Once upon a time, station wagons were popular in the United States. Pretty much every automaker had at least one in its lineup, giving consumers a wide range of choices for their practical transport needs. Over the past four decades or so, minivans and crossovers have eroded the wagon’s market share, leaving it virtually bare.
Volvo, a longtime purveyor of extremely cool station wagons, was one of the few holdouts remaining in the American market. Despite the ever-decreasing desire for longroofs, it has continued to offer the V60 Cross Country to Stateside buyers. Well, that niche offering is about to come to an end.
The Swedish carmaker announced plans today to remove its tall V60 from the American market next year, marking the end of a decades-long run of iconic Volvo wagons in North America.
Gosh, This Is Depressing
The Volvo brand and the station wagon body style are intertwined in the eyes of the American market, at least to me. When I think of classic wagons, I picture an old 240 in my head, driven by a college professor with suede elbow patches on his corduroy blazer, or a hipster on their way to Dartmouth for the fall semester.
The truth is, wagons haven’t been popular for a long time. Sales of the body style peaked all the way back in the Seventies before starting their slow decline. Nowadays, they make up around 1% of the market (and most of those sales are of the Subaru Outback, which, as of this year, looks less like a wagon than ever).
You can argue wagons are having a bit of a moment at the top end of the market, where cars like the BMW M5 Touring, the Audi RS6 Avant, and the Mercedes-AMG E53 are more popular than ever. While that’s true, those cars are expensive and sell in incredibly low volumes. Meanwhile, “normal” wagons, like the V60 Cross Country, still struggle to find buyers.
In its announcement, Volvo admits it’s the overwhelming popularity of the SUV body style that has forced it to stop selling the V60 CC Stateside. From the release:
Sometimes these adaptations can be bittersweet. As our customers in the U.S. overwhelmingly prefer SUVs, early next year we’ll take the last orders for this generation of Volvo wagons, with the V60 Cross Country ending production in April 2026. For U.S. customers who love wagons, there’s still a bit of time: orders will be accepted until late January 2026, and we expect to have V60 Cross Country available in retailer inventory for a few months after that.
At least Volvo is giving the wagon-faithful in America one last chance to get their hands on a new V60 before it’s gone for good. The window to place an order is incredibly small—about a month, from the sound of it—so if you’ve been on the fence, I suggest making your decision now.
The Future Of Volvo Wagons Elsewhere Remains Up In The Air
In its announcement, Volvo clarified that production of the V60 wagon will continue for markets overseas, like Europe, where wagons still hold a bit of market share. But even in those markets, the business case for the wagon is waning.
Volvo killed off its bigger wagon, the V90, earlier this year, and back in March, CEO Jim Rowan admitted he could see a future for the brand without traditional wagons in its lineup. The current V60 is also nearly eight years old at this point, so the company will have to make a decision on whether to refresh the car or simply discontinue it sooner rather than later.
I might be a bit biased, but I think Volvo should keep the V60 around. As fewer and fewer wagons exist in the segment, the company can capitalize on the slice of the population who still want cars like these, however small that population might be. Plus, I seriously can’t imagine a world without a Volvo station wagon on sale. It just feels wrong.
Top graphic image: Volvo
As a fellow prev-gen V60 owner, this makes me sad. These cars still look incredible after being out for 8 years. Here in Europe they are still very popular, especially the PHEV variants.
I strongly considered the V60 and V90 when shopping for a BMW E61 replacement. At the time, (late 2021) the V90 was special order only and v60 felt too small. The deal breaker, though, was that 2 liter 4-banger moving that much weight. Coming from 100k+ mile BMW, I was not ready to roll the dice on reliability.
Like another poster, I went the Lexus route with an understressed naturally aspirated engine. Volvo handicapped their wagon sales by limiting availability and engine/trim options. When buyers opted instead for the more available SUV’s, sales cannibalization became a self-fulfilling prophecy.
The newer Volvos are inherently good looking and perform well, at least on paper. Where they fall short is they are heavier than needed and ride more harshly than the other comparable Euro vehicles. Add in a continuously overworked 2 liter (turbo/supercharged/electric assist) engine because of the heft along with sketchy reliability, and voila…no more wagons. My brother looked extensively at all slightly used Volvo SUVs, and after so much research and test drives, he bought a Lexus RX450h. It was a better choice plus it still had a V6 (2020). He made a good choice over the Volvo.
