Volvo Might Ditch Wagons for Profits

We live in a world where Dodge no longer makes V-8 muscle cars, Lotus sells 3-ton electric SUVs, and now Volvo might be ditching all of its wagon models for different variants of its new sedan and other SUVs. What in the world is going on?

That's the latest blasphemy straight from Volvo CEO Jim Rowan's mouth at the reveal of the new ES90 electric hatchback sedan, according to Autocar: that Volvo might ditch wagons as it seeks more profits in the near future. The brand has already pivoted away from plans to go fully electric by 2030, now with plans to embrace more hybrids in the interim and delay full electrification of the entire lineup indefinitely. Now, apparently, wagons may not be part of those updated plans at all.

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According to Rowan via Autocar, SUVs and increased ride height of most modern vehicles has changed the game, and Volvo's limited production capacity gives it less ability to produce body styles, like wagons, that require significant changes to the design. That makes sense. But the brand no longer has room for its famous niche, according to the CEO. The brand is adopting a "8x8" long-term strategy to reveal 8 new Volvo models over 8 years, but he admits it may end up being a 7x7 situation with fewer models ultimately developed. Whether that means the wagon is eighth model hanging on for dear life at the moment is a guess, but it seems likely.

One of those eight new models is the brand-new ES90, which Volvo doesn't call a traditional sedan but rather a lifted hatchback, with a higher ride height than a sedan would have, more cargo space, and an easier rear opening, which Rowan now argues blends the best qualities of the wagon with the affordability of just building one body style now. This will be the direction the brand likely continues in down the road, for its SUVs and any other smaller cars to come. Future Volvos now include the EX30, EC40 (formerly the C40), EX40, coming EX60 (due 2026), ES90, EX90, and the Chinese EM90 van. That's seven. An eighth model would likely be a smaller sedan or hatchback bodystyle, according to Autocar.

Rowan goes on to argue that models like the EX30 cross country, which is essentially a small lift kit with some tacked on appearance bits to the normal EX30 electric SUV, are cheaper to engineer and produce than full-on body variants like wagons. That's Volvo's future: stickers and trims, not wagons, apparently. However, the lifted wagon bodystyle Cross Country wagons will remain on sale in the U.S. for the foreseeable future, possibly with their own updates to come in a couple of years to stay fresh for a while longer.