Station wagons buck trend toward Crossovers By Thomas Geiger

dpa German Press Agency Published: Tuesday April 24, 2007

By Thomas Geiger,
Frankfurt- Car makers are presenting a flurry of new
station wagons this year despite the boom in recent years of
Crossover and other vehicle concepts.
Many new vehicles are in the small car sector with the MINI
Clubman scheduled for launch on the European market this autumn and
Peugeot announcing a successor to the 206 SW.

Skoda will present a station wagon version of the new Fabia at the
Frankfurt Motor Show, company sources said.

Renault is also planning a five-door version of the Clio Grandtour
Concept presented at the Geneva show this year.

Ready for the European summer is the Golf station wagon, which
Volkswagen describes as "the longest Golf ever", measuring 4.56
metres in length. However, it is not the cheapest and not the biggest
wagon in this class. The Dacia Logan costs 8,400 euros (11,381
dollars) compared to the new VW Golf wagon at 17,600 euros with the
Logan offering the option of a third row of seats.

Positioned somewhere between best seller and discount price is
Kia's new C'eed Sporty Wagon first presented in Geneva. It measures
4.50 metres and has a storage volume of 534 litres.

Chevrolet is planning the retro-look HHR station wagon for the
second half of 2007.

But most station wagons will remain in the medium class, according
to car market analyst Nick Margetts, because they are popular as
company cars.

"Many company car regulations exclude vans and heavy SUVs which
leaves the station wagon as the only spacious vehicle," Margetts
says.

According to Christoph Stuermer of the Frankfurt-based Global
Insight market research organisation, station wagons already have a
market share of 50 per cent in this vehicle segment.

Car makers are therefore pinning their hopes on new models. The
third version of Ford's Mondeo with a maximum load volume of 1,745
litres has been eagerly awaited and production has started recently.

Ford's subsidiary Volvo is readying the next generation of the V70
that will be available at the same time in an offroad version and
four-wheel drive as an XC70. Volvo lists the luggage volume at
between 575 and 1,600 litres.

Meanwhile BMW is launching the first station wagon version of the
M5. Another row of premium model station wagons are in the offing at
the Frankfurt show with Renault having announced the Laguna
Grandtour, Mazda the successor to the Mazda6 and Mercedes to show the
T-Model of the new C-Class.

Cadillac will present for the first time in its company history a
station wagon in Frankfurt, the BLS Wagon.

© 2006 - dpa German Press Agency

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