With station wagon market share declining markedly since the peak years of the 1960s, it’s no wonder the number of station wagon offerings in North America has declined. Lately, crossovers have seen enormous and rapidly growing popularity in Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. However, in those markets, particularly Europe, station wagon sales didn’t wilt quite as dramatically. Let’s look at some station wagons that missed the boat and didn’t arrive on North American shores.
Of the wagons featured, the Pontiac G8 wagon came the closest to arriving in North America. Only GM’s bankruptcy and a slumping US dollar stood in its way, and were it to have launched, it would have been accompanied by the Pontiac G8 Sport Truck.
Both would have been rebadged Holden Commodores, the Sport Wagon representing Pontiac’s first conventional station wagon since 1990, and the Sport Truck representing a return to the coupe utility style last seen in North America with the Chevrolet El Camino and GMC Caballero.
Where previous Commodore wagons straddled a longer wheelbase than their sedan counterparts, the VE Commodore Sportwagon rode the same 114.8-inch span as the sedan. With the Holden Captiva crossover proving to be a runaway hit, Holden evidently figured they could reposition the wagon not as a stodgy family car or company vehicle, but as a desirable yet practical wagon. To that end, Holden offered the wagon in every single trim the sedan came in, from base Omega up to the sporty SS-V and luxurious Calais-V; previous Commodore wagons had generally been limited to basic or family-oriented trims like Acclaim and Berlina.
The G8 Sport Wagon may have never reached US shores, but Holden delightfully launched the Holden Commodore SS-V Special Edition in 2009. Basically a way to use up parts, this limited-run model was available in sedan, wagon or ute, with each receiving the G8 front fascia (and the sedan receiving the G8’s more elegant decklid). No Pontiac arrowheads featured, but rest assured there are plenty out there with aftermarket logos fitted: a nice tribute to a brand that was really starting to turn a corner just as it was too late. Gee, that sounds familiar; didn’t that happen to Oldsmobile and Saturn, too?
The next two wagons hail from down under as well. Station wagon sales are really nothing to write home about here either, but they seem to have declined slower than they did in the US. Case in point: the XV20 Toyota Camry wagon. Manufactured only in Australia and Japan, the latter being a small market for it due to the car’s width, the new Camry wagon was exported to over two dozen overseas markets.
Although its styling was more conventional than its eccentric predecessor, it was less practical with a sloped tailgate and intrusive strut towers eating into load space. It handled better than its predecessor, though, with Toyota’s Australian engineers developing a local suspension tune that lessened body roll and improved the wagon’s road manners. Confusingly, Toyota persisted with dual Camry and Vienta lineups in Australia; the Vienta was originally the name for the V6 Camry, but as the V6 engine spread throughout the Camry lineup, the Vienta shifted upmarket before being axed in 2000. The Camry wagon was not replaced when the new XV30 Camry arrived for 2002, thus ending more than a decade of Camry wagon availability. Arguably, the Venza was its eventual successor, but it was only available in a few markets and it, too, has been axed.
Going head-to-head with the Camry/Vienta wagon in Australia were the Mitsubishi Magna and Verada wagons, known in sedan form in other markets as the Diamante. All second-generation Diamantes exported to North America were manufactured alongside the Magna and Verada in Mitsubishi Motors Australia’s Adelaide factory but, despite the availability of an Aussie-built wagon in the American Diamante lineup during the first generation, no wagon was available in the second generation. This didn’t stop Mitsubishi Australia from exporting the locally-engineered wagon to other markets, though, including Japan.
Although the Diamante was positioned as a premium rival to cars like the Lexus ES in North America, in Australia it was a humble family car in Magna form. Perhaps it was this positioning that made the Magna that much more impressive, as the competition was less fierce. The Magna’s two body styles–the capacious wagon, and the sleek, aerodynamic (0.28 Cd) sedan–went head-to-head with the front-wheel drive Camry and the rear-wheel drive Commodore and Falcon sedans and wagons.
