A microvan is a

van A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and bigger than a common car. There is some varying in the scope of the word across th ...

or minivan which is within the Japanese

kei car Kei car (or , kanji: , "light automobile", ), known variously outside Japan as Japanese city car or Japanese microcar, is the Japanese vehicle category for the smallest highway-legal passenger cars with restricted dimensions and engine capaci ...

classification or similar, and is smaller than a mini MPV. In China, these vehicles are nicknamed ''mian bao che'' ("bread-loaf vehicle") because of their shape.Chinese Hero Cars: The Mian Bao Che
- China Car Times Similarly, in several Hispanic American countries, these vehicles are called ''pan de molde'', which means "bread loaf". In Indonesia, it is commonly called a minibus due to their tall roof, perceived as resembling a miniature

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

; the term is also used generally to refer to any type of three-row MPVs. Outside of China and Japan, microvans are also common in Southeast Asia, South Asia,

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, Latin America, and the Middle East. Microvans share similar characteristics with other-sized MPVs; for instance, microvans commonly have rear sliding doors. Generally, they have capacity for six, seven, or eight passengers. As this category of vehicle has fixed third-row seats, a single vehicle cannot be used both for passenger transport and larger-cargo transport without refitting; therefore, microvans are not usually considered

multi-purpose vehicle Minivan (sometimes called simply as van) is a North American car classification for vehicles designed to transport passengers in the rear seating row(s), with reconfigurable seats in two or three rows. The equivalent classification in Europe i ...

Economics

Tax and insurance benefits in some locations make these models particularly inexpensive. For example, in rural Japan, kei-car vehicles are exempted from a certification that adequate parking is available for the vehicle. They are, therefore, widely used for small businesses in these places.

Design

The first vehicle to adopt the bodystyle of a van, with the engine installed in front of the driver, was the 1970s Honda Life "StepVan". Some microvans use a drivetrain with the engine installed transversely, using front- or all-wheel drive, while others use a

cabover Cab-over, also known as cab over engine (COE), cab forward (U.S.), flat nose (Canada), or forward control (UK), is a body style of truck, bus, or van that has a vertical front, "flat face" or a semi-hood, with the cab of the truck sitting ab ...

approach where the engine is installed beneath the driver, while still using all-wheel or rear-wheel drive powertrains. Cabover variants usually share their chassis with

kei truck A kei truck, kei-class truck, or Japanese mini truck is a mini truck, a tiny but practical pickup truck available in rear-wheel drive or four-wheel drive versions, built to satisfy the Japanese '' keijidōsha'' (軽自動車, "light vehicle") st ...

derivatives from the same manufacturer. Most microvans have two swinging front doors, two sliding rear doors and a large tailgate. Seating can vary from two to nine; these seats are usually very thin and vertical to optimise room. The side windows in

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

-only versions of microvans are replaced by metallic panels; this type of microvan is sometimes called a "blind van". Some models also feature pick-up variants with one or two seat rows. Engines usually have displacements under 1.0 L; for example, Japanese microvans have a limit of 660 cc. Outside the Japanese market, microvans are available with 850-cc to 1.6-L engines. The kei car regulation is used only in Japan, though other Asian automakers also design microvans with similar characteristics. The microvans are commonly known as " kei one-box" in Japan; their pick-up versions are known as

Safety

Due to their inherent compact size, lack of crumple zones, and low weight, these vehicles tend to fare poorly in collisions with other vehicles and objects, so are not recommended to be driven at higher speeds. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in the United States recommends these vehicles only be driven on private land and not on public roads due to their poor safety in accidents.

Gallery

Kei microvans

Image:2001_Subaru_Sambar_01.jpg, Subaru Sambar Van sixth generation Image:Honda Acty van 1999.jpg,

Honda Acty The is a series of cabover microvans and kei trucks produced by the Japanese automaker Honda from 1977 to 2021, designed for the Japanese domestic market (JDM). "Acty" is short for "Activity". The Acty's primary competitors were the Subaru Sam ...

Van third generation Image:2005_Suzuki_Every_01.jpg,

Suzuki Every The is a kei truck produced by the Japanese automaker Suzuki. The microvan version was originally called the Carry van until 1982 when the passenger van versions were renamed as the . In Japan, the Carry and Every are ''kei cars'' but the Suzu ...

fifth generation Image:Hijet-cargo.jpg, Daihatsu Hijet Cargo (ninth generation) Image:Mitsubishi Minicab of Duskin Service Master 20080407a.jpg,

Mitsubishi Minicab The is the kei truck and microvan, built and sold in Japan by Japanese automaker Mitsubishi Motors since 1966. In Japan, it was sold at a specific retail chain called Galant Shop. An all-electric model of the Minicab, called the Minicab MiEV ...

Van fifth generation Image:Japanese kitchen car.jpg, Subaru Dias Wagon Classic food truck File:Maruti Omni.jpg, Maruti Suzuki Omni, Indian licensed version of the Suzuki Carry

Non-kei microvans

Image:Suzuki E-RV (front), Kajang.jpg,

Landy/E-RV or

Maruti Versa The is a kei truck produced by the Japanese automaker Suzuki. The microvan version was originally called the Carry van until 1982 when the passenger van versions were renamed as the . In Japan, the Carry and Every are ''kei cars'' but the Suzuk ...

Image:Perodua Rusa (first generation, first facelift) (front), Kajang.jpg, Perodua Rusa Image:Subaru_Domingo_001.JPG,

Subaru Domingo The Subaru Sumo, known as the Libero in European markets except the UK, Iceland, and Sweden, and as the Domingo in the Japanese market, is a cabover microvan produced from 1983 to 1998. In Belgium, it was known as the Combi, and in Taiwan the l ...

second generation Image:2000_Daihatsu_Atrai7_01.jpg,

Daihatsu Atrai Atrai may be refer to: * Atrai River, a trans-boundary river between Bangladesh and India * Atrai Upazila, a upazila of Naogaon District, Bangladesh * Daihatsu Atrai, the minivan version and also a flagship model of Daihatsu Hijet * CGS Atrai, a ...

Seven Image:Mitsubishi_Townboxwide.JPG, Mitsubishi Town Box Wide image:Wuling Sunshine (Zhiguang) facelift II front 8.2.18.jpg, Wuling Sunshine, the world's best selling microvan

References

External links

{{commons category
Micro Van Owners Web Site/Forum
Cab over vehicles Commercial vehicles