Would you kill the product that made you famous? When it’s not out of regulatory concern, a decision like that seems almost unfathomable, right? Well, one person’s unfathomable is another person’s possible business move. This week, Volvo CEO Jim Rowan stated that the carmaker might not have normal wagons in the future, and that sounds like it would be quite the mistake to make.
In a recent interview with AutoExpress, Volvo’s CEO discussed the future of the brand, and brought up a few interesting ideas. More Cross Country variants make sense, given the outdoorsy lifestyle boom, and the prospect of more Volvo performance cars in the future sounds quite appealing. However, the interview wasn’t all promising news.
When asked whether he could see a future without a traditional Volvo estate car, Rowan replied simply by saying: “Yes. Because I think [the market has] changed, right?
I think that purely talking sales volume is a rather narrow view of things, because the station wagon is Volvo’s cultural relevance. Ask anyone what they think of when they picture a Volvo, and chances are it’s going to be a wagon. It might be a 240, it might be a V70, it might be a V60 Polestar, but there’s a remarkably strong chance it isn’t a sedan or a crossover. Not only were these all vehicles that left a footprint, they all said something about Volvo’s historic clientele. A little bit left-field, a little bit more pragmatic than the typical European luxury car buyer, possibly people in academia or psychology or teaching.
More importantly, in the decades since the iconic 240 ended production, the image of owning a Volvo wagon has flipped dramatically. While these cars used to be a bit too unstylish and a bit too New England, they’re now officially cool, not ironically but authentically. Few cars in the world achieve that sort of status, and in an age where authenticity is the ultimate social currency, it would be a mistake not to capitalize on what Volvo already has.
It sounds like right now, Volvo could use someone like Porsche’s first American CEO, Peter Schutz. Widely credited with saving the Porsche 911 from being phased out in the early 1980s, he stuck up for product that mattered not because of modernity or technical state-of-the-art, but because of archetypes and enthusiast appeal. I’ll let Schutz’s own words in Road & Track detail how that decision went.
I remember the day quite well: I went down to the office of our lead engineer, Professor Helmuth Bott, to discuss plans for our upcoming model. I noticed a chart hanging on his wall that depicted the ongoing development trends of our top three lines: 911, 928, and 944. With the latter options, the graph showed a steady rise in production for years to come. But for the 911, the line stopped in 1981. I grabbed a marker off Professor Bott’s desk and extended the 911 line across the page, onto the wall, and out the door. When I came back, Bott stood there, grinning.
“Do we understand each other?” I asked. And with a nod, we did.
Of course, a potential future without Volvo wagons isn’t without precedent. In 2023, Volvo discontinued the V60 and V90 wagons in the United Kingdom, citing falling demand. It was a business decision that ended up making people furious, and I’m not just talking about car nerds. Outlets like Euro News and the Guardian eulogized the models, and the car-buying public wanted to vote with their dollars. Less than twelve months later, due to sheer uproar and demand, Volvo UK reversed course. In a statement to Autocar, the firm wrote: “We removed the V60 and V90 from sale in the UK last August amid falling appetite for estate cars. While this remains a long-term trend, we have seen a resurgence for our estate products in recent months and have decided to reintroduce the V60 and V90 to our UK portfolio in response to this. We will begin taking orders next month.”
Car companies that aren’t purely value-driven need halo cars for the sake of image. The Ford Mustang. The Volkswagen ID.Buzz. The Chevrolet Corvette. The Porsche 911. While Volvo’s wagons don’t make up enormous sales volume, they are the brand’s halo cars, the ones that have greater intangible impact than anything else in the range. So, Volvo, do we understand each other?
Top image graphic: Volvo
Support our mission of championing car culture by becoming an Official Autopian Member.
-
Surprise! The 435-Mile Volvo ES90 Is Actually A Big Electric Hatchback
-
The Volvo XC60 Gets Another Light Facelift Because It’s Still A Damn Good Car
-
The Volvo EX30 Cross Country Seems Mostly For Posing And That’s Totally Okay
-
Volvo Once Sold A Car With A See-Through Dashboard And It’s Cool As Hell
-
Looks Like The Volvo EX30 Is Finally Coming To America This Year After Months Of Delays
Please send tips about cool car things to tips@theautopian.com. You could even win a prize!
How do you post pix here?
We have image posting turned off for legal and safety reasons. If you wish to post an image, upload it to an image hosting site and then link the image.
Sadly, back in the old Kinja days there were people posting outrageously illegal or “offensive” content (I can’t even begin to describe what people posted). Those people ruined it for everyone else.
