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A station wagon is superior to an SUV in most respects. They often offer more rear passenger space, match or better cargo space, and generally provide superior fuel economy, not to mention are more dynamic to drive.
But the wagon is dead and it will stay that way.
We live in the age of the SUV, and yet there is still a vocal minority that continues to push for the return of the station wagon. This small but very active group does so in the face of overwhelming evidence that you, the car-buying public, clearly do not want wagons anymore.
This vocal minority is the motoring media - me and my colleagues.
Well, not me personally, I long ago accepted that while there are many rational reasons why wagons are superior to SUVs, the market is driven by consumer preferences, and the clear preference is the SUV. But that hasn't stopped us, we here at CarsGuide are just as guilty as every other media outlet, from writing about, 'Will Brand X bring the wagon variant of its latest small car?'.
The answer is 'no'. The answer is always no, because car companies have teams of people looking at the market trends to search for a way to sell more cars and make more money. The wagon will do neither of those things, especially small wagons.
Most recently, I was at the launch of one new model when the presentation to the media descended into a nearly 10-minute-long discussion around the possibility of bringing the wagon variant that's offered in Europe. The car company's product planning expert was quick to say, and I paraphrase, 'there's not enough people in Australia who are interested in wagons to have it make any financial sense.' It was a categorical answer and it rammed home to me the cold hard fact that wagons are done in the Australian market.
As my colleague, Byron Mathioudakis, recently wrote, there are a dwindling amount of wagons available across even the mid-size and large segment. In years gone by there were wagon variants of popular models like the Holden Commodore, Ford Falcon, Toyota Camry, Toyota Corolla, Hyundai i30 and more. One by one they've all disappeared, these days there's just a handful left like the Mazda6 and Skoda Octavia.
But even way back in the early 2000s car brands were seeing the writing on the wall. It's why Ford built the Territory, which was not much more than a high-riding Falcon wagon, especially in rear-wheel-drive form.
Why then do we continue to harp on about the wagon? Make no mistake, personally I love a good wagon, I prefer the more dynamic driving character they offer up and they're often just as practical as the equivalent SUV (and yes, I've tested this, so don't come at me in the comments). But, equally, and especially as I've gotten older, had kids and generally learned to slow down and appreciate comfort over dynamics, the appeal of the SUV is obvious. The taller body makes loading and buckling in kids easier, you can chuck a pram and/or a week's worth of shopping in the boot, and the extra height means you can see around every other SUV on the road.
Which, make no mistake, is undoubtedly a big part of the appeal. You need an SUV to see around all the other SUVs (and utes), otherwise it can be tricky at times these days to see where you're going.
And that's really the heart of the matter - car brands are giving you what you want. Sure, there are still some very cool and desirable wagons on sale today that are relatively popular, but these are typically high-performance models, like the BMW M3 Touring and Audi RS6 Avant. But those are the exception rather than the rule and are also limited volume sellers.
No, we live in the age of the SUV and fans of wagons will simply have to accept the fact that low-riding load-luggers are unlikely to make a comeback anytime soon.
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