The chicken tax and the "cool" factor / branding must play a role over and above the raw utility of hauling lots of people, surely?
A lot of whitewater paddling friends actually favor minivans because they find them more convenient for lots of gear and shuttling people than SUV configurations.
But really it's a longer story than that. Minivans had previously replaced station wagons, and the crossovers of today tend to look like a cross between a minivan and a wagon.
Their aero isn't as good as a car but it's better than a truck based SUV.
Fold the seats and you've got a trunk only slightly smaller than a minivan without the 3rd row.
AWD SUVs are readily available and generally the standard. FWD is generally reserved for people who want to go out of their way to be economical about it.
Trailer hitch is solved with $300 and a trip to Uhaul (or for the mechanically inclined: $120, Amazon and a 30% chance of needing a drill). With modern horsepower and brakes you can comfortably tow some stupidly large stuff with crossovers so long as you've got a weight distribution hitch to take some of the weight off the rear axle.
Crossovers do nothing great but they do everything passably well, just like the station wagons of the 1950s-80s they replaced.
I like being elevated from the ground, especially in bumper-to-bumper traffic. It's comfortable to sit up. But it's big and consumes gas, and we also have a subcompact. So the van mainly lives in the garage and we use our bicycles for getting around when we can.
People have told me that they got a "crossover" or SUV because the minivan carries the soccer-mom stigma. But damn, talk about utility.
I would NEVER recommend a minivan to anyone, ever.
I have two kids, and we're thinking about a third, so we're looking around at options to replace our sedan. Here's what I've decided:
- SUVs with a third row suck for anyone in the third row, and they get horrible gas mileage - few sedans and SUVs are big enough for two car seats and a booster - minivans are expensive and frequently have annoying mechanical issues
I think I've settled on the Mazda 5 because:
- three kids + cargo (fold down one back seat) is doable - reasonable gas mileage - comfortable for six adults (going out with friends with a babysitter at home)
Unfortunately, they aren't making them anymore. I really have driving SUVs and trucks, but sedans are too small for my family now. Minivans, while completely "uncool", are the best option for people who need to haul people and stuff at the same time.
Store extra rows of seats in your garage until you need them.