2023 Author: Eric Donovan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 15:44
Despite all the alternative body concepts, the station wagon is celebrating a brilliant comeback. Even with the small cars, the auto industry is now gaining ground.
At the goods issue of the relevant furniture stores, they are increasingly having to give way to MPVs and SUVs. But despite the triumphant advance of alternative body concepts, the automotive industry remains loyal to the station wagon. The model offensive is already starting this year in a segment in which the station wagon hardly plays a role, at least in Germany: small cars.
Small car boom
According to information from Paris, Peugeot is planning the successor to the 206 SW, which celebrated its world premiere in Geneva as the 207 SW. By the time of the International Motor Show (IAA) at the latest, Skoda will also be showing the new Fabia as a station wagon, and by then, according to information from corporate circles, Renault's Clio Grandtour Concept, which has just been unveiled in Geneva, will become a production model - with five instead of the previous three doors. In addition, BMW has now announced the series version of a mini station wagon which will be launched as a “Clubman” in the fall.
Chased by the competition
In the class above, everything this summer revolves around the third edition of the Golf Variant. The station wagon, stretched by 36 centimeters by 4.56 meters, is according to VW the “longest Golf of all time” and accordingly offers plenty of space. Prices start at 17,600 euros. But it is neither the cheapest nor the largest station wagon in this class. This honor goes to the Dacia Logan, which has been available since the turn of the year. According to the factory, the basic version costs only 8,400 euros and offers a maximum of 2350 liters of storage space as well as the option of a third row of seats.
The “Sporty Wagon” of the C'eed, which Kia has now unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show, will settle somewhere between a price breaker and a bestseller. According to the Korean manufacturer, the second body variant will be launched this autumn with a length of 4.50 meters and a storage space of 534 liters. Chevrolet is offering the retro HHR station wagon in the second half of the year.
Company car as the main business
“But the music in station wagons is mostly in the middle class,” says market researcher Nick Margetts. They are especially popular as a company car. "Because vans and heavy SUVs are still excluded from many company car regulations, so that the station wagon is the only conceivable spacecraft," explains Margetts. And Christoph Stürmer from the market observer Global Insight in Frankfurt am Main adds that the station wagons already have a market share of more than 50 percent in this market segment.
The hopes for the new models are correspondingly high. For example, the third edition of the Mondeo tournament is now available at Ford at prices starting at 22,500 euros, with a maximum loading volume of 1745 liters. A few weeks later, the sister company Volvo will launch the next edition of the V70, which will also be available as an XC70 with off-road look and all-wheel drive. Volvo specifies the trunk volume for the V70 with 575 to 1600 liters.
Further premieres announced
In addition, BMW has the first touring of the M5. And a number of mid-range station wagons will celebrate their premiere at the International Motor Show in Frankfurt in September: Renault has already announced the new Laguna Grand Tour, Mazda unveils the successor to the Mazda6, Mercedes is showing the T-model of the new C-Class and even Cadillac is coming for the first time in the company's history towards the load masters and unveiled the BLS Wagon in Frankfurt. (dpa)
