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Prestige people-movers: Chrysler Grand Voyager, Mercedes-Benz Viano, Toyota Tarago V6

27 May 2015 | Author: dima | Comments Off

Prestige people-movers: Chrysler Grand Voyager, Mercedes-Benz Viano, Toyota Tarago V6

Richard Blackburn

Inside this review.

Make Toyota Family Tarago Series GSR50R Year 2007 Badge Description GLX Doors 4 Seats 7 Transmission Sports Automatic Engine Configuration Description V60 Gear Num 6 Cylinders 6 Build Country Origin Description JAPAN Car Size People Movers Overall Green Star Rating 3.5 Fuel Type Description Petrol – Unleaded ULP Drive Description Front Wheel Drive Warranty KM 100000

At first glance the term luxury people mover seems a contradiction. People movers have always had a utilitarian image. No one who owns one would doubt its usefulness, plenty admire the ability to do the job but nobody really wants be seen in one.

The explosion of seven-seat soft-roaders in recent years was tipped to put an end to the people mover.

Soft-roaders had everything people movers didn’t – good looks, car-like driving manners and plenty of oomph under the bonnet.

But the people mover has proved remarkably resilient, holding its ground in the sales stakes. It has even spawned a luxury sub-segment, with Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen and Chrysler selling V6 versions that cost upwards of $55,000.

Market leader Toyota this week got in on the act, releasing a V6-powered, upmarket version of the popular Tarago.

Why, you ask. Toyota, which claims credit for coining the term people mover, says the demand is still strong despite the shrinking size of the average Australian family.

Toyota executive director David Buttner puts it down to parents being more involved in their kids’ lifestyles.

Compared with a generation ago, parents are more involved in their children’s everyday activities, he said at a launch of the V6 Tarago this week.

We are less willing to allow our children to walk to school. Today’s roads are often too busy to let children ride their bikes.

Combine that with the inevitable clashes of dancing lessons and football training and you have what Toyota terms the virtual family – a kids’ transport network that depends on the people mover.

Parents take it in turns to drive their children and friends to sporting events and social engagements.

The logistics are complex but it works far better than City Rail.

And parents seem prepared to shell out sizeable amounts of money to make sure that their family bus keeps up with the Joneses.

This week we look at four people movers for the upwardly mobile.