The Magna/Verada story requires a lot more space to be told, but the Cliff’s Notes version is as follows: Mitsubishi introduced sporty trim levels, a Tiptronic auto, a gutsier 3.5 V6, even an all-wheel drive variant, but sales continued to slump, resale values were dragged down by excessive fleet sales and discounting, and even a 5-year warranty and an Iacocca-esque commercial campaign, with Mitsubishi’s CEO urging buyers to buy a better car if they could find one, couldn’t arrest the tide. Mitsubishi Australia ended up ditching the 20-year-old Magna nameplate (along with the Verada badge), with the new US Galant-derived replacement bearing the name 380. And it came as a sedan only.
Add “Legnum” to the list of bizarre Japanese market names like the Mazda Bongo and Toyota Estima Emina, but add the car itself to the list of desirable JDM offerings that never came to North America. The Mitsubishi Legnum was the station wagon variant of the crisply styled 1996-2003 Galant sedan, and it kept the Galant name for the European market. Although there were humble four-cylinder and V6 variants, the real treasure of the Legnum lineup was the VR-4.
photo courtesy of Jaime Martinez
Identical mechanically to the Galant VR-4, the range-topping all-wheel-drive Legnum featured a twin-turbo 2.5 V6 with 276hp and 271 ft-lbs. 0-60 was accomplished in under 6 seconds, leading Jeremy Clarkson to opine that the horsepower and torque figures were underreported due to Japan’s voluntary horsepower limit.
The VR-4 wasn’t just fast in a straight line; it could handle, too! Mitsubishi’s Active Yaw Control, also available on the Lancer Evolution, used a computer-controlled rear differential and two hydraulic clutches to split torque appropriately based on road conditions and driving style, and to allow greater cornering ability at high speeds. Suffice it to say, the Legnum VR-4 was one hot wagon. There were only two downsides: Firstly, why was this amazing car limited to the Japanese market? Secondly, what were they thinking with that name?
For such a small country, Japan sure has a lot of unique models which it often cruelly keeps to itself. If the puzzlingly-named Legnum doesn’t catch your fancy, then perhaps the Stagea – no, I’m not sure how to pronounce it either – is more your style. The Stagea was popularly known as a Skyline wagon, and was sold from 1996-2007. The first-generation Stagea was actually more closely related to the Nissan Laurel, but featured engines and an optional all-wheel-drive system shared with the R33 Skyline. A popular modification is for people to put the R33 Skyline front on a Stagea body; frankly, anything would improve the first Stagea’s styling, as its lines are conservative to the point of being dull and it looks extremely dated alongside the contemporary Skyline.
A new Stagea arrived in 2001, sitting atop the new FM platform shared with the Infiniti G35 (badged in Japan as the Nissan Skyline); the Stagea featured the same interior as the G35. The rorty inline sixes were gone, but in their place was a range of new V6 engines: naturally-aspirated 2.5 and 3.0 units, as well as a turbocharged 280 hp 2.5 and the ubiquitous and powerful 3.5 VQ35 unit. All-wheel-drive was an option, and Nissan added subtle off-road styling cues to the striking wagon body when equipped in AR-X trim.
With its upmarket pretensions, the Stagea could have enjoyed a comfortable niche role in the Infinti lineup, offering the same performance and interior appointments as its sedan and coupe counterparts. Alas, the Stagea stayed across the Pacific, roaming the streets with other exotic Japanese metal like the Toyota Mark X and Caldina.
In this week’s Taurus wagon article, Old Pete questioned why the new Mondeo wagon wasn’t available in the North American market. The answer, as Aaron Severson explained, is simple: There just aren’t enough projected sales to warrant the cost of compliance, including emissions certification and crash testing. Does it make sense for the US to have such different standards compared to Europe and other markets? It’s an interesting question, as Australia is potentially changing their Australian Design Rules compliance standards to align them more with those of other markets. If there is greater harmony among Western nations, it won’t turn us into some Wild West car marketplace full of unsafe and unsuitable vehicles, after all. If anything, everyone will be a winner: Consumers will have more choice, and automakers won’t have to spend as much to introduce new models to market. Then, if marketing costs don’t prove to be insurmountably high, we can enjoy once more the availability of a mid-size Ford wagon. And the new Mondeo wagon is quite a looker!
