The station wagon is dead. Or not. It all depends on who you ask. Citing the Dodge Magnum and Malibu Maxx (?) as examples, MSNBC proclaims the "wagon wave, alas, crashed ashore against the hard rocks of reality and is now receding." They predict CUVs will put the final nail in the Family Truckster's coffin. What about companies like Volvo and Subaru who are still making a decent living selling station wagons? Well, they sell because of the brand, not the body style: "the remaining wagon buyers tend to be those companies' customers."
On the other hand, Brandweek is predicting a station wagon renaissance. They base their assertion on wagons coming from from BMW, Volvo and VW in the next year. However, as they point out, manufacturers are going to great extremes to avoid "the 'W' word." Interestingly (and probably more accurately) they classify CUVs like the Subaru Forrester and Volvo XC70 as station wagons. Taken that way, station wagon sales are on the upswing, and probably will continue to grow in popularity.
It would probably take only 1 or 2 genuinely attention-worthy wagon models to ‘tip’ the station wagon into being “hot” again.
After all, the SUV craze was largely about getting minivan space in a more stylish wrapper. If people catch on to the fact that wagons offer SUV space in a more comfortable, better handling, more fuel-efficient package, they could/should take off again.
I wouldn’t draw too many conclusions from the Maxx. A neat idea, but execution was as skillful as it was with the rest of the Malibu lineup.
Similarly, the Magnum was a neat idea in principle – RWD Hemi family hauler – but didn’t quite work out in reality. Families today have greater needs from such a large vehicle than they did a generation ago. Barely seating 5 (with the ‘hump’ in the middle) doesn’t cut it.
And why make it a separate model? — they could have called it the ‘Grand Charger CUV’, or ‘Super-Charger X’ or ‘XC Charger AWD Hemi Edition Limited SportBack’ or ‘Outback Charger XL Avante.’
Or maybe even just Charger wagon.
I grew up in a couple of station wagons – the GM B-body Impala and Electra. I’m glad that we have more choices nowadays which big car seats have made almost mandatory. Our family has both a Sienna and Mazda5, and don’t have to have squish one of our growing boys in the uncomfortable front row center seat like my brothers and I had to to get the full 7 passenger capacity.
Minivans are far more useful, SUV’s in demand, to the point where affordable traditional station wagons are almost extinct – Suzuki Forenza and Subaru Legacy are the last 2 left. If you look at the EPA station wagon class, a few affordable crossover vehicles do fall into that category and are close enough – Vibe/Matrix, Scion xD & xB, Mazda5, Kia Rondo, Suzuki SX4.
I love wagons. To me, the Mazda6 was/is just about a perfect balance of sport and utility if it only had 2″ more of rear leg room and the snappy 4 cyl.
An Accord or Camry wagon would certainly sell in (low) numbers, as they did before the Highlander (tall Camry wagon) or Pilot (huge Accord wagon).
But then, Honda and Toyota couldn’t charge $5k more…..
I think wagons are the perfect body style in many cases: handles just as well, if not better than a sedan (check the STi getting a hatch so that the rallye model will fare better), and much lighter than SUVs/CUVs.
Many wagons also have better weight repartition.
The only downside is the increased road noise because of the back compartment, a small price to pay given the extra utility.
In Europe, wagon bodystyles are considered sportier than sedans, and many brands have hot-looking wagons: Alfa Romeo, Peugeot, not to mention the German Trinity and Volvo.
My last 2 whips have been a ’92 Honda Accord Wagon (yes, I loved the scene from “Fast and Furious” where the first tuned-up car they showed at ‘Race Wars’ was a mid-’90’s Accord Wagon) and a ’97 Audi A6 Quattro Avant. Both gave me what I thought was a great package…the ability to haul the same amount as most SUV’s, with a sportier ride, better mileage, easier parking, better handling (especially in high winds)and more comfortable. The Audi is truly a wagon, though they are now calling the current AllRoad models a CUV, but a wagon by any other name, etc. etc…Wagons are the best kept secret on the market, IMHO.
In addition, buying wagons gently used is a great value…they are a niche product, and buying one second hand, they usually run a few $k less than the sedan of the same model and year, and usually they are LOADED….plus, only the top marques (Mercedes, BMW, Volvo, Audi, Saab) make ’em any more. HINT: In Europe, they call ’em Shooting Brakes, not wagons. Though I’ve never been able to find out why. Anyone know?
