Proof that advertising works.

The station wagon has been re-branded.
In a time when all men and most soccer moms wouldn't be caught dead driving a station wagon, that category is exactly what comprised 20% of all new vehicles sold last year.(1) The "Crossover" vehicle, or CUV, is everywhere, in case you didn't notice.

True SUVs were based on an actual truck chassis. They had huge knobby tires, 4-wheel drive, and giant roof racks. You could slog through muddy backwoods trails on the weekend, and then drive the family to church on Sunday. People liked the utility of the true SUV. You could carry a lot of stuff, kids, etc. The problem is that they were big and heavy. And they guzzled gas. Another thing that didn't make much sense about the true SUV was the fact that 99% of them never left the comfort of a paved highway.

The CUV is lighter, more fuel-efficient, and still has the utility of the SUV or more truthfully, the station wagon. Now, many car makers have tried to refer to the traditional station wagon as the "5-door" model. But that didn't work nearly as well as making a clean break, from a marketing point of view. This isn't a station wagon, it a CUV. I love advertising.

These CUVs are nothing more than regular sedan chassis with a higher, boxier body. The definition of a station wagon is you take a regular 4-door sedan and instead of a trunk, you continue the roofline to the rear bumper and then put in a tailgate or hatchback. CUVs are station wagons people! Wake up America! You're being sold a bill of goods.

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1 Edmonds.com
Source: Huston Chronicle