There’s a guy in my neighborhood with a beautiful V90 in a dark brown metallic. We give the little jeep wave as we pass each other, him in his gorgeous V90 and me in my A6 Allroad in boring (but gorgeous) body cladding painted German racing silver (well, that’s what I call it anyway). Buy a long roof, people. It’s fucking handy and goes like f*ck… also, you will *never* see anyone driving the same car as you, lol.
Circle the Wagons is right there you guys
Additionally
NONONONO ONOJ OK KNONONO
A 3-series wagon went by me yesterday and I turned my head and craned my neck to watch it. My stupid money fever dream of all fever dream cars is an M3 wagon in matte orange. If Volvo cuts and runs from this noblest of forms, all the other dominos will fall like a house of cards. Checkmate.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
I assume this is this worldwide, because I’m pretty sure Volvo wagons have been gone from the US at least for a few years now; only the Cross Country versions remain.
They still have the V90 and V60 in the US, but yes “Cross Country” variants which are shorter than their Crossover counterparts, but maybe not wagony enough
I originally was responding saying they did still have a wagon because they used to have a V60 (regulare, not XC) recharge in the US but killed it in the fall here 🙁 it and the regular V90 recharge are still available in the UK…
One of the best automotive bargains right now is the 2012-2106 Mercedes E350 wagon. Who wants an aspirated four cylinder Volvo when the MB has a wonderful non-aspirated 300 hp V6?
The MB’s are very undervalued and a lot of car for the money.
Me. I do.
I would absolutely take a 4-cyllinder anything over a Mercedes Benz. I have zero interest in blending into the country club aesthetic.
My only issue with MB is the specialty tools. And specialty tools you’re gonna need.
I think we need to accept that Volvo is pretty much dead. They should’ve just done a Thelma and Louise with Saab and saved us from this slow decline.
Killing off wagons in general is bad, however, we bought a CX5 instead of a Mazda6 wagon because the 6 is almost a foot longer than the CX5 and my wife said that made it unwieldy for her on the test drive.
It is definitely a big risk to kill off something important like that. Like Mercedes and V8s, Ford and cars, Tesla and any progressive pretentions.
This has nothing to do with anything, but I’ve always resented that “unwieldy” doesn’t have a second L to make it “unwieldly.” I guess that’s more like an adverb strictly speaking, but it still bothers me.
It would be a shame to lose Volvo wagons. However if you are launching a new model maybe schedule a year without a model. Sell off the last model have none available let everyone scream the have a surprise launch a year later. Of course the big problem is car manufacturers design with the new car market buyer not the auto fan of used cars.
If the V90 was NA I would’ve bought one. I don’t need 2 kinds of force induction and some batteries that will definitely cause me problems down the line.
Volvo killed its wagons when it ditched the vertical hatch. The V70 was the last Volvo wagon. The V60 may seem alive but is dead inside.
The 850/V70 were the last ones that had any appeal to me. A neighbor had a V70 R and traded it in for a Lexus NX. It was a beautiful specimen. Manual transmission, those cool headlight wipers. Beautiful in still great metallic silver paint. Who knows what demons lurked internally. Personally, unless something bad was about to happen, I’d have kept it and not the maroon XJ8 that shared the garage.
Another neighbor had a pristine looking E39 M5 that they sold.
It was probably a good thing for my wallet that I didn’t buy either one.
+1 for the cool headlight wipers 😀
The first gen S40/V40 was available with them, but they weren’t standard 🙁
Hasn’t Volvo *already* killed the non-Outbacked proper wagons in the US? I don’t think they are selling the V60 Recharge anymore, and at the price they wanted for that car it might as well have been dead anyway. You have to be a special sort of special to pay Mercedes 400E money for a 4cyl *Volvo*.
Unfortunately, for whatever dumb reasons everyone wants to “sit up high” and nobody seems to care about driving dynamics anymore, so wagons are going the way of the dodo bird everywhere.
I’d much prefer a straight V90, but I could live with the V90 Cross Country if it gets my wife into one.
That said, a Mazda CX-90 Turbo S is probably better to drive at this point.
I’ll say it louder for the people in the back:
If Volvo didn’t charge a $20k premium on the wagon, they would have a much better take rate. What’s particularly egregious is that for Volvo the only difference was the body, powertrain and interior were otherwise identical.
At least some of the other expensive wagons got improved performance, like the RS6.
Historically, manufacturers have either made the wagon a massive upcharge or made it a penalty by restricting desirable options(Acura TLX), and then acted surprised when the take rate wasn’t great.