It’s a shame that M-B isn’t sending over the new C-Class wagon, but instead will give us the GLK . . . no thank you.
autoacct628: A Shooting Brake is NOT a Station Wagon in the same way that a coupe is not a sedan. Traditionally a shooting brake is a two-door, somewhat sporty car with a wagon tail… think Volvo 1800. The name comes, like so many car-related nomenclature from the horse-drawn carriages of yore.
As for the whole concept of the station wagon, I have always contended that the SUV *is* a station wagon, as was the minivan before it. These are just the same old concept, wrapped in a package more palatable to those annoyingly self-centered baby boomers who would never be caught dead in something their parents drove. So the public has been buying station wagons for almost 30 years now, just while living in denial.
–chuck
http://chuck.goolsbee.org
Friends of ours just bought an A6 3.2L Quattro wagon (not sure if its still called ‘Avant’ or not).
This vehicle is gorgeous…front end, side-lines, wheels, even the power hatch. And as has been stated in this space before, its Audi interior is world class. It absolutely crushes the 5 series, and is at least neck and neck with the E500.
Pricey? Absolutely. And worth every penny…
(Move over BMW…there’s a new Kraut in town)
If we follow function rather than form, the wagon is alive and well, it’s just going by different names: Minivans and CUVs are wagons, for all intents and purposes. Back in the old days you could just throw the brats in the back and let them go to sleep, now everyone has to be in a car seat, hence the popularity of minivans and 7-passenger SUVs/CUVs.
My guess is that it’s the “wagon” moniker that’s the killer here. Like the picture used to illustrate this article, the word “wagon” conjures up visions of the old Prairie Schooner loping across the plains, or the old (Olds) Vista Cruiser doing the same thing circa 1972. Not something sexy and sporty and hip. Terms like “CUV” and “SUV” and “Crossover” sound very high-tech and modern, even though the vehicle in question is going to be used exactly like the old Estate Wagon was back in its prime.
Will things change? Hard to say. It’s ironic that the company most of us hold up as an example of stodgy and unimaginative thinking (GM) has made some – dare I say it? – Bold Moves in this direction with vehicles like the aforementioned Maxx and the HHR and HHR Panel (which actually resembles a sedan delivery more than a panel truck, but that’s off topic…) not to mention my favorite, the Avalanche, which is just a great idea (convertible passenger vehicle/truck), but built on the gigantic hog of a silverado platform. The fact is, GM does have some interesting ideas but unfortunately, their execution is a bit off.
If a more reputable company were to jump into the wagon market, it could spark a resurgence of sorts, but I doubt it will happen that way.
More likely the change will come about not as revolution, but as evolution. Already CUVs like the Honda CR-V are getting lower and longer and ditching SUV-specific cues like the spare tire on the side-swinging rear door. The Magnum and the Pacifica were interesting ideas, but not well marketed and in the case of the Pacifica, just not well executed (but note that the new Subaru Tribeca, supposedly a CUV, looks like a near-cousin of the Pacifica. And as for the Magnum I’m still trying to figure out who was the market for that.)
I’d say look for CUVs to continue to get longer, lower and less SUV-like, while keeping their CUV names. These will be, in essence, the new “wagons” without the stodgy name.
The wagon in the USA is a niche that the big 2.8 did everything in their power to destroy at the beginning of the 1980s. Such models like the CV County Squire did much to turn-off Americans to the Station Wagon. Chevy Chase and National Lampoon Vacation set the tone for the tradional American wagon from that point on.
The SUV craze of the 1990s drove the final nails into the station wagon coffin. Dave M. said it best, automakers realized they could fleece Americans for a extra $5,000 buy simply selling us something we do not need.
Ain’t dat da Merican way!
BTW: I am holding on to a 1993 Camry v6 wagon. Outside of a MB E-class I do not know of another wagon that can still seat seven passangers with the readward facing jump seat in the back. The kids love it. Believe it or not I can fit more stuff in the back of this Camry than I can a Explorer and possible a Tahoe!
Wagon are wonderful tools. A wagon makes cars like a 5 series at least 5x more useful. I can’t see how folks can still manage with a trunk, you can’t fit anything into them anymore! With a wagon you simply pop the hatch, toss shit in, and go!
IMO the current Avalon would make an excellent wagon. Equiped with AWD it should still cost less than a Highlander and weigh a good deal less in the process.
Every four-door SUV and CUV I can think of is a wagon. Just because it’s taller doesn’t change that. Wagons in denial, that’s all, especially when you look at what most families are using them for. Family trucksters, indeed.
Mrs. W. still has fond memories of her yellow 1977 AMC Pacer station wagon, which cost less than a Honda Civic at the time. Very reliable mechanically, the salt belt dissolved the body like an Alka Seltzer in a glass of water.