Whether the harmonization of standards will actually come is unknown. Some automakers stubbornly insist on selling wagons in the US market, seeing a mostly untapped niche market ripe for the picking. There have been rumors that GM will re-enter the North American station wagon market. Arguably the most plausible contender is the Opel Insignia, already available here in sedan form as the Buick Regal. The current Regal was initially manufactured in Germany and exported here before switching to Canadian production, so there is precedent for an imported model. The Regal’s more upscale positioning, too, lends itself better to the introduction of a wagon variant. The Opel Insignia Sports Tourer is not only stylish, but it is also decently practical; it rides a 193.3 inch wheelbase, three inches longer than the sedan and hatch.
Of course, if GM wants to get enthusiasts salivating, it could bring over the Insignia OPC Sports Tourer. Although the existing Regal GS sedan resembles the Insignia OPC, right down to the shiny fangs, the OPC packs a 321hp, 321 ft-lb turbocharged 2.8 V6, with power delivered to all four wheels and standard FlexRide adaptive suspension as well as HiPerStrut torque steer-reducing technology. Despite the presence of sophisticated technology, the Insignia OPC still suffers from some understeer and turbo lag, not to mention a portly 4000lb curb weight, but it is still regarded by critics as being a joy to drive and with a surprisingly compliant ride.
If I were a betting man, though, I would put money on a Buick-badged version of the Insignia Country Tourer. Following the same recipe first cooked up in 1996 by Subaru with its Outback wagon, the Insignia Country Tourer is simply an Insignia wagon with some light cladding and slightly higher ground clearance. The Insignia is due to be replaced in the near future, so perhaps a next-generation Country Tourer will grace the North American market with its presence. I reckon it would make an excellent addition to the Buick lineup.
Although the chances are slim, you also shouldn’t rule out the return of a Mazda6 wagon. Mazda may be one of the smaller Japanese players, but it is often the biggest risk-taker: witness their steadfast dedication to rotary engines, the North American availability of the Mazda5, as well as the upcoming diesel Mazda6. The current Mazda6, no longer manufactured in the US, is available overseas as a wagon. As it is not aimed at the US market, the wagon actually rides a wheelbase three inches shorter than the sedan. This is quite a change in strategy from the previous Mazda6, which had a larger, North American-exclusive V6 sedan variant but smaller sedan, hatch and wagon body styles for other markets. It seems to indicate Mazda is trying to cut down on costs, so perhaps Mazda won’t bother tooling up the wagon for sale here. A shame, as it is quite a shapely load-lugger.
Wagons may be almost extinct in North America, but this oft-maligned body style still refuses to die despite being relentlessly attacked by minivans, MPVs, SUVs and crossovers for almost 30 years. There’s something you can do, though. If there is a station wagon available for sale, buy it. Help save the endangered station wagon species! It may cost more than a penny a day, but ultimately it is consumer preferences that have kept station wagons, manual transmissions and diesel engines around for all this time. You don’t want them to go? Buy them.
The Mazda is the nicest of the lot of them !!!!
Nice article though for the variety of cars.
I really like what Mazda are doing.
The Mazda 6 is a very handsome looking car..Esp in that burgandy colour.
The Mazda 3 is very nice and the New Mazda 2 looks real good too.
And to think Mazda did all this after Ford had sold it’s stake in the company and stopped the engineering support.
Mazda did very well to pull these cars out of a hat.
The only sore point is I don’t like the new MX 5
but I have not seen one in the real world yet..So maybe I might change my mind about it.
The Pontiac wagon turned up in the UK as a Vauxhall.Only seen a few compared to the sedan(saloon) which has quite a following despite the cost of fuel
How timely, as I am looking for a used wagon to use for my dog. I want something that she can easily get into. My choices are primarily European, I will be looking at Volvo and possibly Mercedes, but what I want is something Japanese that will not require the obscene maintenance so common to European makes. I don’t want a SUV or crossover.
The Chevy Cruze comes in wagon form in Europe. Wish they sold them here.
I don’t get the love for the chevy Cruze…It’s as bland as heck.
