There’s an entire generation of the Western world that knows Volvo as a wagon company. As my colleague Thomas Hundal pointed out back in March, the brand and the bodystyle are culturally intertwined, with cars like the iconic 240 seared into people’s brains as the go-to runabout for New England’s yuppie crowd and college professors nationwide.
Though the public’s perception of the station wagon has shifted drastically since the 240’s debut, Volvo’s desire to sell wagons to Americans persisted all the way up until this year, when it finally pulled the V60 and the V90 Cross Country from U.S. dealers. The regular V90 was discontinued for America in 2021, and now, both variants are dead globally. That leaves just the V60 as Volvo’s last remaining wagon. How times change.
The V90 has been around since 2016 in its current form, but its roots can be traced back all the way to the ’90s, when Volvo sold its executive-sized wagon under a different name: 960. By 1996, the wagon version of that car had been renamed the V90, before going out of production just two years later. As before, the current V90 shared its bones with its S90 sedan counterpart (a car that was also discontinued for the U.S. earlier this year).
While it’s incredibly sad to see yet another wagon bite the dust, I can’t say I’m terribly surprised. Wagons have been out of fashion for years now, with the vast majority of automakers abandoning the bodystyle altogether. The only reason Volvo was still able to sell wagons in the U.S. was by copying Subaru’s Outback strategy – in 2005, it raised the ride height and added plastic body cladding to the Volvo V70, creating the XC70 Cross Country. This strategy lasted for years, extending to the V60 and V90.
But even Volvo SUV-ifiying its wagons couldn’t save them. Sales of the V60 and V90 were absolutely minuscule last year in the U.S., representing only a tiny fraction (2%) of all Volvo sales. Specifically, Volvo sold just 532 V90 Cross Countries in all of 2024. People just don’t want wagons unless they’re high-performance Autobahn bruisers.
It wasn’t just in America where the V90 floundered in sales. Volvo only sold 9,939 V90s and V90 Cross Countries globally last year, representing 1.3% of all sales.
The last V90 rolled off its assembly line in Torslanda, Sweden sometime last month, according to the Volvo Cars Heritage division. Instead of being unceremoniously sold away to a private owner, it’ll be retained by Volvo and kept at the World of Volvo Museum, located in central Gothenburg. If you want to pay tribute to Volvo’s vast wagon history, you’ll find it sitting alongside cars like the P220, the 960, and my personal favorite, the 145 (pictured below).
As Volvo points out in its announcement of the V90’s demise, you still have some time to buy a new V90 if you really want one, as there are still a few Cross Country models sitting unsold at dealerships across the U.S. (54 cars, according to a quick nationwide search on Cars.com). It could be your last chance to buy a new big, European-built wagon that isn’t a turbocharged German rocketship for a long, long time.
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This summer I finally sold my XC70 to a neighbor and replaced it with an EX30. I really like the EX30 (if you take out the UX issues), but I really wish I could have gotten an all-electric V60 or V90 instead.
I mourn the demise of the wagon, since many interesting childhood memories were made in one. Curse the guy who invented the CUV, he’s responsible (or should that be irresponsible?) for it.
A POX UPON HIS EGG-SHAPED HOUSE!
The xc70, iirc, originally dubbed the v70xc, began in ’98 and the P2 generation v70xc began in ’01. it was merely renamed to the simpler xc70 later in the P2 gen, perhaps that’s where the 2005 reference comes in. Same car, different badging.
Good cars- durable, long lasting, capable, cheap to own and operate for the long haul and they are allergic to body corrosion for the most part. keep oil levels up in those high milers!
We have a 300k v70 t5 (less butch suspension, reg ride height, fwd, no zebra plastic cladding like the xc70, but spicier turbo) that my son wants restored as his first car. He’ll be the only manual transmission or station wagon kid in the parking lot, driving a 30 yr old car for better or worse.
Buy one now while wagon stock is in a bear market!
They actually debuted the original Cross Country in 1998 on the old P80 chassis V70. There’s still one in 90s hunter green roaming around my neighborhood, in really good shape. I liked the old “Cross Country” graphics they used to put on the back of them. We picked up a 2022 V60CC T5 new because I had a feeling this day was coming. Our dealer was allocated two per year so the writing on the wall was clear, even in Colorado which is pretty wagon friendly.
That 145 is lovely but the Amazon wagon is the one I want more than any new car. Then again , I lust after Citroens so maybe my taste is suspect
I own an Amazon wagon, so I’m not impartial, but I think the Amazon is a more attractive, cohesive design. The carry-over sedan rear doors on the later models bug me.
I’ll never understand the appeal of crossovers vs. minivans and wagons for a thinking person.
I think you answered you own question there at the end
I got you!
A crossover only typically loses about 10% on the dynamics and efficiency front in exchange for around +50% of useful interior space — much more so if you have child seats, or are elderly or mobility limited at all. The price difference is negligible, if at all.