Smaller wheels and bigger tires would probably help the ride.
Volvo’s look great, but I feel like their new wagons never really had what that “it” factor that the other premium ones do. Hard to describe, not surprised they are leaving, but mainly because Volvo hates performance and that seems to carry the other wagons, offering a nice performance wagon to bring in people to buy the lower trim. I don’t know what volvo stands for anymore, or what they are doing. It used to be safety, now its just all electric or die? I feel like the brand as a whole won’t do as well going forward as they have historically. At least not in the US market.
The Ford/Mazda era didn’t help.
My hope for an EV V60 or V90 gets smaller and smaller everyday. RIP you beautiful long roofs.
This is as painful as Kia killing off the Soul. I grew up around a lot of Volvo wagons. Sad.
I’m doing my part….looks at the V50 and V70 in the driveway….
You have excellent taste in wagons sir.
Me too! Looks at V50 and V60 in driveway…
I’ve told this story here before but I bought a new V60CC back in 2022 assuming this day was looming. It was right after Volvo killed off the V60 R Design wagon and I wasn’t big on the CC, but my wife really digs wagons and at the time we were lamenting that BMW didn’t bring the G21 3 Series wagon to the States. Our dealer got a massive allocation of TWO V60CCs per year. So we dove in on the CC, and for a small family in Colorado, it was the right call. It’s handsome, comfy, decent to drive, good in the snow and other than an irritating Sensus infotainment system, it’s a great car.
I’ll really miss the S60/V60/S90/V90. I get the market likes the XCs, but they’re just boring to me and I always like the styling of those sedans and wagons. I’ll pour out a Omnipollo for them.
Not much of value being lost here. They ruined it when they gave it the ridiculous Outback treatment to start with, and at the end of the day modern Volvos are just not worth the asking prices IMHO. The Germans did this so much better. So did Saab for that matter.
And having owned MANY Volvo wagons, I think I am qualified to say that while they were always practical and supremely useful, they were rarely anything even approaching cool, even my 745Ts. My RWD/6dspd stick BMW wagon is cool. So was my Saab 9-3 SportCombi. My V70? Er, no, not at all, though it was certainly pretty.
Last year I really, really wanted a V60 CC. The local Volvo dealer (only one within 140 miles) did everything possible to push me into an in-stock XC60. No interest whatsoever in having me special order or European delivery. Pissed me off so bad I left and never went back.
This really sucks as other have said. Every time I see one of the newer Volvo wagons on the road I always do a double take because they are so nice look.
Also as others have said the price of these were just so damn high. I would have loved the plugin variant for my fiance and even my dad said he would have bought one but the price is just so damn high even used they are very high. Really sucks wagons are essentially dead in the US now. What is even left at that this point?
Crown Signia, EV6, and the fancy German ones?
I would say the crown and EV6 are more cross over then wagon. But yeah besides expensive German ones nothing along the lines of affordable for the average american. Just a quick search shows the Audi allroad brand new is 73k+. I think the last affordable wagons were the TourX or the Golf SportWagen.
I’m just going by those two being classed as estates in other markets. Kinda depends on where you draw the line along the spectrum. It’s fuzzy since the Outback and Eagle were arguably the first crossovers, but definitely also wagons. I’m claiming them since there are so few extant wagons over here. I’d love to see something more affordable like the id.7 come over too.
I’d say Crown Signia comes pretty close. Yeah, Taller a bit. Dimensions: Volvo V60 2018-present vs. Toyota Crown Signia 2024-present
Matches the V90 even better (just 3 inches taller) Dimensions: Volvo V90 2016-2020 vs. Toyota Crown Signia 2024-present
And the Toyota is less expensive and gets much better gas mileage.
The timing. The news. Very Scrooge-like announcement.
I’m guessing price is a huge factor here considering Kia is coming out with the K4 hatchback/wagon.
I’d love a wagon, unfortunately theyre all either 55k+ or no longer a real wagon like the Outback.
It will likely be a short run. They already tried this with the Hyundai Elantra GT and it sold less than 10,000 a year while the sedan sold 150K plus.
Here is the chance to show companies that there is a market – will the people that say they wants hatchs and wagons actually buy one? (History says no)
I’d buy the EV4 hatch if it came over, but I’m not gonna buy a gas car again. Subaru made the right call axing the Impreza sedan in favor of the hatch, IMO.
