EDITORS' NOTE: This story was amended to make clear that Ian Calllum said Jaguar is not planning a wagon version of its new XE sedan.
LONDON -- Jaguar is unlikely to offer a station wagon version of its new XE midsize sedan because of falling demand for the body style in Europe.
"The [wagon] market is massively shrinking. I'm very sad about it but it's a very difficult market to justify," Jaguar's design chief Ian Callum said.
Jaguar has sold just two wagon variants previously: a wagon version of the X-Type midsize sedan launched in 2004 and a variant of the previous-generation XF large sedan from 2012. The current XE replacement for the X-Type and the new XF are currently sold in sedan versions only.
Europe is the only major market for station wagons globally, Callum told journalists at a lunch event for the F-Pace, the brand's first SUV/crossover.
"The world's biggest wagon market is Germany. And what do Germans buy? They buy German cars," he said in reference to BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi, all of which offer wagon variants of their core sedan models in Europe.
Jaguar's home market of the UK is the second biggest market in Europe, but British buyers are less keen on wagons than countries such as Germany, Switzerland, Austria, according to analyst IHS Automotive. At the launch of the XF Sportbrake wagon in 2012, Jaguar said wagons accounted for around 30 percent of the large premium car market in Europe.
With the launch of the F-Pace, Jaguar has switched its focus towards SUVs. "Wagons are not strong in the U.S. and China. But SUVs are strong in nearly every part in the world," Jaguar Land Rover's sales and marketing head Andy Goss told Automotive News Europe at this year's Geneva auto show.
Callum expects the F-Pace to become the brand's best-selling car to date, beating the XJ sedan and X-Type. Media reports in the UK have said Jaguar is planning a smaller SUV to be called the E-Pace.
Callum said: "We will do things that will surprise you but it won't be wagons."