I bet if any manufacturer released a reasonably priced wagon with desirable features, it would outperform expectations.
The wagons are still made in Europe, while the sedans are Chinese now. That might account for the difference…
I do wonder how much of the move away from wagons has artificially been driven by manufacturers. I feel like they figured out they could charge more by giving a wagon a lift and calling it a crossover then went “oh dear no one wants wagons”. The performance wagon segment is growing in the US and Subaru pretty much sells every Crosstrek, Forester, and Outback they make.
I genuinely don’t buy the argument that people don’t want them…I just think there’s a real lack of options. Anyway Volvo is badly losing the plot. I’d imagine that selling their souls for a blank check from China probably isn’t helping, but they’re still choosing to pretty aggressively run away from their heritage. I agree that when someone mentions a wagon a 240 is the archetype for me.
Hell I’ve been casually browsing certified Volvo wagons lately and they seem amazing but they’re not super easy to come by. I’d love to own one and my family had several when I was growing up. I feel like ditching them would be like Dodge ditching V8s (whoops) or Porsche nixing flat 6s.
It just seems like such an unforced error, and I have no idea who their current electric abominations are supposed to appeal to either. They’re literally just overpriced Teslas with some Swedish touches here and there…and the conspicuous consumption crowd that prints money for other luxury manufacturers isn’t going to line about around the corner to lease Volvos because they don’t have any clout.
But do you know who will? Weirdos like us. Volvo should be trying to keep old school fans interested while positioning themselves to be the upgrade that the granola munching, Birkenstock wearing, dog adopting Subaru crowd can go for when they get their first six figure salary. Current Volvo is neither here nor there and it upsets me because they’re a brand that’s meant a lot to me for a long time.
I agree wholeheartedly. I also think trying to squeeze an additional 40% out of the wagon buyer was a big mistake. The V60 Recharge was $20k more than the S60 Recharge with the exact same performance and interior appointments.
“Subaru pretty much sells every Crosstrek, Forester, and Outback they make.”
I don’t think that’s saying very much. All new cars can sell even if its for only $0.02.
I agree. I firmly believe experts decided something it fails they don’t admit wrong and then they pivot from where they made the mistake instead of returning to where it was last correct.
I’m not giving you an essay, just a few things. I took an XC70 from 8k to 180k miles in 15 years. Great. Now leasing XC60 because PHEV. I do like the electric driving but the thing is too damn wide and too damn luxo. Volvo’s newer wagons also seem bloated to me. How about a little simplication and add lightness? How about the resurrection of the base model? Whoever heard of a base model in the last 20 years? AND I want my Volvos small on the outside and big on the inside! Too much to ask?
the real reason is CAFE loopholes, the taller ones can be legally classified as “trucks” and have less stringent standards to meet…
Probably the dumbest thing the Chinese would have done, since accepting the first hit from British opium dealers in the 18th Century.
The British opium dealer trope is a total misrepresentation of history. Opium was enjoyed in China long before the British showed up. What the British did is criminalize it and use it to create social division.
The Chinese criminalized it before the British started smuggling it:
“It was not until the middle of the 17th century that the practice of mixing opium with tobacco for smoking purposes was introduced into China. This habit was indulged in by the Dutch in Java, and by them taken to Formosa, whence it spread to Amoy and the mainland generally. There is no record to show when opium was first smoked by itself, but it is thought to have originated about the end of the 18th century. Foreign opium was first introduced by the Portuguese from Goa at the beginning of the 18th century. In 1729, when the foreign import was 200 chests, the Emperor Yung Ching issued the first anti-opium edict, enacting severe penalties on the sale of opium and the opening of opium-smoking divans. The importation, however, continued to increase, and by 1790 it amounted to over 4,000 chests annually. In 1796 opium smoking was again prohibited, and in 1800 the importation of foreign opium was again declared illegal. Opium was now contraband, but the fact had no effect on the quantity introduced into the country, which rose to 5,000 chests in 1820; 16,000 chests in 1830; 20,000 chests in 1838, and 70,000 chests in 1858.”
https://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/history/om/om15.htm
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_opium_in_China
I almost think the wagons will die for a few years for them to be wanted again. I can only really think of Volvo and Mercedes that still have them in some markets. Subaru calls alot of their cars wagons. I guess Toyota has that one in Japan. The Volvo estate people in the UK were really mad and I guess that’s why they got it back. But if it does well for a year or two and then falls off again will it happen again.
“DOZENS of us!”