.

Minivans have been declining in popularity among European consumers, much as they have with American shoppers. Since the early 2010s, minivans have been replaced by crossovers and SUVs, as well as small passenger vans with more and more features.

Dataforce, which tracks sales by model and segment, no longer has a minivan category, instead combining passenger van versions of light-commercial vans with the few remaining minivans on the market.

Renault's Espace was the first minivan in Europe when it launched in 1984. Chrysler Corp.'s popular minivans, the Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager, launched in the U.S. nearly concurrently.

The Espace featured plastic composite body panels and seven seats that could be arranged like a living room, with the front seats able to swivel, and it was just 167.3 inches long. The fact that it has been redrawn now as an SUV is a milestone for the European auto industry.

Not long ago, every mainstream automaker offered not just one, but several minivans, much as they do with SUVs today. For its part, Renault offered the small Modus, the compact Scenic and Grand Scenic and the midsize Espace, while Ford sold the B-Max, C-Max, S-Max and Galaxy in Europe.

But over the years, many of the Espace's competitors have been phased out, or their nameplates transferred to crossovers or SUVs.

In the midsize category, where the current Espace competes, there were just three true minivans in the top 10 in 2022. The Ford S-Max was in seventh place with 7,804 sales, the Seat Alhambra was in eighth with 5,988 sales and the Ford Galaxy — riding on the same platform as the S-Max — was in ninth place with 5,636 sales.

The compact category had only three purpose-designed minivans as well. The Volkswagen Touran had 21,876 sales last year, the Citroën C4 SpaceTourer was second with 11,081 sales and the Renault Scenic saw 9,473 sales in 2022.

"Minivans are considered old-fashioned," said Benjamin Kibies, senior automotive analyst at Dataforce. And automakers, facing increased costs in the transition to electrification, are reducing their model diversity, he added.

"Buyers who prefer more functional aspects can still opt for passenger car models that are derived from commercial vehicles, such as a Citroën Berlingo or the larger VW Transporter," Kibies said.

By the end of this year, Dataforce expects nearly all traditional minivan models to be off the market, with the exception of two premium compact models, the BMW 2-Series Active Tourer and the Mercedes-Benz B-Class.

Recent and upcoming casualties include the Citroën C4 SpaceTourer that ended production in the third quarter of last year, with the Seat Alhambra and VW Sharan coming to a halt at the end of 2022.

The Ford Galaxy and S-Max exited this year, while Fiat's compact 500L will reach the end of its life cycle this year as well.

The two passenger van segments in Europe are small. There were 171,936 compact vans sold in 2022, compared with 1,613,126 compact crossovers/SUVs, according to figures from Dataforce. The midsize/large van segment is bigger, with 197,862 sales compared with 557,943 midsize/large crossovers/SUVs.

But in the compact segment, consumers' options are limited to mostly full-electric vans from Stellantis brands Citroën, Fiat, Opel/Vauxhall and Peugeot, as well as combustion engine or full-electric vans from Renault and Volkswagen.

This doesn't mean the traditional minivan is dead forever. While tastes have changed and the vehicles' weight and blunt profiles make it increasingly hard to meet emissions regulations with a diesel or gasoline engine, electrification could offer minivans an emissions lifeline.

One new model may offer a template for the rebirth of the iconic minivan: The VW ID Buzz, a full-electric homage to the classic VW Kombi, known as the Bus in the U.S., comes complete with sliding doors.