But on here and Jalopcult they seem to love ’em
Nope, Chevrolet is exit in Europe. GM’s C-segment Euro-wagon is this Opel Astra Sports Tourer.
I wish there had been more choices when we were looking last year. The Opel Insignia/Buick Regal is very attractive. I’m trying to see myself as a Buick driver 🙂
I don’t know what are the Canadian Buicks are like in so far as reliability is concerned but, from what I’ve heard, the Opels are trouble free. I may have mentioned this before but a work colleague and his wife (for what it’s worth, young Dinks + large dog) bought a brand-new wagon a couple of years ago and, so far, at 70,000 Km have had zero issues. It’s a 2L turbodiesel in 160 hp tune with a 6sp. He had it chipped to about 210 hp but even before that it did not feel inadequate and with the 6sp. manual box it is a relaxed high speed cruiser (he backed off at indicated 230 Km/H the one time he went for max speed and the car had a bit more left) with loads of space; important, as they drive to Feldkirchen (Kärnten) on weekends quite a lot. I had a look at it and others and they seem to be very solidly built. Fuel consumption is 6 L/100 Km if you drive sensibly. It would be very tempting to make an offer when he sells it (even though I do not need such a vehicle living in Vienna)…
It will most likely gain Holden badging and arrive here when Commodore production ends, nice looking cars but this line up is what I see all day marked traffic with few import restrictions NZ is littered with exJDM Stageas Legnums and other strangely named Japanese offerings.
You (and the Pomms) are actually very lucky in being able to get those special Japanese models – it makes no sense to import them to mainland Europe due to the RHD/LHD problem.
Japanese market cars are easy to get hold of through specialist importers in the UK, they just aren’t wildly popular here. (though a few years ago imported MX5s and Pajeros were common, as are Mazda Bongos now)
So if you really wanted to get one you could, if you were prepared to put up with RHD.
This article does indeed make me feel lucky to live in New Zealand, where I could pick up almost any of those wagons tomorrow (finances permitting). The Opel wagons look very nice, but I’m very happy with my Legacy 3.0R wagon for now. I did come very close to buying a Stagea at the time, but the sweet engine and the better availability of parts handed the Legacy the win in the end.
Interestingly, a large proportion of the JDM XV20 Camry wagons imported into NZ are actually the more ‘upmarket’ Mark II Qualis models. A minor face- and bumlift afford them a passing resemblance to the Mark II sedan, but of course they are still FWD.
Seems that automakers here aim for the lowest common denominator. Wagons dropped. Sporty coupes dropped. Some only offer a choice of four door sedan, or SUV.
Word is that VW will drop all it’s two door models. No more 2 door Golf. No more Beetle. I keep seeing “Allroad” versions of VW wagons, with the Outback treatment: jacked up on their suspensions with tacked on wheelwell flairs. Glad I got my Jetta wagon when I did.
There is a flicker of hope. Hyundai, Kia and Ford are offering 4 door hatchbacks. Word is that Honda will import Civic hatchbacks from England for the next generation and there are rumors of the next gen Cruze being offered as a hatch. Maybe we will see a return of car based wagons, if the product planners don’t look at the current stampede for SUVs and simply spike anything smaller.
There’s a Civic wagon available here which looks quite cool – you never know your luck. It is actually being raced by Honda in the BTCC.
Civic estate racer.
This morning I read about this new kid on the block. The 367 hp Audi RS3 2.5 TFSI Sportback. Yep, with an inline-5.
That is extremely cool.
There’s a Civic wagon available here which looks quite cool
For a couple generations now, the UK built Civic has been an entirely different platform from the North American Civic. The story is that Honda sales in Europe are really poor. The UK plant was designed to produce 250,000, but they only sell about 100,000/yr.
With the low volume in Europe, Honda has reportedly made two decisions: produce the EU and NA Civics on the same platform and to import the UK built hatchbacks to the NA market because the UK plant has so much surplus capacity.
I wouldn’t be concerned about Allroad wagons, they only raise them about an inch!
If Chevy’s willing to take a chance on a diesel Cruze, I can’t see why they wouldn’t take much less of a chance on the hatch except that it’s late in the design cycle and the engines carry over.
