- Hyundai isn’t chasing wagons as sales are declining.
- Its SUVs are more profitable than wagons.
- The long-roof i30 is still available in some markets.
Just a few months ago, Mercedes’ head of exterior design gave his clear opinion on the position of the wagon in 2026. Robert Lesnik said that “nobody in America is buying them” and “the Chinese don’t understand them.” Now, even a mainstream automaker is sounding alarm bells for the asset as the sector continues to decline. Hyundai’s European boss believes the future looks bleak for this body style as SUVs continue to gain popularity.
talking with Auto ExpressXavier Martinet said Hyundai is not spending money on new wagons because there is not enough customer interest to justify new investments. Echoing Mercedes’ position, Hyundai also concluded that buyers in the United States and China are not interested in wagons. The company still caters to wagon enthusiasts in select markets where the i30 Estate is available, but after almost a decade on sale the model is starting to show its age.
‘There’s a reason we don’t talk much about property: demand in this area is not growing. You allocate your investments and (engineering) resources to the projects that make the most sense. Right now, there is some demand, but not much, so it doesn’t justify it.’
SUVs are more profitable
Apart from weak demand, there is another reason why Hyundai is not allocating budget and resources for new wagons. Martinet acknowledged that SUVs generate higher profit margins: “Usually we manage to make more money with SUVs than with station wagons.” While it’s easy to criticize automakers for launching countless crossovers, that’s what buyers want, and it makes the company more money than a slow-selling wagon with lower profit margins than an equivalent SUV.
That doesn’t mean wagons are gone. Europe remains the last bastion for long-roof models, and there are still plenty of compact and midsize estate cars for buyers who don’t want to deal with the negative aspects of SUVs. From Volkswagen Golf variants to the BMW 5 Series Touring, Europeans are relatively spoiled for choice. Just last week, Audi brought back the A6 Allroad and gave it some RS6-worthy wide hips.
Even Hyundai’s sister brand Kia is committed to this segment, and is launching the K4 Sportswagon in Europe as a replacement for the aging Ceed Sportswagon. It competes with models like VW Group’s Skoda Octavia Combi and Stellantis’ Peugeot 308 SW. This shows that the wagon isn’t completely dead, but there’s clearly more money to be made with an SUV.
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Source: motor1.com
Motor1’s Opinion: I don’t think the wagon segment will ever disappear. Even with the tremendous growth of crossovers and SUVs, there will always be a group of buyers who prefer an estate despite all the benefits. Having owned a Fabia Combi way back when, I’m definitely one of them, and I’m lucky to live in Europe.
However, I realize that there are not much options outside the continent, and given the current state of the market, that situation is unlikely to change. On a positive note, Audi has confirmed that the A6 Allroad will return to the US in 2027.
