Load luggers: Every new wagon you can buy in Australia

Once the last word in family transportation, the humble wagon has seemingly taken a back-seat role to the all-conquering SUV.

While in 1976 six of the seven top sellers were reportedly available with a wagon body style, in August 2021 you’ll need to scroll to 30th place on the new-car sales list to find the first wagon – or close to 70th, if you discount the high-riding, SUV-inspired Subaru Outback.

Data supplied to Drive by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) industry body shows that just 6869 passenger-car-based wagons were sold in 2020, down from the 49,823 examples driven off showroom floors in 2000.

While the list of long-roof models on offer has declined over the years, family buyers and performance enthusiasts – along with, as the cliche goes, motoring journalists – still interested in a wagon’s blend of SUV space and passenger car driving dynamics can still select from an array of options of all shapes and sizes.

It’s a diverse mix, too, with offerings from car makers spanning mainstream brands such as Skoda and Mazda, to upmarket marques including BMW and Porsche.

Here’s a list of every wagon you can still buy in Australia – followed by an in-depth look at how many of each vehicle its manufacturer sells.

Despite selling fewer than 2000 cars worldwide each year, famed German BMW tuner Alpina’s mid-size B3 Touring is the only wagon on sale in Australia powered by an inline-six engine – until the arrival of its BMW M3 Touring sibling, expected in late 2022 or early 2023.

Based on the BMW 3 Series Touring – but powered by a retuned 340kW/700Nm version of the M3’s twin-turbo six – a total of 12 B3 Tourings have been manufactured for the Australian market since production began in 2020, compared to 10 B3 sedans. Most of those vehicles have yet to reach customers, however.

An Alpina-fettled version of the BMW 5 Series Touring (known as the B5 Touring) was formerly sold in Australia, prior to its discontinuation with the donor car’s mid-life facelift (or LCI) in 2020.

Audi is Australia’s only German luxury brand to offer wagon versions of more than one of its models, marketing long-roof versions of its mid-size A4 and large A6 cars, in standard, high-riding Allroad and/or high-performance S or RS derivatives.

Of the 598 examples of the A4 family reported as sold year-to-date in 2021, approximately 20 per cent (122) are regular A4 Avant, sporty S4 Avant or rugged A4 Allroad variants, while the high-performance, wagon-only RS4 Avant accounts for 11 per cent (66) of sales. The remaining 69 per cent (410) of vehicles sold are A4 and S4 sedans.

In the larger A6 line-up, the sedan body style (available in A6 and S6 forms) accounts for just 42 per cent of sales (86 units), with the wagon-only RS6 Avant assuming the lion’s share of sales, at 44 per cent (91). 28 examples of the A6 Allroad have been sold in 2021, representing 14 per cent of sales.

However, include the A5 and A7 model lines – available in five-door Sportback form, and in the A5's case, coupe and convertible bodies – and demand shifts away from the wagon, with 596 A5s sold so far in 2021. That number is comprised A5 and S5 Sportbacks (at 68 per cent), A5 and S5 coupe and convertibles (20 per cent), the RS5 Sportback (nine per cent), and the RS5 coupe (two per cent). 39 per cent of the 67 A7 models sold this year have been RS7 flagships.

In 2020, Avant and Allroad models accounted for 29.5 per cent of total Audi A4 sales, and 39.5 per cent of A6 vehicles, according to FCAI figures.

BMW Australia’s long-roof range comprises just one model, the 3 Series Touring, in a sole 330i variant.

Data supplied to Drive by the FCAI shows the 330i accounted for 3.4 per cent of the 3406 BMW 3 Series vehicles sold in 2020 – though it’s worth noting the 3 Series sedan can be had in 320i, 330e and M340i varieties not available with the Touring body style in Australia.

Despite the 330i’s sales figures, BMW Australia remains committed to Touring models in Australia, with the brand locking in the upcoming M3 Touring performance wagon for local showrooms, rumoured to arrive in late 2022 or early 2023.

The larger 5 Series was offered with a long-roof option prior to its late 2020 facelift, with the large Touring model accounting for around six per cent of 5 Series sales in 2020 (including the months following its discontinuation).

Mazda’s sole wagon offering in Australia is the Mazda 6 mid-sizer. Following an update earlier this year, a total of 353 Mazda 6 wagons have reached buyers’ driveways in Australia between January and August 2021, accounting for 32.2 per cent of total sales (out of a total of 1094 cars).

Wagons accounted for 540 of the 1727 examples sold in 2020 (equating to 31.3 per cent), and 883 of 2019’s 2612-unit tally (or 33.8 per cent).

Mercedes-Benz’s only wagon on sale in Australia is the mid-size C-Class – though only for a little while longer, as the new-generation C-Class range due by the end of 2021 will be a sedan-only offering.

