After Edmunds.com released an analysis last week that showed minivans increasing popularity among millennials, Cars.com teamed up with PBS’s “MotorWeek” to take a look at the hottest models in this segment.

In what the site coined as the “Ultimate Minivan Challenge,” editors took a look at five of the most popular current models — with the help of families in the market — and the 2015 Kia Sedona topped the list.

"The all-new Kia Sedona is a champion of quality and refinement," said Patrick Olsen, Cars.com editor in chief. "A great ride combined with a quiet cabin and numerous innovative features made the Sedona an obvious selection as the ultimate minivan."

The Sedona was followed by the 2015 Toyota Sienna, Honda Odyssey, Dodge Grand Caravan and Chrysler Town & Country, respectively.

"Minivans are among the most utilitarian vehicles sold today," said Olsen. "It's not uncommon for minivan shoppers to buy them fully loaded, so we tested the 'ultimate' minivans with a price cap of $50,000, allowing us to assess the current offerings in technology, features and drivetrains."

The five top models went through testing that included:

• 135-mile course on varying road types to test each minivan for real-world MPG.
• Round-robin testing, where multiple experts drove each minivan back-to-back on the same course to test ride, handling, comfort, acceleration and more.
• Testing by a family in the market for a new minivan to evaluate features, cargo space, ride and more.

And it’s becoming more and more important for franchised and independent dealers to keep an eye on the growing passenger van segment as one of the biggest shopping demographics — millennials — are showing interest.

Edmunds.com recently dissected Polk’s used-vehicle registration data from the first half of the year, and guess what its analysis uncovered?  

The used-vehicle segment where millennials take their largest slice of the pie is, in fact, the passenger van category.

The report, which looked at used vehicles up to 10 years in age, found that roughly 20 percent of used passenger van purchases were from millennials.