From Minivan to Nanny Van, the Enduring Story of MPV in Hong Kong

Enter www.cc-cars.dk in your browser, and you will step into a completely unfamiliar world.

This is a European company specializing in sales of classic cars. Normally, the website displays a variety of used or ancient sports cars.

However, recently they put up an “odd” exhibit—a 1991 Toyota HiAce.

For 31 years, this vehicle has been nearly brand new, having been driven only 490 kilometers. It even comes with all the original instruction manuals.

Although this is an absolutely obscure collection in Europe, I believe that if this car were brought to China, there would be many people who would want to buy it immediately.

We do not understand why a HiAce could have been so completely preserved until now.

This is similar to how Europeans do not understand why Chinese people have such a strong emotional attachment to a van.

1.0: The Era of Minivans

Last year, the song “Big Wind Blows” brought Liu Xijun back into the public eye, and also brought her onto the stage of the Hong Kong music program “The Enduring Story of Voice.”

This is a program jointly produced by Hunan Satellite TV and Hong Kong TVB, to pay tribute to the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to China. Liu Xijun’s unique childhood experience also brought some special memories to everyone.

Liu Xijun grew up on the Sino-British Street in Shenzhen, where her mother worked. This may also have been the most special place in China before Hong Kong’s return—the left half of the street’s shops belong to Shenzhen, and the right half belongs to Hong Kong.

Liu Xijun’s unique geographical location allowed her to have an up-close view of Hong Kong. And of course, cars were an integral part of what she saw.In the 1990s, the growth of private cars started to flourish in the economically developed coastal regions of China. “Vans”, a type of van with both passenger and commercial properties, became the most popular imported car category.

The term “van” was adopted in the southern region of China following the example of Hong Kong.

In the 90s, many of the top 10 new car models in Hong Kong were MPVs shaped like bread.

“At that time, the reason why these cars were so popular among many people couldn’t be separated from the word ‘livelihoods’.”

“First registration tax” is a cost that Hong Kong residents have to consider when buying a car. It can even account for 60% of the retail price of some cars, which greatly reduces the car-buying budget for many people.

At the same time, the cost of owning a car in Hong Kong is also very high. The proportion of parking space and parking fee to car price is extremely high. The underlying reason behind this is Hong Kong’s extremely high population density. The more people a car can fit, the more persuasive it becomes as a core reason for buying a car.

Over twenty years ago, people began to pay attention to these nascent MPV products. Undoubtedly, they were the best representative of Hong Kong’s dreams. A car could fit 7 people during normal times. After the people got off the car, the rear seats could be folded down to become a transportation vehicle to help with business operations. “Within these small cubic meters, the dreams of a family’s desire to be self-sufficient and self-reliant are carried.”

Along with Hong Kong’s return to China 25 years ago, this pragmatic and rough concept of transportation has also become known to us.

At that time, our demands for MPVs were durability first and cheapness was also extremely important.

2.0: The Era of Nanny Cars

Coincidentally, the development of MPVs seems to have followed the footsteps of Liu Xijun’s growth.

In 2009, Liu Xijun participated in the “Happy Girl” talent show held by Hunan Satellite TV. With her sweet voice and gentle image, she finally succeeded as a professional singer by ranking among the top five contestants in the country.Since then, a trend of “nanny cars” has blown up from Hong Kong. Many top Hong Kong stars have become loyal users of it. Whether it’s a formal occasion, gossip, or TVB dramas, we can often see nannies around stars.

Driven by the “star effect,” the trend of nanny cars quickly swept the country, and people’s impression of MPVs suddenly jumped a few steps from a bread van to a nanny car.

The reason why nanny cars are sought after by stars may be their practicality. The nearly 3-meter long wheelbase of the nanny car brings exceptionally spacious interior space for passengers. Sufficient space not only meets the transportation needs of stars’ team members, such as agents, assistants, and makeup artists, but also provides a comfortable mobile rest room for stars when they go out for filming.

The rear privacy glass that almost every nanny car is equipped with also provides a breathing privacy space for various stars to avoid seamless paparazzi shots.

Later on, with more and more big-name stars using nanny cars, the nanny cars seem to have become a symbol of keeping up with the fashion trend. It seems that if you don’t buy a nanny car, you won’t fit into this circle. Being a standard configuration for stars has also given nanny cars the label of “high-end travel.”

At the 2010 Beijing Motor Show, the second-generation Toyota Alphard was officially introduced into the Chinese market. At this time, the luxury nanny car image had already taken root in people’s minds, and it exploded the demand market for high-end MPVs in China as soon as it was launched. Especially for scenes such as star travel and business reception, this practical and face-saving nanny car that can keep up with Hong Kong’s fashion trend is definitely worth having.

If we regard “bread van” as MPV 1.0 era, then “nanny car” should be the MPV 2.0 era.The biggest difference between the MPV 2.0 era and the 1.0 era is that the “nanny car” type MPV is no longer just a means of livelihood, but has become an extremely dignified and comfortable way of transportation. In a sense, MPV has become a fashion accessory and also a higher-end consumer product.

However, the blind brand worship that follows the trend of celebrities, coupled with the manufacturer’s distorted sales strategy of “selling dozens of unpopular models with one Alphard”, has resulted in a car market with a price increase of 400,000 yuan and still difficult to find a car. I don’t know how many consumers like me who “won’t buy at a higher price” the market has, but I am sure that in our culture that is more confident, this abnormal sales market cannot last long.

