It’s the kind of risky move no self-respecting Volvo wagon driver would undertake, but the Swedish car maker suddenly reversed its decision to stop selling Volvos in the UK after protests from drivers of a car that is synonymous with middle-class British family life.
Last summer, Volvo made the shock announcement that it would stop selling wagons and sedans in Britain, focusing instead on sports utility vehicles (SUVs), which are becoming increasingly popular with drivers who prefer a higher seating position and off-road style.
“Demand for our sedan and wagon models in the UK has fallen to very low levels which has led to the decision to discontinue these models,” the company said at the time.
However, the company recently changed its mind, confirming that the V60 and V90 models will be back in UK showrooms and available to order from July – before they were withdrawn, prices for both models started from £41,000.
Traditional station wagons (usually boxy, five-seater vehicles with space in the trunk for luggage (or the dog)) have fallen out of favor in many parts of the world in favor of SUVs. Nearly half of global auto sales in 2023The change is bad news for the environment: The rise of bulky, heavy SUVs accounted for a quarter of the growth in global oil demand last year, driving up global emissions.
A Volvo spokesman said: [shift to SUVs] “While the long-term trend remains the same, we have seen a recovery in demand for wagons in recent months and in response we have decided to reintroduce the V60 and V90 to our UK portfolio, with orders due to start from next month.”
Known in America as station wagons, they filled a practical need for transporting large amounts of luggage, and the name evokes the landed gentry’s commutes to and from the train station. Volvo produced the first station wagon in 1953, with the Duetto model, capable of carrying family and commercial loads alike.
In the decades that followed, the Volvo 145 estate became a must-have for middle-class car owners. In the 1970s, the Volvo 145 estate Vehicles chosen by Good LifeA comedy about trying to create an idyllic, self-sufficient life in Surbiton, a commuter area of London. The climax of Richard Curtis’ hit film Notting Hill Speed Adorable Posho Hugh GrantHe and five friends were wheeled through central London in a wheelchair to reach his film star girlfriend.
Tom Rees, chief executive of car-selling website Motorway, said station wagons, which account for 7 percent of his company’s sales, remain in high demand because they get better fuel economy than more popular SUVs. He added that prices for used V60s were up 2 percent from the last quarter. “We continue to see strong demand from our dealer partners to bring these modern classics into their stores,” he said.
Both the V60 and V90 are offered as plug-in hybrids, with a mid-sized battery that allows for around 50 miles of electric driving before the gasoline engine is needed, which gives them much better fuel economy than conventional gasoline cars under test conditions, although in real-world use the efficiency and environmental benefits are often limited because customers don’t actually plug them in.
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So far, all of Volvo’s electric models have been SUVs, so it’s unclear whether Volvo wagons will survive into the all-electric era. Volvo, which is controlled by Chinese conglomerate Geely Automobile, said it doesn’t comment on future model plans.
Volvo said: “As we operate in a fast-changing industry, we are constantly re-evaluating our product portfolio to ensure we offer the right product mix for all our customers. As part of this process, it is not uncommon for us to remove certain models or variants from sale, only to re-introduce them at a later date.”
