Auto News 5

In an attempt to tackle the growing mini-minivan segment in Europe, Toyota will introduce a new model based on a domestic-market favorite at the Paris Motor Show. The Verso-S is barely larger than the Yaris hatchback, but will feature space-utilizing techniques to make the most of its petite size.

It was difficult, as we arrived in balmy San Diego, to drum up much excitement over the drive that lay ahead. Not because we were about to drive a minivan, mind you, but because that minivan, the Honda Odyssey, is already so darn good. The current iteration, which dates back to 2005, is still the best in its class. By a good margin. What drama could there be regarding the new one? How about this: In an attempt to draw younger families into the shrinking segment, Honda is proclaiming the new Odyssey to be "the minivan redefined." To which our natural response is: redefined how? And why? Was Honda about to ruin a good thing in order to attract customers who would otherwise purchase one of the brand's four crossovers? As if that's not enough, we learned that engineers had the audacity to retune the Odyssey's steering for less effort. (Cue foreboding music.)