Wagons, Avants, Estates, etc are subjects near and dear to my heart. I think I represent one extreme of the spectrum though as I absolutely love wagons for the very fact that they are a wagon. I like hatches too, which seems to put me at odds with “popular opinion” (in the US at least).
I’m also not one of those folks who patronize a certain manufacturer just because of the brand. I’d be more likely to go to a certain manufacturer because they had wagon, rather than because of who they were. I really like Volvo wagons just because they’re darn sexy machines, but they’re out of my price range. Instead, I own a Legacy GT Wagon which though I’m quite fond of hasn’t been the most satisfying purchase. That said, I was quite disappointed to hear Subaru announce they wouldn’t be making the GT Wagon in the future.
Personally, the size, performance and utility of my wagon makes it the best choice for me. It’s also one I’ll likely make in the future once I’ve retired my current selection.
I’ve really fallen for wagons/hatchbacks in the last few years. This could be the result of upcoming wedding and subsequent baby birth(s). Either way, I’ve come to appreciate the balance of utility and economy of these vehicles, and they certainly make some good lookers that fall into this category. Of course, my aversion to the ludicrously ubiquitous SUV may play a role as well (yes, I know SOME people need one).
I’m purchasing a GTI either this or next month, and we already drive a Mazda3 5-door. I looked at the MazdaSpeed3, but having two Mazda3s would be too dorky.
My family has always been into hatches, so now that I’m purchasing my own car in the next month I found that I’m also very attached to hatchbacks. We owned a Ford Fiesta, Toyota Tercel, Ford Windstar, Toyota Solara (the anomaly of the group), and Toyota Prius. I looked mainly at the Fit and Mini Cooper and didn’t even consider sedans–I just think they don’t offer enough utility. In addition, I live in New England where it seems that wagons/hatchbacks have a much “cooler” image than elsewhere in the country.
Anyone else in New England ever get this feeling? I go to school in the midwest and it seems most of my friends dislike hatchbacks and wagons.
Also, on a tangent, I’m still rather upset Mazda killed off the gorgeous Protege5 for the bloated-looking Mazda3 5-door.
The Dodge Magnum isn’t a wagon at all: it’s a light-truck, not a car. The USA’s promotion of light trucks is pushing all manufacturers to re-work wagons to gain that beneficial designation… PT Cruiser, Magnum, Outback, XC70, etc. The Hemi Magnum would suffer thousands of dollars in gas guzzler penalties if it were a wagon (car) instead of an SUV (light truck).
Many CUVs are basically wagons, but manufacturers will have to keep them jacked up off the ground so they don’t lose their light truck status. Hopefully more manufacturers will include variable-height suspensions (Audi all-road Quatro?) so that people can have their light-truck status and a reasonable level of handling.
If fuel prices reach a much higher level or light-trucks are required to follow the same rules as cars, then you’ll see a huge surge in wagons at the expense of SUVs and CUVs.
I don’t know why people insist on thinking of wagons as “family haulers.” There are two of us–wife and me–and we’d never be without a wagon because we have sporting stuff to carry. Bikes, kayak, gear…it can be done in a variety of vehicles, but it’s most easily done in a small wagon. Had an A4 Avant Quattro, which went to San Fran with our daughter (also sporty, with gear to haul), now we have a Volvo V50 T5 AWD.
Our fleet is a 911 for track days, a Boxster for the fun of it, and a small wagon for utility and snowbelt capability. Last thing we need is a CUV. Well, no, actually the last thing we need is an SUV: Our driveway is paved.
When in Switzerland this past September I went into a Honda showroom to look at an Accord AWD, TDi wagon. I was told it has been available for at least four years. But not in the good old USA. If I remember right the above diesel version got around 50 mpg. I too need to haul dogs, kayaks, bikes, etc and would buy the TDi AWD wagon in a heartbeat. If it ever gets here.
Maybe in 2010.
I think what killed the wagon was a switch from body on frame to poorly made unit-bodies. That much weight was too much. Combine that with CAFE, safety regs, etc. and the SUV was bound to win.
The new CUV’s are going to be made in varying levels of quality. If the bodies hold up, they will continue to be big sellers. Otherwise, they will go the way of the minivan. People see a lot of old SUV’s on the roads, but not so many wagons, and they learn from it whether they realize it or not.
Logdog :
In America Honda has a nice over-sized, over-weight, and over-priced Pilot to sell you! See since you are an American they already know you can come up with the extra $5,000 through some creative financing.
Besides, America is Fantasyland and you really want to drive an APC/ IFV. You just dont realize it yet!
