• by Karl Greenberg , February 1, 2011

Minivans are not hot, but they reliable -- and that refers both to their utility and their stable sales volume, which has traditionally held steady at about a million units a year since time began, or at least since Chrysler introduced the Town & Country back in the '80s.

That has not kept automakers from trying to reshape the vehicles (both in terms of design and marketing) from family-friendly practicality to stylish and fun -- a little less soccer mom and little more sacher torte.

But Nissan is returning to the tried and true with the fourth-generation 2011 Quest. The nameplate has gone through a number of major redesigns, especially for the third-generation version launched in 2004 that was meant to appeal to a modernist parent and was meant to evoke a loft-like living space, complete with skylights. The newest version is a bit more traditional and so is the campaign for the vehicle, which started rolling into dealerships last week.

The effort, via AOR TBWA Chiat/Day, centers on a 30-second television spot showing what minivans are actually for: carrying kids and a lot of stuff. The campaign also includes digital advertising, print, and social. The Franklin, Tenn.-based company is also partnering with a new Disney animated film, "Mars Needs Moms," which premieres in early March.

The deal includes a sweepstakes where consumers can win a new Quest or Disney prize packages. Other elements include co-branded Internet banners, inclusion of "Mars Needs Moms" in Nissan's iAd, co-branded Disney Web page and Radio Disney voiceover spots.

The television spot, set to the '60s hit "Mama Said" shows an Asian woman carrying a 20-foot-high mountain of groceries, toys, and merchandise for her kids. With no hands free, she touches the automatic door of the Quest with her foot, loses her balance and throws everything into the air, opening the rear storage just in time so that all of the stuff falls into the capacious cargo area. Her kids climb into the mid-row area and she sits next to her dog, adjusting the vehicle's climate control system to mediate her pet's bad breath. The company says the spot will run online and on national and cable broadcast networks throughout February.

Nissan actually took a minivan hiatus for a year in 2010 because it needed the plant in Canton, Miss., that made Quest for commercial vehicles. It might not have been a bad decision, as 2009 sales of the late model were about as low as Nissan had seen for the Quest since it was introduced in the U.S. in 1993. The company sold only around 8,500 of the vehicles in 2009 versus 18,700 the year before. The high-water market was in 2004 when it sold 46,430 of the minivans in the U.S.

The 2011 Nissan Quest was unveiled at the 2010 Los Angeles International Auto Show.