Top Recommended Minivans 2012 | Choosing a Minivan | Buyer's Guide

If you are a parent, a business owner or an automobile traveler with the whole family, nothing meets your needs better than the often slandered medium-sized minivan, or full-sized if you regularly transport a lot of people and much more (not just people but different loads). The sliding rear doors of the minibus and the low floor provide a convenient entrance for passengers, and its huge luggage compartment and many other compartments and small storage boxes, along with the reconfigurable layout of the passenger compartment, calmly solve transportation problems, even if you do not assume that you had them . If the cargo capabilities are at the top of the list of requirements, then the minivan is most appropriate to your priorities of choice. From the point of view of economy, minivans usually spend less fuel than most full-size SUVs / crossovers, while having better maneuverability, which makes them preferable for the transportation of both passengers and large luggage or other household goods.

So, let's see what choice the minivan experts offer.

Seven-seat Citroen C4 Grand Picasso is the first in a series of recommended minivans, which is distinguished primarily by elegance and style, concealing its dimensions and capacity. Together with the excellent, comfortable cabin and large luggage compartment, which thanks to folding seats can be brought to a grandiose size (576 liters in a two-row arrangement and 1951 for all folded seats), the C4 Grand Picasso features a manageability similar to driving a conventional car, which Will allow you to easily adapt to it, even if you do not use it regularly.

The ease of driving will also attract women, making the minivan the main family transport for everyday needs, taking the children to school or going to the supermarket for groceries. And good equipment, including finding a parking space and parking assistance, and the French sophistication of interior design will be an important factor to choose Citroen C4 Grand Picasso or its smaller brother Citroen C4 Picasso. Five-seater C4 Picasso has much in common with a larger model - it's a spacious, versatile and well-suited for a family life car. The main difference is the price - this model is much cheaper.

The next in our list of recommended minivans is the Ford Galaxy. Slightly larger than its size cousins Grand C-Max and S-Max, seven-seater Galaxy will make the trip simple and pleasant for both the driver and passengers. The Galaxy is equipped with advanced safety technologies that turn it into a good family car for everyday use, which is important in modern road conditions.

This minivan, like the others recommended here, is distinguished for its exceptional practicality, achieved thanks to an intelligent system that allows for easy and quick creation of 32 configuration layouts. The choice of economical diesel and gasoline engines complements the overall picture. Good handling of the minivan is achieved by good steering sensitivity and high stability of the car. Practicality, safety, handling and comfort make the Ford Galaxy into a reasonably popular minivan.

The third in our list of recommended minivans is the seven-seater Mazda 5, which is also equipped with an intelligent interior configuration system. Thanks to this system, the flexibility of the layout of the salon, the choice of seating arrangements and storage of luggage are provided. Versatility and an extra compartment for things in the second row of seats make the Mazda 5 a great family car, and sliding doors are a huge advantage in a limited space in city parking. Doors open without protruding beyond the body of the car, which in combination with an intelligent seating system provides a very convenient entrance and exit from the car.

Together with this the car provides a high level of interaction with the driver and is distinguished by a catchy style. And if your needs are met by a compact minivan, we offer a look at the completely redesigned Mazda 5, which is an excellent option for a large family.

This is the choice of the 2012 minivan. Of course it is not great, since the volume of the minivans segment in our market is also small. But from year to year more and more Russian buyers prefer minivans and we hope that in 2013 the choice will be wider. Especially considering the next generation of Ford B-Max and Opel Meriva expected this year.