A so called minibus, which by the way got this name in Germany in the 1950′s when the VW-bus was introduced, is a mini-van with up to 9 seats (including the driver seat) based on a chassis of a utility vehicle.
Because of the limitation of seats to 9 people, in the German road traffic regulations minibuses count as automobiles. According to the traffic regulations, these minibuses can be driven with a driver license class 3, a license for automobiles.
Minibuses are often referred to as Van, a term that developed in the 1990′s when the Renault Espace was introduced to the market.