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Minivan revivalSep 12, 2010 (The Columbus Dispatch - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- As exciting as a bowl of oatmeal and as stylish as mom jeans. This is how many people view the minivan. Sales peaked in 1995 and have dwindled to the edge of irrelevance as many families with lots of people and things to haul have chosen crossovers or SUVs instead.Now, in the minivan's darkest hour, Honda and Toyota are trying to spark a renaissance of the segment. They're leading a comeback with redesigned models, including the Ohio-engineered Honda Odyssey. The companies are using cheeky advertising and muscular designs, acknowledging that the minivan is not cool while at the same time trying to make it cool. Will it work? Analysts say the minivan's image problem is deep enough that it might never regain its past glory -- or sales -- but its user-friendliness means it will always have a niche. "The minivan's practicality is so strong that the segment will never go away," said Jesse Toprak, vice president for industry trends at Truecar.com. The antipathy for minivans can be extreme, especially for men. "I just don't like the look of them," said Lee Burkleca of Upper Arlington. He associates the vehicles with "soccer moms on cell phones." And even with two young children, Tai Wang of Westerville won't consider a minivan. "They just don't appeal to me," she said. Sandy McCormick of Upper Arlington is firmly in the pro-minivan camp. When her children were younger, she drove a Dodge Caravan. "I loved it," she said. "I still miss it." Her kids didn't share her feelings. "When they got old enough to drive, they didn't want to be seen in it," she said. Major challenge The automakers know what they are up against in trying to market minivans to parents in their 20s and 30s. This is one reason that Ford and GM have abandoned the segment, choosing to focus on crossovers such as the Ford Edge and Chevrolet Equinox, vehicles that walk the line between sedans and SUVs. In the diminished minivan segment, the Odyssey is the top seller, and Honda has high hopes when the redesigned model goes on sale later this month. "The biggest challenge in selling to Generation X and Generation Y is, they grew up in minivans, so they identify the minivan as their mom's car," said Art St. Cyr, Honda's chief engineer for the new Odyssey. "There is an image in their minds that this is an uncool vehicle." The company has nicknamed the vehicle the "American Odyssey" to call attention to the fact that it is designed and engineered in the United States, unlike previous versions. Engineering was performed at Honda Research and Development Americas near the Marysville Assembly Plant. The first vehicles are being assembled in Lincoln, Ala. A key element of the new Odyssey is a so-called "lightning-bolt design," which refers to the jagged window line. This is an attempt to differentiate the vehicle from the soft lines often associated with minivans. "We're trying to add some emotional appeal to the practical," St. Cyr said. Toyota redesigned the Sienna with similar tweaks; the Indiana-built model went into production in January. The company describes the design as "sportier" and "classier" than its predecessors, with a rear spoiler, alloy wheels and a more muscular rear. The new Sienna might be best-known for a series of company-funded Web videos spoofing the segment's lack of cool. One of the videos, called "Swagger Wagon," features a young couple rapping about their Sienna in an innuendo-laden spoof. "I roll hard through the streets and the cul-de-sac," said the song's bearded, balding husband, over a drumbeat. "Proud parent of an honor-roll student, Jack." This video is not a list of features or a challenge to the idea of the minivan as a child-hauler. "It doesn't say anything other than 'We are a minivan,' but it is funny, and it leaves me with a good feeling about Toyota," said Rao Unnava, a marketing professor at Ohio State University. Origin of the species In the early 1980s, most vans were rear-wheel-drive giants that barely fit in garages. European carmakers such as Volkswagen and Renault had smaller models, but few sold in the United States. That all changed when Chrysler released the Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager in 1983. The design was innovative for the time, with front-wheel drive, seating for seven and a roof low enough to fit inside most garages. "They took a chance on the minivan," said Bruce Belzowski, assistant research scientist at the University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute. "And the rest was history." Notably, some of the Chrysler engineers had come from Ford, where they had not been allowed to develop a similar idea, he said. The minivan was a key part of Chrysler's renaissance under the leadership of Lee Iacocca, who had also come from Ford. By 1985, Ford and General Motors had leapt into the minivan market. "They ended up being kind of like copycat vans," Belzowski said. The segment was huge and dominated by the Detroit automakers. Sales reached a high of 1.2million vehicles in 1995; that was 8.5percent of the U.S. vehicle market. The Ford Windstar was the top seller, with 221,108 units sold, followed by the Plymouth Voyager, with 178,327, and the Dodge Caravan, with 136,558. That was about the time the minivan's image problems began to crystallize, just as automakers were ramping up production of SUVs. Soon after, crossover vehicles provided even more competition for family vehicles. Meanwhile, Honda and Toyota were getting into the minivan market. Honda introduced the Odyssey near the end of 1994. Toyota, which had briefly sold a minivan in the 1980s, came back in earnest with the Sienna in 1997. The Odyssey has risen to become the top seller for the past three years; 100,133 units were sold last year. Sales of all minivans totaled 424,007, or 4.1percent of the U.S. auto market. The sales total was the lowest since 1984, and the market share was the lowest since 1987. Analysts expect a modest sales increase this year because of the redesigned models and the improving economy. But even the most optimistic forecast is far short of the glory years. The image problem probably will remain, no matter how slick the design or how clever the advertising. And that doesn't make much sense to Toprak. He has three children and a minivan, a Sienna. "For families with young kids, there is nothing else that can match the functionality," he said. 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