Is the station wagon the new SUV?

Station wagons | They fell out of vogue when minivans and SUVs came along, and the very name "station wagon" is marketing poison. But they have all the advantages of a sedan — stability, fuel economy — and can haul as much as an SUV. In this time of $100-a-barrel oil, car buyers welcome wagons, whatever they're called.

The first rule of selling station wagons is, don't talk about station wagons.

That's the marketing plan behind the stealthy return of one of the most practical — yet most ridiculed — automotive designs. For years, the mere idea of a wagon has been poison in the car world, resurrecting memories of ungainly giants such as the Ford Country Squire and Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser for a whole generation of drivers. Co-opted by the minivan and, later, the sport utility vehicle, the station wagon seemed destined for the junkyard.

But with fuel-devouring SUVs becoming passe in an age of $3.50 gasoline, carmakers have begun quietly embracing the familiar shape once again. Automotive sales resource Kelley Blue Book classified 37 models for sale in the U.S. as wagons last year, compared to just 17 in 1997.

General Motors and Toyota have introduced models of late that look suspiciously like station wagons. And according to marketing consultancy Strategic Vision, 10.3 percent of cars sold in the country last year fit into categories that are wagon-like. Even if almost nobody uses the "W" word.

"It is believed that 'wagon' is a death sentence for a vehicle," said Alexander Edwards, automotive president at Strategic Vision. "So people come up with other names for them, or slight variations on the theme."

They're "crossovers," "sport activity vehicles" or simply "five-doors." A prime example is Toyota's Venza, introduced at the Detroit auto show. Toyota calls it a "crossover sedan." Aaron Bragman, an analyst at Global Insight who saw the unveiling, had a different take: "Camry station wagon."

Toyota begs to differ. "It blurs the lines between sedans and crossovers and SUVs," said spokeswoman Denise Morrissey. The Venza will be out this fall and is being built in Kentucky on the same platform as the Camry and Avalon. But, Morrissey insisted, "It's not a station wagon."

"They've got great properties"

The wagon wasn't always reviled. Among the oldest of car designs, station wagons originally were designed to take passengers and their luggage to and from the train station, hence the name. By the 1930s, wagons began receiving more upscale touches, including the famous wood-bodied ("woodie") design, which lasted until the early 1950s.

The real heyday began with the steel-bodied designs that sprang up in the late 1940s, developing over time into the behemoths of the 1960s and '70s, known for their faux-wood paneling.

In 1984, Chrysler introduced the minivan, and the slow decline of the wagon commenced. Honda and Toyota killed their Accord and Camry wagons in the mid-1990s, and GM halted production of the Buick Roadmaster and Chevy Caprice.

"It's too bad such a stigma developed about wagons," said Bob Boniface, director of advanced design at GM. "Designers love them; they've got great properties, a low center of gravity and excellent aerodynamics."

Wagons of all sizes

Now, however, vehicles that look and feel a lot like station wagons are back. They're built on car chassis, they have hatchback rear doors, plenty of cargo space and they sport the driving characteristics, interior design and fuel efficiency of a sedan.

Of course, there's a huge range of vehicles in this category, from the battleship-like Buick Enclave (at 4,800 pounds and 16 feet, 8 inches long) to the relatively petite Subaru Forester (14 feet, 5 inches and 3,200 pounds).

Also looking wagonesque are the Cadillac SRX, built on the same chassis as the CTS sedan; the Mini Clubman, a extended, four-door version of the popular Mini; and the newly revealed BMW X6, with its sharply raked rear hatchback. Like the Venza and guys with mullet hairdos, all have been accused (as if it were a crime) of putting the business in the front and the party in the back.

"It's all a matter of fine distinctions," says Eric Noble, president of auto consultancy Car Lab. "But perception is reality, and the key buyers in the market do not perceive these vehicles to be wagons."

They're very European

Of course, not all carmakers, nor all drivers, shun the wagon. In Europe, where the design is — depending on the region — known as an "estate," "break," or "touring," sales are consistently strong.

And for a few brands (Volvo, Saab, BMW, Mercedes, VW) the wagon has always been a staple.

Volkswagen is re-introducing its Jetta wagon, calling it the SportWagen, this fall, adding it to the Passat wagon. "We have no problem with that word here," said Steve Keyes, VW spokesman, adding there's a "built-in audience" for the wagons.

But for most carmakers, it's still a dangerous, and exceedingly thin, line to tread: "If a vehicle becomes too wagon-like, it'll absolutely be bolted to the showroom floor," Noble said.

One popular sleight-of-hand is to raise the chassis and put the car on big, aggressive wheels. It's a metamorphosis evident when comparing the Volvo V70 wagon to the Volvo XC70 crossover. The primary difference: bigger wheels and four-wheel drive, which tends to squander the fuel-efficiency advantage wagons have over SUVs.

No stigma with young buyers

According to marketing expert Edwards, automakers may not have to play semantic games much longer. Increasingly, there's evidence that younger car buyers don't have the same stigmas about wagons as their parents, as evidenced by their recent embrace of hatchbacks such as the Mazda3, Nissan Versa and Honda Fit. "The negative connotations are slowly receding," he said.

For now, however, consumers will have to be contented to know that a wagon, by any other name, still has that sweet new-car smell.