The newest Toyota Sienna minivan is going to make yelling at unruly kids in the back much easier for parents.
An optional feature called "Driver Easy Speak" in the updated 2015 model lets the front seat communicate with passengers in the back through a microphone that only goes one way, the Associated Press reported.
According to Toyota, the system is intended "so parents don't have to shout to passengers in the back."
The automaker is launching the new minivan, which should arrive at dealerships this fall, at a Baltimore arts festival this weekend as well as through social media, the AP reported. Pricing for the revamped model and the speaker option have yet to be announced.
Minivan sales were hit hard during the recession, dropping as low as 415,000 in 2009, compared with their peak of 1.37 million in 2000. Carmakers have been working to add new features to minivans that will entice customers.
New options like Driver Easy Speak and the vacuum cleaner that Honda put in its Odyssey minivan last year are vital since carmakers can't do much to transform the practical but boring minivan, Jessica Caldwell, senior analyst at Edmunds.com, told the AP.
"I think they're on the right lines of trying to find these features that people are going to talk about," she said.
The Driver Easy Speak option will be available for vans equipped with Toyota's Entune premium audio systems.
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