If Chevy’s willing to take a chance on a diesel Cruze, I can’t see why they wouldn’t take much less of a chance on the hatch except that it’s late in the design cycle and the engines carry over.
Offering a diesel engine and offering a wagon are different scenarios with different competitive issues.
Chevy had several years to watch VW Jetta diesel sales, which are significant, and to figure that a diesel Cruze may take sales away from VW.
Chevy has also had several years to watch Jetta wagon sales. In 2013, when sales were not influenced by the run down of the old generation Jetta wagon in 14, VW sold 141,259 Jetta sedans vs 22,534 wagons, and Chevy could figure that some of the people that might buy a Cruze wagon, would, if the wagon was not available, buy a Chevy Equinox instead.
So the diesel was probably both cheaper and offered more sales than a wagon version.
As usual, I want a Ford wagon.
We have use for a wagon: 900 – 1,100 mile drives with two people, two cats and one or two bicycles from Wyoming to Arizona in the winter or Wisconsin in the summer. No off road or 4WD ability is needed. We’ve used RAV4, Venza and Explorer in the past. I’ve thought the VW wagon would be ideal but the durability of VW is an issue, as is the dearth of VW dealers on our routes. I want a wagon and it needs to be a Ford because there are Ford dealers everywhere. (No GM – bankruptcy/bailout/Obama issues).
The Mondeo wagon is pretty and ideal in size. I do like the US Fusion driving dynamics and I trust Ford. Bring me a Mondeo wagon.
The better Mondeos use Peugeot engines, get a diesel, better performance and economy
Don’t think they get many car diesels in the US on account of the high sulfur content diesel available?
Biggest issue plaguing car diesels in the US is that the cost/benefit just doesn’t work out, between the added first cost and higher fuel price per gallon.
I find the disappearance of the wagon in the US quite odd; here in Europe the SUV/Crossovers and the wagons are seen as answers to different questions. In fact, wagons command a premium on the used market. Minivans have exactly the same status as in the US: worthy (but dull) vehicles for the sensible (but dull) family man/woman…
I can’t come up with an automaker that doesn’t offer a C- or D-segment wagon (and mostly both) in Europe. There’s even enough choice in the E-segment.
Gasoline, diesel, hybrid, manual, automatic, FWD, RWD, AWD, high-performance. (hot wagons ?)
Anything you can possibly imagine.
Most comfortable of them all is almost certainly a Citroën C5 Tourer with an automatic and (optional) electronic hydropneumatic suspension.
… Best value for money has to be the Skoda Superb though.
Agreed. AMC Steve would probably like it…or the smaller Skoda Octavia Combi. Superb value for money too !
I like the Mark 1 Yeti. But the Superb estate is nice.
I like the Octavia wagon a lot. More than a hint of older Audi A4 in the rear. Typical VW clear and organized instrumentation. But the grill….ouch!
My rational side says VW should dump the Skoda and SEAT brands, pick the best model from each size class and call them all VWs.
hmmm.
Best value for money.
A Used skoda Felicia Estate!!!!
This one looks well used!!
Obviously that poor old Skoda ran out of depreciation…
Felicia’s offspring is called Fabia.
The diversity amongst the lineup of most European manufacturers is incredible. Volkswagen Golf R, TDI, GTI, GTD, GTE, SportWagon, SV, e-Golf… holy shit! Personally, I think that’s cool, but I’m surprised that there are enough buyers out there making it possible to sustain all these variants.
Every automaker here just has to offer a full-line of both gasoline and diesel engines.
This is VAG’s current diesel engine line-up:
1.4 TDI (3 cylinder)
1.6 and 2.0 TDI (4 cylinder)
3.0 TDI (V6)
3.0 TDI BiTurbo (V6)
4.2 TDI (V8)
The GTD is just a 2.0 TDI with more power. The V6 and V8 engines are all high-performance Autobahn burners. The most powerful versions come with AWD standard, because FWD-only can never handle the torque.
Not that long ago VAG also had a 5.0 liter V10 TDI and a 6.0 liter V12 TDI.
