Europe's compact minivan sales forecast to see steady decline

LONDON -- Europe's compact minivan segment is forecast to continually decline until 2020 because of rising demand for SUVs and crossovers. The overall annual volume for models such as the Volkswagen Touran and Renault Scenic is expected to slip below 500,000 in 2020 from 644,300 last year, according to LMC Automotive, which also predicts flat sales of about 167,000 a year for premium models in the sector during the rest of the decade.