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vii Reasons the Family Car Isn't So Great for Families Any More

Updated on: Apr twenty, 2011 / 1:17 PM / MoneyWatch

Chevy recently pulled the wraps off its new Malibu sedan at the Shanghai Motor Testify (see photo below). Equally BNET's Jim Motavalli recently noted, this is Full general Motors' (GM) new "world car," a vehicle that meant to entreatment to... well, everybody, whether they inhabit Manhattan or Mumbai. Problem is, this family unit sedan may not appeal to families.

Nosotros may nevertheless call them "family cars," but as I noted a few years ago, families these days have little use for the classic four-door sedan of American lore. The Malibu certainly has its place -- GM design guru Bryan Nesbitt says information technology'southward well-nigh "fashion and sportiness" -- just the typical family garage isn't it. In fact, there actually are no archetype "family cars" that makes much sense for the modern American brood. Here'southward why::

1. They don't have enough room for seven people. Vii is the new four. Birthrates per family may be dropping throughout the adult world, but the U.S. is notwithstanding holding up its end of the evolutionary bargain. This mean more than than two kids per family. Now, you might say that those two kid could easily fit into a four-door sedan, simply you'd be overlooking the fact that those kids rarely gyre alone: their patents routinely send somebody else's 2.5 children. Do the math. Most family sedans don't have a third row of seating.
2. They don't accept enough cupholders. America is obsessed with hydration. And Slurpees. Therefore, whatever vehicle that purports to be for the family needs to have, at a minimum, four cupholders per person. My Honda Odyssey has seven in the front end seat alone. Yous demand minivan/crossover/SUV compages to conform that much carriage for liquids.
3. They have become far too organized effectually the "driving feel." Ever since BMW and its sports sedans showed upwards in the Us, our ideas of how iv-doored conveyances should accelerate and handle has been under radical revision. All mid-size sedans, it now seems, aspire to the status of the BMW five-series. Plainly, a family with the usual number of kids, cupholders, booster seats, bikes, and pets isn't going to be taking to the weekend byways of our fair land every bit if they were headed for a few laps at the Nurburgring.
4. They have trunks. A cavernous trunk was in one case a very highly-seasoned feature on a decent-sized sedan. Not anymore. The modern family vehicle doesn't have a torso -- it has a hatch that might remind some of a pocket-sized airplane hanger. Or a trucklike tailgate that can easily arrange lumber, cement, and gardening supplies gathered at Sabbatum morning time Home Depot runs.
5. They look also darn good. The family motorcar used to be designed to absorb a sure corporeality of punishment. Vinyl seats were not out of the question. Sedans nowadays, past dissimilarity, are sleek and glittering showplaces inside and out. With their tightly integrated interiors, they can't handle years of spilled Go-Gurt, refugee raisins, and mud-slathered lacrosse cleats.
6. They aren't self-sufficient. Families may eventually take to drive their kids to college. This used to hateful strapping luggage, supplies, etc. to the roof of the sedan, pioneer-fashion. The modern family van or SUV, yet, can inhale what the average kid would need for freshman year without requiring a roof rack and a U-Haul.
7. They lack towing capacity. See in a higher place. The sheer cargo space of an SUV obviates the need to tow stuff -- but when yous do tow, y'all want to be able to tow a lot. Four-door sedans aren't optimized to tow fishing boats or trailers bedecked with clay bikes or Jet Skis.

Will the nifty American sedan ever reclaim it fled glory as the favored vehicle of families? Non a chance. In fact, the whole manner that GM is presenting the new Malibu simply proves my point. Unless you're family of ii, the four-door just isn't your thing anymore.

Related:

• New York Machine Evidence: World Malibu Debut is a Must-Win for GM
• Inexpensive Expiry: The Impending Demise of the Sub-$10,000 Car
• Gender Studies: Why Chicks Dig VW Beetles While Guys Similar BMWs and Pickups

Photo: 2013 Malibu: GM Media; Malibu Shanghai Reveal: Dave Muyres

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