The Chinese government announced this past October that it would be loosening its longstanding one-child policy, and carmakers are taking notice, anticipating a resulting increase in demand for spacious minivans in the world’s largest market, according to Reuters. SUVs have long been popular in China even with families being limited to one child, and the consensus among automotive manufacturers is that Chinese consumers will be looking to size up and invest in minivans or MPVs (multi-purpose vehicles).
At present seven-seater MPVs account for only 10% of sales in China, but sales are growing at a 7.8 percent pace so far in 2015, as compared to a 1.5 percent rate of growth for the automotive market overall.
Traditionally marketed toward companies and small businesses, MPVs may now be aimed squarely at Chinese families as they gradually increase in size, particularly as most urban Chinese families face ongoing restrictions on owning more than one vehicle.