Every automaker here just has to offer a full-line of both gasoline and diesel engines.
Then add the same models as offered by SEAT and Skoda.
GM used to have blatantly redundant models, recall the obvious badge engineering that started in the 70s? Why offer both a Chevy Aveo and a Pontiac G3, a Cobalt, G5 and Ion, Malibu, G6 and Aura? VAG has been taking heat for their weak profit performance. My prescription is get rid of the redundant models. Notice how much better GM is doing since it killed Saturn and Pontiac? Winterkorn hasn’t called me about this yet.
Or maybe Winterkorn did propose rationalizing their lineup. There was a dustup between him and Piech. Piech was the one that went nuts buying up those other brands, along with halo brands Bentley, Bugatti and Lamborghini. Dumping those other brands may not have played well with Piech. Last week, the VAG board of directors backed Winterkorn against Piech.
Breaking: on the news wires this morning, Piech has quit,.
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-32468360
Steve, I think Skoda is doing very well thank you – it’s placed slightly lower than VW, a bit like Plymouth was to Dodge in the 40-50s when that set up was successful. Seat is the one which should get the chop but I think there’s politics involved in keeping it – axing the brand and/or losing jobs in Spain at the moment would go down very badly, in light of the economic situation there (which is getting better very slowly). The supercar brands? Bentley was the one which made sense, the others not so much (the Bugatti they came up to me was very impressive but totally wrong with that company’s history, and who needs two mid-engined supercar brands in the same concern?).
I think Skoda is doing very well thank you – it’s placed slightly lower than VW, a bit like Plymouth was to Dodge in the 40-50s when that set up was successful. Seat is the one which should get the chop but I think there’s politics involved in keeping it
I gather there was plenty of politics involved in the Skoda takeover as well. Many commitments made by VW to be chosen by the politicians over Renault. I am sure VW has invested heavily in the Skoda and SEAT plants and I would not advocate walking away from that investment.
As was the case with Plymouth, when all the brands are built on the same platforms, with only a few trim differences to differentiate them, there is no reason to invest in multiple brands.
I would make a case to the politicians that, with the stronger market position from selling under a unified VW brand, there would be no mass reduction in employment at the Skoda and SEAT plants, and there might even be an increase.
Before killing Pontiac, GM encouraged Pontiac and Buick dealers to merge, so there would be fewer Pontiac dealerships for the company to buy out. I have been watching the rumors of Chrysler being for sale and noting that one of the actions the company took while in bankruptcy was to push the surviving dealers to carry all brands under one roof. With that dealer consolidation, if someone buys Chrysler, to obtain Jeep, there will not be a large number of dealerships closing when the Chrysler and Dodge brands are wound down.
I would do the same thing at VW: push the VW dealers to merge with the Skoda and SEAT dealers in the area, then wind down the non-VW brands.
When SUVs first became “a thing” they were radically different from station wagons of the time. Virtually all of them were truck-based vehicles with body-on-frame construction and part-time 4WD. As time has gone on, SUVs – and later CUVs/crossovers – have become more and more wagon-like or hatchback-like with each passing year. To me, that says that what Americans want is: wagons and hatchbacks. Yet, we have some weird hangup admitting this to ourselves. Why? Who the hell knows.
Seeing those Pontiac mockups is kind of bittersweet. The argument has been hashed out ad nauseum, but seeing what COULD have been vs what we got (Buick) just leaves a bad taste in the mouth.
Similar to how the Magnum got the axe from Chrysler’s lineup. Ralph Gilles has been quoted in saying that the Magnum always had strong support from within, and the one exec who signed its death warrant is no longer with the company…soon after that debacle, no less. On the used car market, any clean straight Magnum with a Hemi and not ridiculous miles still commands a solid price. SRT-8s go for nearly twice what an R/T will. And with all of the sketches and concept art that pop up, Id say a strong market of enthusiasts for the car still exists.
The ironic thing is that my understanding of the situation is that the wagon version was only developed because it would be shared with the NA market, but that changed too late and tooling was already underway. The wagon debuted a full two years later in Australia.
