In 1964, General Motors (GM) launched station wagons for its Chevy, Pontiac, Olds, and Buick brands equipped with their new midsized platforms. By 1976, almost a million station wagons were bought in the United States, representing 10 percent of all vehicles sold that year. However, trend-conscious and fickle American auto buyers grew bored with the bulky family wagons by the 80s. The last station wagon sold in the United States (Volvo) was eventually discontinued in 2023. So, with GM announcing it will stop making its last sedan, the Malibu, in 2024, have we seen the end of another line of vehicles trusted by consumers in the United States for decades?
“I don’t think they’re coming back,” Karl Brauer, executive analyst for iSeeCars.com, told The Epoch Times. “The genie is out of the bottle. Sedans have compromised visibility, and some SUVs are actually easier to park. People realized that when you get an SUV, you sit higher, they’re easier to get in and out of, you have more headroom and interior space, and you can carry cargo inside. The [Toyota] Camry, [Honda] Accord, [Hyundai] Sonata, and [Kia] K5 [all manufactured outside of the United States] are what we have left and your most likely long-term survivors.”
GM announced earlier this month that the Malibu, its biggest-selling brand, will stop production at its Kansas City plant in November. It will be replaced by reintroducing the previously discontinued Chevy Bolt EV. GM, which also offloaded the Camaro and Impala last year, will now sell only its trucks, SUVs, and two-door Corvette sports cars.
Ford stopped selling its popular Taurus and Fusion sedans between 2018 and 2020, leaving only its current iteration of the sporty and collectible Mustang as its last sedan holdout.
Stellantis’s Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep, and Ram brands haven’t produced a sedan in the United States in many years.
Long-time automotive journalist Brian Moody, executive editor at Autotrader.com, told The Epoch Times that some automaker decisions to eliminate or create new cars are not concentrating on long-term results.
“The automakers love quick wins, but quick wins are the worst. I don’t know why they haven’t learned. Eliminating cars like the Fusion, Malibu, and LeSabre is shortsighted and they don’t see they might come back around again. Jeep has been rewarded for sticking with their cars.”
Mr. Moody also disagreed that consumers in the United States don’t want sedans anymore. “The death of the sedan may be temporary, but I do think they’ll eventually come back. What if Ford had stuck with the Bronco through all these years? They would be a serious competitor with Jeep.”
Foreign automakers are not following suit and see the demise of the U.S. sedan as a market share opportunity. Toyota announced it is bringing back the Supra, Volkswagen AG will develop its new Passat sedan, Subaru is rolling out its WRX STI, Hyundai will debut its new Elantra model soon, and Lexus is promising a new RCF track edition.
A recent Edmunds survey supports the perceived appetite for less expensive sedans in America. The survey showed buyers want affordable sedans and SUVs instead of expensive EVs and trucks. Half of the auto buyers polled said they wish to spend less than $40,000 on a new EV, and 22 percent don’t want to pay over $30,000. There are currently no new EVs available at that price.
With U.S. automakers moving to produce more trucks and SUVs, some wonder how the Biden administration’s push for EV sales and better fuel economy affects this current sales environment.
“A few years ago when we were in an economic malaise, people started moving back to sedans. Now you go to Ford’s web page and see one car, the Mustang. The difference today is there won’t be a mass exodus (away from SUVs) because a lot of the trucks and SUVs don’t get bad gas mileage. People will just keep buying the smaller engines and the more efficient SUVs,” Mr. Brauer said. “No one wants to acknowledge that one of the greenest things you can do is not have an entire care built for you and make the older ones last longer.”
The jury, however, is out on whether the United States will ever see a popular station wagon again. Mr. Moody believes that American automakers may be missing an opportunity. “I think today people would think a wood-sided station wagon was pretty cool.”
