Working with customers as different as Asians and North-Americans could not have resulted in anything else: Honda, Mitsubishi, Nissan and Toyota had to develop strategy plans which resulted as big as what was mentioned in the previous paragraph. Although most companies would rather avoid such complex plans, whether due to their costs or to their equally high risks, those knew this was the right path. And now the results speak for themselves. Odyssey is a hit among minivans, Lancer repeated the same reputation it has back home, Leaf is one of the first choices for those who reject gasoline, and Camry is one of the best-selling cars of the entire country. “However, carrying out this process implies a continuous research”.
After rising into worldwide success by drawing buyers mostly from station wagons during the 1990s, minivans’s karma started to get even ten years later. Since the crossovers started to spread so much, it was only a matter of time for some automaker to use the first ones’ practicality into the latter’s more casual, less soccer-mom style. Even though they also released crossovers of their own, the Japanese companies still did not want to give up on their minivans. Honda Odyssey, Mazda5 and Toyota Sienna entered 2010 with a sportier, more imponent style in order to remain attractive, but this bet did not end as well as expected: their current sales are not bad, but neither good enough to make it worth investing in all-new generations.
Therefore, while Chrysler and Mazda are still deciding what to do, and Kia decided to trust on the new Sedona’s interesting design, the Japanese relied only on small facelifts. A year after Odyssey’s, Sienna reaches 2015 with the same trim levels (LE, XLE, sporty SE and upscale Limited), minor aerodynamic improvements and stiffened structure for all, revised headlights for the latter two, and updated front grille and tail lights for all but SE. Inside, the biggest feature is Sienna’s attention-catcher response to Odyssey’s built-in vacuum cleaner: Toyota’s Driver Easy Speak brings microphone and rear loudspeakers to facilitate the task of parents shouting to their children from the front seats all the way to the third row.
Other habitability news are refreshed instrument cluster with an available 4.2” information screen, redesigned dashboard with more conservative looks and more practical climate controls, rear-set entertainment display with Blu-ray players and Toyota’s last-generation audio and infotainment systems. When it comes to safety, there is a seat-cushion airbag for the front passengers, the other bags were enlarged, and a fourth LATCH seat anchor was added. Everything else remained untouched, including the sole engine option: the 3.5L V6 generates 266 hp and uses six-speed automatic transmission, using all-wheel-drive as an optional. Toyota will release the new Sienna’s price list closer to the sales start, which occurs later this year.