This is fuckin’ stupid. My buddies are used Volvo dealers and they can’t keep used wagons on the lot.It was the price that kept them from selling new.
I read this as wagon enthusiasts being unable/unwilling to purchase them near MSRP. If I’m a car manufacturer and see that my wagons aren’t selling but my similarly priced crossovers on the same platform easily find buyers, then I’m ending wagon production and making more crossovers. I mean, what are they supposed to do? I see XC60s and 90s all the time but almost never a V60/90. Volvo’s trying to be a premium brand, chasing the “I’d totally buy this but only if it were 30% cheaper with the same features and oh yeah it has to have a stick” crowd is a losing strategy.
There used to be cheaper wagons and they didn’t sell well enough either.
Correct.
Automakers have a pretty simple strategy. Make more of what sells – discontinue what does not sell. People stopped buying wagons so companies stopped making them.
Hoping we’ll see some change in public perception after people burn out on crossovers. Halo wagons like that Genesis could help, perhaps?
Yep there’s an element of the tragedy of the commons that comes from “smart” car enthusiasts who say they’ll never buy new. They forget that it’s demand for new cars that drive product planning decisions, not overall demand in the car market. Someone’s gotta be willing to take the hit on depreciation for that enthusiast darling for the OEM to be willing to produce it.
Agree. Where and what is the name of this used Volvo dealer?
Wahoud Motors. https://www.wahoudmotors.com/
Confession: When I see a V90 drive by, I stop and watch it. Just a wee bit expensive for me…
When I see a S90 drive by, I wonder who would do that to themselves and not have got the V90?
I get the S90. It’s a gorgeous sedan and not everyone wants or needs the wagon body style. I’d prefer a V90 over the XC90, however.
V90 is a looker.
That IS a good looking car. And its proportions clearly say, in no uncertain terms: “car.” That’s getting rare.
Beautifully styled inside and out; that part going away is indeed a shame. I’m ambivalent about the rest of it. That powertrain looks really weak and dull for a $55,000 luxury car and the cargo space is more hatchback than wagon.
This thing looks ridiculous on those 19-inch wheels, btw. CX30 vibes, and pretty much a crossover at that point.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO 🙁
https://www.nooooooooooooooooooooooooo.com/
Today is a day where I love the internet.
I’ve opened this in another browser tab and plan to never close it.
LOL
Relevant to my interests. (I hate it when my boss has a bad day, we all suffer.)
Aren’t you supposed to be at your post?
What even is a wagon to you, living in a galaxy where the human lifespan is pushing 200 standard years and people start driving at around age 8? Probably more of a stuff hauler than a family hauler, or maybe a taxi?
I wanted a V60 T8. All they offered were V60 PEs, and those were basically unobtanium.
So I got an XC60 T8 instead.
Your experience is why Volvo is doing what they are doing . . . they think they have an alternative already in their lineup.
I will miss “boxy but good” Volvo wagons.
The irony of this is that SUVs have become crossovers that have become ever more station wagon shaped over the years. (Yes, many have also become hatchback shaped)
My wife loves modern Volvo so we’re still going to look at certified XC90 Recharges for her, but me? I don’t recognize the brand I grew up with and loved anymore. My family had an old 240 wagon when I was a kiddo that was navy blue over navy blue and I have such fond memories in it. We called her Helga.
They were more or less bog standard upper middle class/suburban family transportation at that time and I rode in many. You could even get a rear facing third row. I had the pleasure of riding in one a few times and I remember my buddy in high school seeing a pair of girls around our age in one in traffic on the way to Warped Tour and getting their numbers with hand signals.
My dad eventually had a V70 Cross Country as well and they were just so effortlessly cool. Anyway, Volvo is a brand that has a lot of meaning for many of us and now they’re just another techno blob factory like everyone else. It’s a huge bummer.
This is sad…What’s this world coming to?
I had a V70 for 15 years. If the back seat had more legroom, I’d probably still have it but my kids couldn’t sit behind me anymore.
It’s a damned shame.
You could still get the V90CC until last year, at least. The normal height V90 was the one discontinued in the US in ‘22.
We currently own 3, V60CC, XC70 & a 245 DL.