Why Can’t the U.S. Have Toyota’s 40 MPG 4WD Minivan?
Toyota sells a 40 mile-per-gallon, four-wheel-drive hybrid minivan in Japan, and has since 2001, but they’re playing keeps.
Its become a bit of a perennial question that I’m reminded of when I find myself mired in the depths of the internet — a question that’s been simmering in the back of my mind since I learned about the Toyota Estima hybrid minivan 3 years ago… and then went to full boil when I learned that the Estima hybrid has been sold in Japan since 2001.
At the time, I googled extensively, I asked some Japanese colleagues, I contacted Toyota — I even set up a half-hearted online petition to bring the Estima hybrid to the US (offline now, but the Union of Concerned Scientists was more ambitious, garnering over 18,000 signatures).
After all that, I never really got answers as to why Toyota had no plans to bring this family-fantasy four-wheel-drive, 40 mpg minivan to the US, but as I did more research, I pieced together my own picture of the reasons. It seemed that Toyota didn’t think Americans would buy it because it wasn’t a “full-sized” minivan and it didn’t have enough power.
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But now, with the hearts and minds of consumers changing and demand for fuel efficient vehicles steaming ahead, I come back to the same question. And it’s the question I find myself asking of most every major auto manufacturer these days: WTF? If you’ve got a car that everybody will want, why don’t you just go ahead and sell it to everybody?
When I was growing up, my family was one of the first to buy Toyota’s Previa minivan. I remember sitting in it for the first time and thinking I was at the helm of a spaceship. It seemed so cool and turned me into an instant Toyota fanboy.
That Previa was built like a tank: it went 170,000 miles without any major service needed. It was also the source of many a fond teenage make-out and illicit substance memory — although most of those are a little foggy now, aren’t they?
I’ve owned Toyotas ever since, and probably will ’till the day I die. But recently I’ve started to get pissed at Toyota in the same way that I am at the American auto manufacturers for some of the dolt-headed, intelligence-defying marketing decisions they’ve made in regards to fuel efficient vehicles.
You see folks, that first generation Previa was the precursor to the Estima, but for some reason, when Toyota introduced the next generation Estima to the rest of the world as it phased-out the Previa, it introduced the turd-like Sienna to the US. The Sienna was a gas hog — just like all other US minivans — and was designed with not a hint of the Previa in mind.
As the years went on, the Japanese Estima got better and better and Toyota even released a “full-size” hybrid minivan to the Japanese market called the Alphard. But we were still stuck with the hulking Sienna.
Currently, the rumors indicate that Toyota will introduce a hybrid version of the Sienna to the US market sometime next year, but it won’t get nearly the mileage of the Estima. Again, I ask, WTF? Yo, Toyota, you’ve already got a minivan that half of the families in the US would kill for, what the hell are you doing investing so much energy in redesigning a has-been?
The video below is in Japanese, but regardless, it clearly shows the Estima hybrid in operation with its fancy Americans-need-it options and all. As a dad to two, I want this car for my family. What do you think? Is Toyota crazy just like all the other big auto manufacturers?
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Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons under a GNU Free Documentation License
Video Credit: VasyaKurolesov from Youtube
it wont be sold here because it wouldnt meet U.S. safety regulations (i.e. bumper height, gas tank placement, emissions, dimensions). Its the same reason many european cars arent sold here.
It would have to be completely re-engineered to meet u.s. regulations so redesigning the sienna is actually a better deal.
“Aperson”,
I only buy your argument to a point. The reasons you give are the reasons that are always given, but I have yet to see those arguments proven. I’m sorry to say, but I think that’s a cop-out. I certainly don’t buy the emissions argument considering that this is a ULEV. I’m not sure what “dimensions” regulations you’re talking about, but I would imagine the Estima falls well into those.
Anyway, until I see some actual numbers from Toyota showing that your reasons are true, I just don’t buy it.
Does seem crazy…Lately it seems like I’m constantly coming across fantastic fuel economy cars that aren’t available here in US.
Below are 2 links to related articles:
100 MPG Gasoline Engine - Not A Hybrid, Electric, Hydrogen - Available in Europe 2010:
http://www.ibuyitgreen.com/green-articles/cars/100-mpg-gasoline-engine-not-a-hybrid-electric-hydrogen
Best SUV Fuel Economy 2008:
http://www.ibuyitgreen.com/green-articles/cars/best-suv-fuel-economy-2008
I might buy it. We’ve got a Prius and a Mazda MPV minivan that does fairly decent in mileage for a minivan. We only drive it once or twice a week, though. Most of the time we drive the Prius. I told my husband that we won’t replace it until an extremely fuel efficient mini van comes on the market. I know I’m one of at least a million who are waiting for a more environmentally friendly minivan to come along.
Oh come on, connect some dots. Oil family in power …..
The reason you don’t see vehicles like this here is because our country is run by people who work for big oil. We will not see this change until we vote for a change.
Write in Ron Paul… If you don’t like him write in someone else. If you vote for the people that are being forced down our throat you will see the same thing for the next four years. Change will come when people finally wake up and decide to change our circumstances.
You’re absolutely right…the major auto companies must be run by ignorant, high-school flunkies. Imagine how much money they could be making if they would just read these posts!
Wait, on second thought, Toyota is running neck and neck for the title of world’s largest auto-maker. I suppose that means they know a thing or two about the markets they serve. Thanks, Nick, but I guess the fine folks at Toyota have it covered. Shame on them, though, for not taking the time to prepare a full business case for your review.
Ive gone thru this same disbelief for the last 4 years.
Estima, Alphard.
Can it really be that the Bush people are keeping it out??
I fond that hard to believe, when the Chevy Volt is on the way, and Priuses are filling the road.
Does ANYone have an “in” at Toyota to get us one, or both, of these vans HERE??
The real reason you won’t see this is hidden in the wikipedia article you linked:
“The Previa continues to be excluded from North America as the locally-produced Sienna occupies that market.”
Retooling the US plant(s?) would be very costly, and shutting it down will be even more costly. Having cars built in America really helps foreign car manufacturers get acceptance, and they will not close those plants lightly.
Plus, why go through all of that effort when the current crop of minivans are much better than the SUVs they’re replacing. 26mpg is good enough for most Americans, and Toyota can keep making the Sienna without the additional costs.
There’re both safety and market issues that keeps cars like the Estima from the US Market. The Previa did horribly in crash tests, and with a 4 cylinder engine didn’t stand up well to the Caravans from Chrysler, which also cost much less. Recall that there was even a supercharged Previa, which fell into obscurity in the US. In Asia, the car market is much different than in the US. The Average US buyer is in the middle-income class, where price is a big consideration. In Asia, the average car buyer is someone in a higher-income segment — the middle-income class in Asia simply can’t afford cars, where a deeded parking spot can cost more than the car itself. What this means is that whereas the average minivan in the US is sold with cloth seats and some optional package, the average minivan sold in Asia is loaded up with luxury options — which means much higher profit margins per van sold in Asia, versus in the US. Also, in the crowd roads and streets of Asia, you don’t need to go 0-60 in less than 12 seconds. The average speeds are lower, which means safety is less of an issue, and plus there’re not as many government regulations (nothing comparable to the US). For Toyota to send this car to the US market, it would need (as mentioned) better structural integrity — and at the same time, it would have to sell for less per car because the biggest segment of the market is not the luxury segment. Bottom line, more cost, less profit — hmmm…tough decision, but I would stick to selling Camry’s and Corolla’s and Yaris’s.