“This is the difference between India & Pakistan. In Pakistan the most sold model is Corolla but in India the people-carriers and cargo-haulers are more successful.”

This is not just in India. People carriers or MPVs are fast becoming the family vehicle of choice for car buyers in countries like Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia etc. There is a simple fact behind it and that is, contrary to popular belief/social conditioning here in Pakistan, sedans are not the family cars they are made out to be. Sedans are very limited in what they offer. They have a “locked” cabin space stuck between an engine bay and a boot; which is for all intents and purposes a glorified suitcase. It offers very little in terms of expandability or versatility. People boast about the “hundreds of liters” of boot space they have on their sedan. However, due to the shape of the suitcase style boot of a sedan, if the said cargo is not in a certain size or shape, you are pretty much SOL because it will not fit.

MPVs on the other hand have the versatility modern families are looking for in family vehicles. Sedans are stuck in the usual 4 or 5 passenger configurations. MPVs can have anywhere from 4 seats (660cc small JDM like the Suzuki MRWagon) to 5 seats (Toyota Roomy) to the usual 7 seat configuration to the bigger options like the Kia carnival with up to 11 seats. On top of that, the rear seats usually come with seat adjustment for adjusting leg room and comfort and they can be folded down flat to maximize cargo space and expanding boot space from a few hundred liters to over a thousand liters on average; taking care of a lot of cargo carrying requirements of a family unit. Its a “one car does all” solution and is more cost effective. There are cheaper MPVs available in those countries such as the Suzuki Ertiga, Toyota Avanz, Suzuki XL7, Mitsubishi Expander, Geely Okavango or GAC GN6 etc.

(Unfortunately, due to the way taxes are in Pakistan and the free hand given to the auto assemblers with no checks and balances, these cheap options will end up becoming very over priced/prohibitively expensive if they come here.) 😞

While the demise of diesel engine is welcome, the loss of manual is one great loss. The the impact of having to change gears with younger generations will never know the impact of changing gears with the clutch pedal instead of managing the race and gear both with the accelerator pedal.

“First introduced in India back in 2005, the Innova has cumulatively sold over 10 lac units, accounting for over 50% of cumulative sales across Toyota models sold in the Indian market.”

This is the difference between India & Pakistan. In Pakistan the most sold model is Corolla but in India the people-carriers and cargo-haulers are more successful.