Picture a Volvo.

You’re imagining a boxy, full-size station wagon, right? Well, that classic shape has long been gone, but it’s about to make a modern comeback.

Back in the 1980s and '90s, Volvo was America’s top-selling European import brand—and the first to surpass the milestone 100,000 annual sales figure. At a time when domestic manufacturers were beginning to abandon the traditional wagon market, wagons routinely made up one-third of Volvo’s sales, more so in such top markets as the Northeast or the coastal West.

“It has been the biggest part of our business” said Ray Ciccolo, who has run Boston Volvo, one of the nation’s largest Volvo AB dealerships, since the early '60. “Over the years, we have at times struggled selling the sedan because the wagon was so popular. It’s a very practical vehicle.”

Yet, as Volvo began to get trounced in American sales in the late 20th century by more upscale and sporty imports such as BMW AG and by more refined ones like Toyota Motor Corp.'s Lexus, the brand decided it needed to ditch this utilitarian heritage in favor of a move up-market. This meant adding more sensuous curves and luxury features to its vehicles, as well as expanding into the burgeoning Crossover/SUV market. The company even, for a brief period of time, entirely ceased to sell wagons in the U.S. in the late aughts. 

“I think it was about 2006 or ‘07 when Volvo actually withdrew from the wagon market. When I read that, my head almost exploded,” said Bob Austin, who managed communications for Volvo from 1978 until 2001. “How can you do this? It is part of your heritage, it is part of your value system. If there wasn’t a Volvo wagon, somebody should have invented one, because it belongs here.”

The Box Is Back?
This summer, Volvo will release an all-new, handsome, full-size V90 wagon and an all-wheel-drive V90 Cross Country. They will join its mid-size V60 and V60 Cross Country in an expanded wagon lineup, even though those earlier models made up only 7.5% percent of the brand’s sales in 2016. The Cross Country will be available on dealer lots, but the V90 will be attained only through special online order. Volvo recommends flying to Sweden to take delivery—enjoy the free trip, with a friend, on Volvo—or they’ll gladly just ship it to your local dealer. 

Why does Volvo continue to feed wagons to its customers, when the vehicles accounted for only 1 percent of all its American auto sales in 2015? First, wagon buyers tend to be the most affluent of any category; luxury brands, especially such striving luxury brands as Volvo, covet the opportunity to be loved by upscale consumers, which helps reinforce an insider message of discerning taste. Call it Stealth Wealth. Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz, the only other current exporter of large wagons to the U.S., confirms that the average household income for its E-Class Estate is the highest of any vehicle category it sells, though, as with Volvo, it’s nowhere near Mercedes's most expensive vehicle. “They’re bought by people that can afford a lot more,” Ciccolo said of Volvo wagons. “But they’re not ostentatious.”

Second, Volvo wagon owners are among the brand’s most dedicated customers—advocates and ambassadors of key importance in luring consumers from competitive brands. “There are Volvo customers generally, and then the wagon customer is a unique subset of that,” said 26 -ear-old Thomas McIntyre-Schultz, who works in Volvo’s social media team and is the owner of a 2004 Volvo V70R wagon. “They tend to be our most passionate enthusiasts.”

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