Japanese automaker Toyota Motors Corp believes that minivans have the potential to be the next big hit in China's fickle car industry.

Multipurpose-multiperson vehicles (MPVs) are poised to hit the market after the country finally put an end to its one-child policy last year.

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Chinese consumers' change of priorities could boost the demand for family-oriented minivans, Hiroji Onishi, a senior managing officer of Toyota for China, said. He added that with the country's new rule, families are starting to get bigger; thus, the preference for vehicles is bound to grow.

Onishi believes the trend will potentially change soon. "For example, maybe MPVs will be coming out. I think of this because of the two child policy and because children live very close to their parents."

Onishi, however, acknowledged that Toyota still does not see the big demand for MPVs in China for now, but he believes the country is warming to the idea.

"Although there is a limited impact from a big rise in new babies in the medium term, in the long term, we will still be able to see a change in the size of Chinese families," research firm JATO Dynamics Ltd. wrote in a report released in March. "If we connect that to household car purchasing, a car that can comfortably hold all the family members is important."

Currently, SUVs and Crossovers are China's favorites. In fact, both vehicle types climbed nearly seven percent in China's passenger vehicle sales in the first quarter of the year, selling nearly six million units. Meanwhile, sales of SUVs are predicted to soar to 13 percent this year, according to IHS Automotive.

TagsToyota Motors, minivans, Crossover, SUVs, MPVs, automobile industry, china