I still wish for a world where crossover never existed, but after trying for years to get an A4 wagon (and seeing the Q5 at the same price) and ending up with an X3 (because Bimmer wagons are so rare) — it’s a chicken and egg. We have to buy what’s available, and what’s available is whatever makes the most sense for consumers and more cash for the makers.
Further, crossovers achieve the same interior “cube” in a smaller footprint, so once Europeans and Asians realized how well that worked in cities and small roads, it was a done deal.
I still see an XC60 from a distance and see a V60. I think Volvo, more than any others, made them too indistinguishable to even justify having both. I think that’s a compliment to the XC60. I don’t even know…
I wasn’t lining up to buy a V60, so I suppose I take the blame as much as everyone else. But I wonder how much their drivetrain options hurt them. You’re paying BMW prices for a car with a high-strung twin-charged 4 cylinder. It’s hard to argue that any luxury brand is cheap to own, but with the BMWs, at least the straight six is a known quantity, whereas the Volvo was simultaneously less interesting, and more of a dice roll.
But man do the non-crosscountry V60s look good though. And I’m really hoping someone comes back to the market with a good looking, sporty PHEV. The V60 T8 Recharge hit the perfect niche of style, power, space, and efficiency; no one has been able to hit those targets in the same way before or after.
I can’t really see reliability factory in much when 2/3rds of new car buyers keep their car 5 years or less.
This first paragraph nails it. When it was time to trade my BMW 535 wagon, I took a long look at the V60 and V90. At the time, the V90 was special order only, but I could not justify the price and process for that 4-banger.
There is a point where simplicity and reliability become luxuries. As in-car tech expands, and the number of physical buttons decreases, a straightforward car now commands a premium.
My brother is a die-hard Volvo guy. He travels for work (driving) and regularly puts 100k per year on his Volvos! Always V60s. Swears by them. He says he is going to get one last new V60 soon as his retirement car and try to keep it going as long as possible.
I remember sitting in a S90 and a V90 at the Chicago Auto Show and I was, whelmed, I guess? Nothing about the interior blew me away and having driven some newer Volvo’s I imagine the driving experience wouldn’t blow me away either.
Volvo V90, the perfect car for a DINK Architect in New Hampshire.
The wood trimmed dash was exquisite. All cars should have available real wood trim.
Can’t say that “real wood” on the dash would convince me to spend all that money on a car. Then again, I’m no Beaver.
That has basically been Volvo’s target market for decades.
The other stereotypical buyer is the tenured New England professor.
I was a Certified Volvo Nut™ for 20 years, and they lost me when the V90 RWD was ended in 1997. So this isn’t a loss to me.
If anyone wants me to bring one back from CA to the east coast for them, I’m looking for an excuse to do a road trip after visiting a friend in San Diego. I haven’t found anything I’m interested in buying yet, but wouldn’t mind driving a Volvo wagon cross-country.
I almost bought a V90 five years ago. The twin charged engine scared me off and I bought a used E350 wagon.Still, sad that Volvo wagons are waning.
And this is why Volvo lost me as a customer when I traded in my XC70 in 2023.
I wanted an EV wagon. The closest I could get was my EV6. And I do love my EV6, but I miss the practicality of my Volvo. Even though it was not the most reliable vehicle I’ve ever owned.
If Volvo made an EV wagon it would be in my garage right now. Instead we sold our V60 and got into a ZDX lease.
Surely you mean the r/cars special, a manual AWD wagon with adaptive cruise and wireless Carplay/Android Auto.
Don’t forget the optional turbo diesel/rotary engine option!
I wish mine had been a manual, but it was the T6 AWD with adaptive cruise 🙂
Should have scrolled down before posting. Replace “2023” with “this summer” and “EV6” with “EX30” and we are the same. Also, my XC70 was pretty reliable.
I think it depended on which engine – I had the T6 AWD. The Haldex pump died, the speed sensors died, the headunit died, the amplifier died, and the SiriusXM receiver died 🙂
Luckily all under warranty but after 8 years and my extended warranty ending, it was time to replace it.
Yikes! I had the T6 as well and the only thing I wouldn’t consider to be wear and tear in 100k miles was a fan sensor that kept the fan running and left me with a dead battery one time.
Well shite, now I’m annoyed. I sniffed around at these back when the ability to buy a regular, non-cross country wagon was ending. Seeing those pics of the final V90 really makes me wish I had one in my driveway, dagnabbit.
A coworker snagged a CPO one a couple years back. I think one of 2 for sale in the country at the time. It’s definately a sweet ride. Hopefully with his low annual mileage it lasts him as long as the Legacy GT wagon he replaced did.
I’d bet Volvo being owned by Chinese Geely has something to do with it. It’s certainly why I don’t consider them anymore, despite a love for Wagons.