Anyway your dogs will be safer in a Pilot, right.
Just to add more to “chuckgoolsbee”s comments. His description of the “shooting brake” is of course correct. Apparently the term was originally “shooting break” but the language has been corrupted over the years. Most shooting brakes were limited production specials built by independent coach-builders off more mass-produced models. The queen had at least one on her country estate in Scotland. Having said all this, “Shooting brake” is a relatively old-fashioned term in the UK which dropped out of common usage after the 1950s or so. In more recent decades the wagon versions of vehicles have been commonly known simply as the “estate” version. The term “estate” vehicle I believe also derives from a vehicle that would have been used to ferry guests to, from and around the “estates” of the wealthy land owner types – just as the “station wagon” derives from a vehicle used to transport folks from the train station to their hotel.
However – even though they are still much more popular and commonplace in Britain than in the States – the “estate” car had become increasingly associate with a mundane and utilitarian image and this is presumably why some manufacturers have tried to get away from the name “estate car” and attempt to reinvent the concept as the “sport wagon”? Of course, a “sport wagon” is still just an “estate car” with a fancy name.
I have to agree with many of the other comments on this editorial. The wagon is a very practical package for someone with a medium sized family and modest need to load space, but wanting to retain most of the benefits ( decent driving dynamics, lower running costs, lower purchase price) of a regular sedan car compared to an SUV or CUV. They seem like the ideal answer to many buyers needs. It is hard to see why they are not at least a little more popular – other than just the fickle trends of fashion?
I keep waiting for real wagons to come back as they are about the ideal everyday vehicle for me.
I don’t like “tall wagons” because they have the center of gravity too high and get worse fuel economy due to crappy aerodynamics.
Unfortunately the ranks of real wagons for sale in the US keep dwindling. I don’t want the fuel economy penalty of all wheel drive nor the extra costs and maintenance for it. The only real wagon choices thus are from Volvo, BMW, Mercedes and VW. All European brands with premium prices and questionable reliability.
Honda brings the Euro Accord to the US as the Acura TSX, so why can’t they give us the Euro Accord Wagon as a TSX wagon as well? The engineering is all done!
Incidentally, has anyone else noticed that Ford has dropped the CUV moniker from the Freestyle, renamed it the Taurus X and is marketing it as a wagon?
UPDATE: OOOPS! My bad! They are marketing it as a crossover (hence the “X” name.) Sure looks like a wagon to me….
logdog.
re – the Honda TDi wagon….
I rented a Ford Mondeo Turbodiesel Wagon when on a recent visit to the UK and was left thinking just the same as you . . . “why isn’t a car liek this available in the US?”.
The Mondeo was confortable, handeld well and had masses of usable load-space for a family of four + full luggage. It had a very torquey motor ( it is something like a 2.3 or 2.4 turbo diesel I think? ) with a 6-speed manual gearbox and was certainly not slow – but I still got overall fuel consumption in the low 40s (adjusted to US gallons).
I’d buy a car like that if I could in the US…
Martin, the market for the Magnum was a clueless Chrysler executive who thought a wagon with a squashed-down roof and gun-slit windows would sell to hundreds of thousands of hip-hop artists in baggy pants drooping half way down their hips. He was wrong, of course: Magnum sales volume is as low as the cryogenic-preserved Town Car.
The Pacific suffers from much the same logic, as well as that notion that a big turnpike cruiser should seat only four persons. Ford’s Freestyle (Taurus X) avoided Chrysler’s mistakes, but was hobbled by its own shortcomings. Detroit just doesn’t offer anything like the great old wagons.
I think SunnyvaleCA is right; the perverse incentives in federal law encourage auto makers to produce light “trucks” instead of true wagons.
When my Volvo estate(sounds better than wagon) finally dies, I’ll replace it with another one.
There is a Passat wagon in our garage right now, and an A4 Avant before that…
I agree with the points that wagons carry more cargo, get better MPG, and handle better than any SUV ever could. I think they are the best kept secret in the automobile world.
However I can’t tell you the number of times that I have been asked for car advice. Many times I will recommend a wagon but the responses are almost comical. “I don’t want a wagon” is always the first response. When the points above are pointed out and then asked why not, they never have any other answer other than “I just don’t want a wagon”. This stigma is irritating, somehow SUV’s are just cooler I guess. Wagons are for dorks. I guess that is true, the soccer mom in her highlander is going to be much cooler than me in my S4 Avant (replacing Passat)…….Cheers.
