More Dads Become Involved in Family Hauling

This societal change brings with it a preference among dads for SUVs and crossovers, vehicles/ Fifty-eight percent of those surveyed according to the report, prefer to do their personal, leisure and business activities in a family hauler that does not question their masculinity.

Women, on the other hand, prefer minivans with sliding doors and a flat floor for their hauling. Less than one quarter of the men surveyed said they prefer a minivan for their tasks.

Recent census data says that there are more than 25 million dads who have children younger than 17. The statistics noted that there are 154,000 stay at home dads. The trend is that many more dads are becoming involved in family driving duties.

More than half of all dads chose safety as top vehicle feature, followed by fuel economy. Vehicle versatility is also key as dads surveyed use their current vehicles for everything from holiday travel (94 percent) to work commutes (63 percent) to household do-it-yourself projects (54 percent). Accordingly, passenger capacity was important to nearly 40 percent of fathers, along with functionality, ample cargo space and comfort.

These attributes place vehicles like Chevrolet’s Traverse in a position to supplant the minivan as the next most popular family hauler. The minivan has suffered image problems for years - moms being branded as soccer moms and other such perjorative positioning.

These newer crossover vehicles have a styling edge and do not come with psychological baggage. They are positioned to do well among families.