I would say the price has a lot to do with it they start at like 55k+
Indeed. It’s always been mid-luxury, but the pricing has moved more in the luxury range.
I’d bet is has everything to do with wagons not selling. Looking at the US market there are 2 wagons left:
Audi sells the $130K Advant
Mercedes sells the E-Class wagon lifted with cheap plastic fender flares for $78K
Fair. It is the US market after all ????. Trucks and SUVs only.
“They’re boxy but they’re good.”
I love that movie
The XC90 and XC60 are, still, wagons.
Don’t let the marketing fool you
I can see the top of the roof on my v60 standing next to it. I cant do that with the xc’s. the cross countrys arent that tall either
The XC versions are a good 8″ taller than the wagons… No.
No they aren’t. They are legally SUVs – meeting the technical federal requirements of ground clearance, break over angle, approach angle, etc.
My wife’s Acura TSX Wagon is a wagon with a roof height of 58 inches. The XC60 is 7 inches taller.
Counterpoint: many of the Subaru wagons are “legally” an SUV
Subaru doesn’t make any wagons. Their marketing team doesn’t even pretend anymore.
The Outback stopped being a wagon 20 years ago. A neighbor has an Outback and a CRV and they are the same height.
I guess if the Outback is a wagon then so is the CRV and the RAV4 — and pretty much every crossover in the market and wagons are the most popular type of vehicle in the USA.
The Volvo that we all grew up with is not the Volvo of today.
I’m sick of people acting like it’s still a Swedish car maker as we all remember that old hippy girlfriend with her 90s-era Volvo wagon and that hell of a back seat. The Volvo had a nice back seat too.
All of this has happened before and will happen again. Wagons, ho!
— Wagon Ho
I’ve wanted a Volvo 240 pretty much since I rode in one as a kid. Never owned one though. Now at 48 I could probably get a new Volvo wagon but when I visited the dealer the salesperson said the controls were “intuitive like your phone” and then proceeded to have to press the single center button 3x before it responded. Done and done. Nope. It was a beautiful, powerful wagon ruined by a crap infotainment and control ipad in the dash. I much prefer knobs and cars that are engaging and not just software devices on wheels. Last time I mentioned the dash issue, I got flack from Volvo fans. But now maybe they are Geely fans since it’s not even really Swedish anymore right?
Pour out an aquavit for the Swedish wagons that are no longer with us.
Always sad to see another wagon model bite the dust. I’ll be holding on to my 2015 3-series wagon until they come back into style I guess. Unless I win the lottery and can suddenly afford an M5.
I am so looking forward to the future where everything is a crossover/suv blob. All this does is prove the point that people have the worst fucking taste.
there is some really shitty roads around where i live i can get everywhere in my prius but only barely. installing a 1.5 inch lift on it this winter to fix that but most people don’t want to have to modify their vehicles. I wish lifted cars / wagons were more of a thing but i guess thats essentially all a crossover is anyway.
I get the whole shitty roads thing, but at the same time, smash and grab break-ins are so common in some areas that it seems like there would be some drift back towards sedans solely to have a lockable trunk that you can’t see into. I know I moved back to a sedan for daily use after my truck got broken into for a bag in the backseat (even with very dark tinted windows).
the lockable trunk thing only offers you the illusion of safety. if you get access to the front door you can pop the trunk. most vehicles don’t have valet locks on the trunk.
True, but it does slow them down slightly, which in some areas is enough to make them move on to that SUV next to me.
Really, every vehicle I have owned that was a sedan or coupe had one?
Another illusion of security. If you have access to the interior of a car you can fold down the rear seat and access the trunk.
Additionally, I think we see higher instances of stolen catalytic converters on the crossovers. That could be mitigated with different design, but when they’re just in the middle of the exhaust system, they are easier to grab when that extra clearance is available.
other than random tweekers the catalytic converter theft seems to be targeted specifically at vehicles that have the most accessible cats like pickup trucks. or vehicles that have particularly valuable converters like the prius.
I was hoping Volvo would have an EV wagon at some point in the US but it seems as time goes on the wagon will not be around much longer.
As a former Volvo wagon owner – it’s a damned shame.
Wagons are the perfect form factor – whether ICE or EV.
As someone who shopped a V60, the roofline tapered so significantly, that the Golf Wagon felt it had far more useable space.
The tapered roof thing needs to go away. I don’t understand why EVERY fucking vehicle has it now.
Aye
I owned a P2 V70 (non-turbo) for 15 years. It was solid, efficient, and functional. All I did was put gas in it and change the oil. I hauled all sorts of things in the massive space with the seats folded down or on the roof. My kids loved riding in the backwards-facing third row. If the second row legroom had been more generous, I’d still have it, but my kids got too big and I’m too tall to not have my seat all the way back. I traded it in a few years ago…it didn’t last long on the lot, so there must be more of us wagon fans out there still. Bring back wagons!