In the 3.0 era of dreamers, electric MPVs have opened up new possibilities, and the evolved MPVs have also escorted Liu Xijun to a higher platform. On April 24th, the electric flagship MPV Voyah Dreamer, carrying Liu Xijun, set foot on the stage of the national joint performance “Voice of Life” that gathered many stars.

From the development of MPV 1.0 to 2.0, it completed an upgrade of the luxurious rear seat riding experience. However, anyone who has driven cars like the Alphard should be able to feel that they are by no means the ultimate form of MPV, and there are many areas such as weak driving control, outdated vehicle technology, poor shock absorption performance, and limited collision safety that can continue to be upgraded.

The advent of the era of electrification seems to be the best remedy for solving these problems, and electric high-end MPVs will also push the MPV into the 3.0 era.

However, the first problem solved by the entry of new electric forces into the MPV market is not the problem of the car itself, but the issue of price increases.

Voyah’s direct sales strategy cuts out all intermediate links, allowing users to “see what they get,” fundamentally eliminating the problem of high-end MPV price increases.

Going back to the car itself, we have heard more than once the complaints of nanny car owners that, no matter whether they are equipped with a 3.5L large-displacement V6 self-suction engine or a 2.5L hybrid power, due to the huge body and weight, these nanny cars are difficult to have plenty of power.Weak power and uninteresting driving experience have labeled the driver’s seat as the “professional driver” even more, which was already not taken seriously.

In response, the LanTu Dreamer presented a different idea.

The LanTu Dreamer Super Extended Version is equipped with front and rear dual motors with a maximum power of 130kW/160kW and a peak torque of 610N.m. With the dual motors, even when dragging the largest body of the same level, 531519851820mm, the LanTu Dreamer can still achieve a score of 6.9 seconds in 0 to 100 km/h acceleration.

The abundant power endows the wide and large yacht body with agility to break through city waves freely.

A good car not only needs abundant power but also sharp handling. When it comes to handling, many people’s first reaction is suspension. In fact, for the handling of MPVs, there is a prerequisite before the suspension- chassis.

In the MPV 1.0 era, MPVs actually refer to Multi-Purpose Vehicles, which are multi-purpose vehicles that can carry people when the seat is turned up and carry goods when the seat is folded down. The dual purposes of carrying people and goods require that the van chassis has stronger loading capacity.

To meet this demand, many MPVs are developed based on the light-duty truck chassis. Compared to the sedan chassis, the light-duty truck chassis sacrifices a lot of comfort while possessing stronger loading capacity.

But this demand has changed in the MPV 3.0 era.

Today, the demand for cargo transportation is no longer important, and passengers should be the focus of MPVs. This is also the main reason why LanTu Dreamer redefines MPVs as “Multi-People Vehicles” and chooses a sedan chassis with better driving experience.

Based on the sedan chassis, the LanTu Dreamer’s front double wishbone + rear five-link + air suspension also takes MPV suspension configuration to a new level.

In the world of suspensions, the combination of front double wishbone and rear five-link is almost a synonym for handling performance.

On the basis of this golden combination, the addition of the air suspension provides more possibilities for the LanTu Dreamer to actively adjust the suspension mode in different road conditions. And the unique CDC “Magic Carpet” function among the same level undoubtedly takes the comfortable riding experience of high-end MPVs to a higher level.

Due to the inherent limitations of the vehicle structure, the passive collision safety of MPVs has always been criticized. From previous collision results, even high-end MPVs have not performed well in terms of collision safety.

To address this issue, Landtu adheres to the ultra-five-star safety development standards and has created a super-high-strength rigid body for dream builders.

70% high-strength steel, 23.6% hot-formed steel, 2000MPa integrated hot-formed laser-welded door ring, 2000MPa aluminum-silicon coated door anti-collision beam, through-type aluminum threshold, etc…

Landtu used a bunch of long and convoluted professional terms to describe the body structure of the Dreamer. To put it in a popular online saying, I am not quite sure what these terms mean individually, but when they are combined and accompanied by expressions such as “industry-leading,” “globally pioneering,” and the “decisive conclusion” of the Special Honor Award of the 2021 China Body Congress, I am willing to believe that, with the support of these technologies, the Landtu Dreamer has a stronger body structure compared to its peers.

As for the issue of MPV intelligence, it has become the most effortless upgrade item for Landtu instead.

The main and co-pilot triple screen we saw on the Landtu FREE has also been inherited on the Landtu Dreamer. The stronger Qualcomm 8155 car chip will provide a smoother operating experience for the Dreamer’s intelligent cockpit.

Meanwhile, the Landtu Dreamer can achieve 26 L2+ intelligent driving assistance functions, including signal indicator lane change, RPA remote-controlled automatic parking, and ESA emergency steering assistance, etc. by surrounding five millimeter-wave radars, five cameras, and twelve ultrasound radars, bringing a new intelligent driving experience to high-end MPVs.

# MPV 3.0 Era: Electric Injection and Expansion of Luxury Comfort Area
As Voyah mentioned, “electric power injects new energy into MPV”. This injection of “new energy” also expands the luxury comfort area of MPV from the second row of seats to the entire vehicle, indicating that the new era of MPV should shift from Multi-Purpose Vehicles to Multi-People Vehicles, and high-end MPVs are no longer limited to specific scenarios or groups of people, but become all-round players that cater to both business and family needs.

As Liu Xijun sings in “Like Me”:
“Like smoke is also like mist, I have a place to settle down.”

Voyah, as a dreamer, may be the new “place to settle down” where we can relax and take a break from the hustle and bustle of the city.

This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.