Ford Unveils Minivan Lite

Ford has announced its reentry into the please-don't-call-it-a-minivan category, USA Today reports. The carmaker has been out of the minivan business since 2007, and it plans to stay that way—at least in name—with the Grand C-Max, scheduled to be on US roads in two years. Built on a stretched version of Ford’s international small-car platform, the C-Max has sliding doors and 3 rows of seats. But don’t call it the m-word.

“Minivans have a stigma,” says an exec who prefers the term “people mover.” “We tried to provide that functionality but with an aspirational design.” Cash-poor Americans seem to be migrating toward the once-derided small car—the subcompact segment has more than tripled since 2004—but a stylish minivan-lite could be a hard sell. The only similar vehicle is the Mazda 5, which hasn’t done so well. “In that respect, they're going to be trying the waters out,” says an industry analyst. (More Ford stories.)