The World’s Biggest Purveyor of Wagons Isn’t Giving Up on America

Wagon fans in America assemble! The low-slung long roof could be on the brink of making a big comeback.

At least, according to CEO Håkan Samuelsson, who runs the biggest purveyor of contemporary wagons, Volvo. Speaking with our pals at Motor1, Samuelsson expressed his belief that wagons could be on the path of being great again.

Especially since he’s noticing a trend where American buyers seem to be getting bored of crossover SUVS and are slowly moving away from them.

Could it be the wagon’s time to shine again?

Volvo Cars

If you’ve been feeling a bit over crossover SUVs and hoping for something different in the pipeline, Volvo’s CEO feels the same way. And he just might have the Swedish automaker come to the rescue.

Wagons have long ago fallen out of favor to trucks and crossover SUVs, particularly in America. It’s a phenomenon that took over in the 1990s and all throughout the 2000s as high riders exploded relentlessly in popularity.

But despite their unforgiving proliferation, some automakers still showed signs that wagons are still desired in the US. Volvo is one of them, along with Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Subaru, and more recently, BMW.

Chris Chin

As of late, however, Volvo slowly phased out some of its iconic long roofs, simply due to their age and need for replacement. That had some wagon fans concerned about the automaker losing its identity as one of the biggest purveyors of the body style.

Though, fret no more. As there could be a light at the end of the tunnel for wagon lovers.

Samuelsson does not see Volvo’s future without the wagon

Volvo Cars

According to Samuelsson, he envisions a Volvo lineup in the near future that will include wagons. Not just SUVs.

Moreover, he also thinks America has become too SUV-saturated and consumers might be feeling the same sentiments.

“Probably the US consumers know better, but I think we believe that the market may have gone a bit too far into a single SUV market. I don’t think 10 years from now, we will only have SUVs from Volvo,” Samuelsson said, during his interview.

Volvo Cars

But product diversity isn’t just the reason to revisit wagons. They also offer plenty of other tangible benefits. For instance, wagons are just physically more efficient, better driving, and generally cheaper.

That’s because they weigh less, produce less aerodynamic drag from being lower the ground and are also easier to make.

“So I think for various reasons, we need the lower cars,” he continued. “So air resistance is one, because we talked about range, and, of course, if you have a lower front area, it’s easier. Everything is easier.”

Volvo Cars

Though, Samuelsson didn’t go into further detail. Volvo recently discontinued its last wagon, the V60, as it reached the end of its production lifecycle. Although a successor hasn’t been announced, his belief in the wagon’s future viability offers a glimmer of hope for those who still want on in their garage.

“I think it’s not revealing too much that I think we will not only have SUVs 5 years from now,” Samuelsson concluded.

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