Behind the axing are said to be declining sales numbers, with the C-Class Estate (as it’s officially known) accounting for 5.4 per cent of non-two-door C-Class sales in 2020, according to FCAI data – equating to 181 out of 3378 vehicles sold.

Estate models – available in four-cylinder C200 and C300, six-cylinder AMG C43 and V8-powered AMG C63 S varieties – comprised 6.2 per cent of four- or five-door C-Class sales in 2019, 7.6 per cent in 2018, 6.5 per cent in 2017, and 11.6 per cent in 2016.

The C-Class Estate was once joined by a high-riding E-Class All-Terrain wagon before 2020, and ‘Shooting Brake’ versions of the small CLA and large CLS prior to their discontinuations in 2019 and 2017 respectively.

Mini’s sole wagon offering is its largest passenger car model, the maxi-sized, six-door Clubman, available in Cooper S and John Cooper Works (JCW) guises.

Sales figures report 260 examples as sold in 2021 to the end of August – just over half of which are Cooper S models. All three Cooper S grades (Classic, Mini Yours and JCW Sport) offer the option of a six-speed manual transmission – but just one customer has ticked the three-pedal box so far this year.

In 2020, 347 Clubmans were sold in Australia, 27 of which were equipped with manual transmissions.

Peugeot offers wagon variants of its two remaining passenger cars, the small 308 and mid-size 508 – though the former is currently off-sale in anticipation of a new-generation 308 hatch due in early 2022, and a new 308 wagon in the months that follow.

Approximately 30 per cent of 508s sold between January and August 2021 were Sportswagons (out of 56 total sales), with that number a decrease from the 46.6 per cent of sales occupied by the Sportswagon in 2020 (out of 204 sales).

Meanwhile, 11.9 per cent of the 218 Peugeot 308 vehicles sold in 2020 were Touring (wagon) variants.

The German sports car maker has moved from selling zero to two wagons in the space of three years, with the petrol-powered Panamera Sport Turismo introduced by Porsche Australia in 2017-18, and the all-electric Taycan Cross Turismo.

While the long-roof Taycan went on sale just weeks ago – meaning it’s too early to pin down accurate sales figures – the Sport Turismo has accounted for approximately 15 per cent of Panamera sales since its 2018 launch, the brand confirmed to Drive. In 2020, two of the 23 Panameras sold were Sport Turismos, equating to 8.7 per cent of sales, according to FCAI data.

Czech brand Skoda offers the most wagons of any brand in Australia, with long-roof versions of its Fabia city, Octavia mid-size and Superb large cars.

Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) data shows 86.4 per cent of Octavia sales in 2020 were wagons – the highest percentage of any wagon on sale with the option of a second body style – though whether the new-generation model introduced earlier this year will continue on that percentage (once stock shortages are resolved) isn’t clear. 

Around 77.5 per cent of Superb vehicles sold in 2020 were long-roofs (or 271 vehicles) – albeit a year the Superb largely spent in hiatus, ahead of the facelifted model’s arrival in November – while the Fabia wagon accounted for 37.6 per cent of vehicles sold (or 303 out of 805 cars).

In 2019, Fabia, Octavia and Superb wagons made up 43.1, 75.5 and 59.3 per cent of sales respectively for each model. It’s also worth noting that the Fabia (in 70TSI guise) is one of two wagons available locally with a manual transmission, alongside the Mini Clubman Cooper S.

Subaru Australia has sold 6097 examples of its high-riding Outback wagon between January and August 2021 (though, officially, it’s classed as a large SUV).

The mid-size Subaru Levorg wagon – based on Impreza and WRX underpinnings – will return to Australia in early 2022. Its predecessor recorded 306 sales throughout 2020.

Until the arrival of the Arteon Shooting Brake en masse in 2022, Volkswagen's range includes two long-roof models in Australia, based on the Golf small car, and Passat mid-sizer. 

In 2020, Golf and Passat Wagons accounted for 11.0 and 58.1 per cent of sales respectively (at 1105 Golf and 305 Passat examples) – though it's worth noting the former was preparing for the arrival of a new Golf in 2021, while a full range of variants didn’t arrive for the latter until the first half of 2021.

In 2019, 1471 Golf and 598 Passat Wagons were sold, translating to 10.2 and 57.5 per cent of total sales respectively.

The Volvo Australia range comprises just one wagon, the high-riding V60 Cross Country.

It replaced the standard V60 in Australia in August 2021 – which recorded 265 sales in 2020, compared to 309 examples of its S60 sedan sibling – and follows the V90 Cross Country axed in early 2021, 97 examples of which were shifted in 2020.

While there’s still a wide array of choices out there for wagon lovers, the breadth of the station wagon market has steadily narrowed in recent years. Here’s every wagon that has departed the Australian market over the last 11 years.

There’s a number of fun, fast and/or practical wagons bound for local showrooms over the coming years.