FOR years people-movers were trying to escape their commercial van-with-seats image from decades past, with the original Honda Odyssey being one of the first to snub side sliding doors.

The Toyota Tarago celebrated dropping its loading-zone origins by becoming futuristically – for the early-1990s – egg-shaped, the Chrysler Voyager entered with American-cool swagger and even a new entrant, the Hyundai Trajet, followed the Odyssey with car-like outwards-opening back doors.

But, baby, where did our love go?

These days the fifth-generation Odyssey, launched in 2013 and just updated, is also the first to prioritise traditional van-like space with sliding-side-door entry and egress ease. And it has become the second best-selling people-mover after the Kia Carnival that also conforms to the same formula.

So, has this Honda now got its priorities right, and is this what Australians want from seven- and eight-seater people-movers?

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