Does anyone remember the online contest GM ran on the Pontiac website to name the never-to-be Sport Truck? IIRC, the name one chose would appear on the lower right corner of the tailgate of the mockup. I though it was brilliant.
My choice? GST. But Mitsubishi might have complained.
I like the 4th generation Camry wagon. It reminds me of the classic good looks of the original Taurus wagon but with the reliability built in. For such a boring generation of sedan, the wagon is an actual looker at the front 3/4 view. That and the fact the rear window treatment has the window flowing “feng shui” with the rest of the car compared to the American/International 3rd generation Camry with that reverse kick back D pillar.
I still don’t understand why Toyota sullied up such a beautiful design of the 3rd gen Camry with that rear window treatment of the wagon the way that they did. Google imaging it now, I can perhaps see why as it would likely make the thing look like a van with the almost vertical rear end, but perhaps there could have been a better compromise with rear-end rake and window angling, etc., but I digress.
There are lots of cars I would like to have seen with a wagon version. The last generation panther cars, is one example. One without a Taurus rear end, though. I saw that one a few posts ago and yuck. Come to think of it, a 2015 Taurus wagon would be interesting…
All new (actually it’s a thorough facelift, inside and out) Toyota Avensis wagon. Probably the last D-segment car that Toyota developed and builds for the Eurozone, its successor will most likely be a “world-car”.
Interior.
There’s also the BMW M5 Wagon
Wagon From Hell. Especially with that black outfit and privacy glass.
This was quite a sensation 20 years ago. The Audi 80 Avant RS2. Co-production Audi & Porsche.
That Mazda6 wagon is so goddamn sexy! They sold the original 6 Wagon here and it seemed to do fairly well (for a wagon), but there’s probably zero chance they’ll ever offer the current version in the U.S. I’m sure they view it as something that would just eat into crossover sales, where Mazda is doing really well in the U.S. right now. I don’t believe that Mazda’s actually going to bring the diesel 6 here either, even though they’ve been claiming they would for a few years.
The Opel wagons look really good too, but I don’t think they have a snowball’s chance in hell of making it across the Atlantic either. Buick doesn’t sell that many Regals to begin with, about 20k/year, which is a shame because it’s a pretty sweet car.
Was GM really on the verge of selling a Pontiac El Camino from Down Under? Wow… how do I not remember this? I remember reading C&D articles about the possibility, but I had no idea they actually got to the point where the Pontiac fascias had to be re-purposed on Holden wagons and utes. Incredible… I love the Aussie muscle cars, and their American cousins, but something seems to get lost in translation when they arrive over here. The SS has been a huge bust in the U.S., and having a stupid name can’t be the only reason.
I’m all for universal safety/emissions standards if it means we get to taste all this delicious forbidden fruit. From what I understand, Euro6 and U.S. emissions are already pretty close, don’t know about crash testing but I can’t imagine there’s a huge amount of difference.
This one never had any chance of being sold stateside, but it’s my current Eurowagon obsession. Peugeot 508 RXH:
Good choice. Peugeot’s 308 and 508 wagons are magnificent !
I’m very sure that those (domestic) Japanese wagons are all very good. But to me they all look like dressed up vans with windows. And I’ve seen pinball machines with less details than on the backsides of those wagons.
I like clean and “naked” cars, not with all kinds of warts sticking out.
I think a Regal and Fusion wagon would sell pretty well in NA.
I would have liked any of these wagons to be available to North America.
A couple of years ago, my dad was looking for a new wagon – and given that my mother has a stroke and needs assistance to do a transfer into a vehicle – the high sill step over of many of these CUVs/SUVs made them no-gos. Settled for a new Jetta wagon.
The current Toyota Venza model in the US is a high, off-the-ground CUV with big wheels (18 or 19 inch?). I heard though that its small sales numbers may mean its discontinuation.
Venza and Crosstour are DOA.
I’d give my right arm for a Legnum VR-4. I always loved the chiseled nose/grille styling of that generation of Galant, so with the VR-4 treatment and a wagon body…yes please!
Winner on looks alone is that Mazda 6 wagon though. So, so unfair that we don’t get it here! Even without a performance variant of any kind, I’d be very tempted by one.