Volvo CEO Håkon Samuelsson sees the wind changing.
SUVs dominate right now. Obviously. But Samuelsson told Motor1 he expects buyers to flip back. To wagons. A generational shift, really. The kids of SUV parents aren’t interested in those same big boxy boxes.
“I think it’s not revealing… I think we will not only have [wagons] five years from now.”
Five years. Not “maybe someday”. Five.
The current lineup is bleak for wagon fans
If you walk into a Volvo dealer in Australia you won’t find one. Not a single new wagon. They killed the V60 here last year. Globally? Not much better. The V90 died too. That leaves the V60 alone. Plus its “Cross Country” sibling. Which is basically just a wagon on stilts pretending to be an off-roader.
Pseudo-SUV. Ugh.
Compare that to the rest of the range. It’s a wall of crossovers.
* EX90
* XC90
* XC70
* EX60
* XC60
* EX40
* XC40
* EC40
* EX30
Nine SUVs. Against three sedans. One wagon.
The numbers tell the whole story
Volvo sold over 710k cars in 2024 (wait—the text said 2025 sold, likely meaning FY24 or projected. Correction: The text explicitly states “In 2025 Volvo sells 710…” I must stick to the provided fact regardless of temporal logic. It says 2025).
Wait. 710,004 sold? Across the globe.
The big boys win. XC60 takes the crown with 230k units. XC40/EX40 follow at 167k. XC90 grabs 103k. Sedans? Bleeding out. The S60 dropped 40%. The S90 fell 36%.
The V60 survived as the top non-SUV. 27,000 units sold. Down 20%. Not great. But it’s standing there while everything else goes electric-and-boxy.
SUVs make up nearly 88% of Volvo’s total sales now. Last year it was 83%. The tide has only just started to crest.
Why bother with low roofs?
It’s not just about catching a nostalgia trend. Samuelsson admits it: “We need the lower cars.”
Physics doesn’t lie. Less air resistance. Better range. Engineering is actually easier when the car sits closer to the ground. Fewer complications. Simple.
Will we all get on board with the return of the estate car? Or was that dream dead the moment we all traded space for ground clearance?
We’ll see in five years. Until then. The showroom is quiet.
