The station wagon -- a staple on European roads since the 1950s -- is facing a steady decline as automakers abandon the segment in favor of vehicles with more global appeal such as SUVs and crossovers.
Wagons were previously popular, particularly with growing families, because they offered more luggage room than sedans. Today, however, that need for space is being satisfied by SUVs and crossovers, which last year captured 34 percent of the European market compared with 11 percent for wagons, according to sales data from JATO Dynamics.
The market will shrink to 1.5 million by 2025 from 1.7 million this year and almost 2 million in 2016, analyst firm LMC Automotive predicts. Sales were down 10 percent to 863,626 in the first half.
Automakers with long histories of building wagons such as Citroen, Nissan, Alfa Romeo and Honda no longer offer them in Europe. Toyota is down to one wagon, while Renault, Peugeot and Ford only have two apiece. Ford could drop to one if it decides to ax its Mondeo midsize wagon. Renault had three but has said it will not build a wagon variant of its new Clio small car.
"To be honest, we thought about replacing the Clio station wagon, but in the end we decided not to do so," said Olivier Brosse, who is Renault program director for small cars.
He said many Clio wagon customers would opt for the new Captur small SUV, which has 81 liters more trunk space than the previous generation.