Vive le wagon resistance!!
http://www.wagonator.com
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However I can’t tell you the number of times that I have been asked for car advice. Many times I will recommend a wagon but the responses are almost comical. “I don’t want a wagon” is always the first response. When the points above are pointed out and then asked why not, they never have any other answer other than “I just don’t want a wagon”.
I’m in just this situation now. GF needs a new car (her 97 Chevy is on borrowed time.) She wants a CUV, her favorites are the Toyota RAV-4 (the previous model, not the current one) the Honda CR-V (ditto) and the Subaru Forester. When I tried to steer her towards the (IMO) superior Legacy Outback she wrinkled her nose and said “Eew! I don’t want a wagon.” She also turned up her nose at a couple of other likely vehicles (Pontiac Vibe/Toyota Matrix) because they “look too much like a station wagon.”
She’s no youngster – she’s 45 and all her kids are grown, but the wagon stigma remains. What can you do?
I’m currently driving the recently discontinued Mazda6 wagon. I’m pretty tired of getting the inevitable question from everyone, “why’d you get the wagon?” It’s gotten to the point where even my parents think I’m a complete square simply by owning one.
These days, my answer is simply to link to this photo. It’s difficult to find something in this price range that’s as surefooted on the road while hauling an 80-gallon aquarium and stand. I suppose if I had really wanted to avoid the questions I would’ve gotten the Mazda6 hatchback, but then I would have been making two 150-mile trips to get that aquarium.
It’s not a perfect car; I’d ditch the Duratec V-6 and the wide turning circle, but it’s getting really hard to find something equivalent to it. Instead, Mazda had to go and replace it with the CX-7 (slower, taller, drinks premium, holds less, gets worse mileage).
Most CUVs and minivans are wagons. If you all haven’t noticed, modern CUVs and minivans are almost identical in exterior dimensions to mid-1950’s station wagons. Call them what you will, but you’re driving your grandparents cars.
It’d be interesting if it were possible to do a geo-demographic (if there’s any such thing) analysis of where all these odd “who wants a WAGON???” comments are coming from. I notice none of them here in the semi-rural Northeast, where I’d wager there is less interest in defining oneself socially by marque badge or car type. I recently easily talked a Manhattan lawyer who is a weekend neighbor out of his leased A6 sedan into a newer A6 Avant by simply pointing out that it was a more sensible choice for somebody who had a 90-pound golden laborador. Nobody around here ever says, “Eeeew, wagon, Satan get thee behind me!”
Could it be, ah, regional?
Wagons are much maligned in the United States – probably because some baby boomers have traumatic automotive childhood memories and view it as the sort of sexless utilitarian transportation only their parents could endure.
Wagons are a much superior design to sedans as they don’t waste the space above the trunk and thereby create a much large volume of contiguous cargo volume.
It surprises me that when some SUV and CUV buyers talk of utility they are getting less utility than many a well designed wagon – I mean what is up with the Infinity E35 and the BMW X6? There seems to be barely enough room for a golf bag. What’s next – the 4500 pound two seat roadster CUV?
Give me a break, a wagon like the Mazda3/Mazda6, Impreza/Outback, A3/A4/A6 have enough utility, power and handling to meet the needs of most families.
Station wagons are perfect. Please bring them on! I mean the things that are real cars with driving dynamics, that have a great big maw in back where you can throw in your stuff, and then drive as you would an ordinary car. Skip the tall, the blacked-out windows, the over-soft. How ’bout an Alfa 159 wagon with a 200 hp diesel, and cloth seats, and a 6 speed. Wagon, of course. What a car!!
Stephan: I think it definitely true that people in the northeast tend to purchase a lot more wagons than elsewhere in the nation. Audi, Subaru and Volvo wagons are hugely popular in my upper-class town in CT.
A drive around the tonier suburbs of most European cities will show that the wagon is far from dead. E Class, 3 & 5 Series, A4 & A6 are all well represented there. Note that all are available with all wheel drive and make superb alternatives to most SUVs. I know a lot of people with young kids who wouldn’t be caught dead in a minivan or SUV. The station wagon is alive and well.
I’m on my 2nd wagon. Love ’em! I had a 1994 Ford Laser (a re-badged Mazada 323). It got excellent mileage, ran good, and I could comfortably camp in it (I’m 6-3). I just bought a 1999 Volvo V70. Very roomy and comfy.
If you get a wagon, get deep tinted rear windows. It really helps.
Before I bought the Volvo a couple of months ago, I looked to see if the 2.8 domestics had any wagons that (a) I would be interested in, (b) had good deals. Nothing doing. They seem to have given that market to the Europeans and Japanese. Idiots.